"Balkenkreuz" - dimension

[klemchen]

Hi Kris,
I ran across your question only today. - The proportions of the Balkenkreuz (and the Hakenkreuz as well) were strictly prescribed: If the length of the beam is a, the width of it was 1/4 a. For upperside crosses the white angles had to be 1/20 a wide, for underside and fuselage crosses 1/8 a. If there was also a black border to the white angle it had to be 1/32 a wide for underside and fuselage crosses and 1/30 a for upperside ones. Since for upperside crosses on Me 109s the prescribed beam length was 1000 mm, the white angles were to be exactly 50 mm wide.
You can find the rules for national insignia e.g. in Michael Ullmann's book "Luftwaffe Colours 1935 - 1945". One must know however that in reality these prescriptions were not always followed strictly, not even by the manufacturers, and there were many slight deviations.

Regards,
klemchen