Wrong Color on I./KG53 Insignia?

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

I've just run across a color problem with the insignia of I./KG53 (early war), which is a diving white eagle clutching a bomb (both in white) against a black circular background. Initially Karl Ries, and more recently Ketley & Rolfe have published the surrounding ring as yellow, but I've recently run across a true color photo showing the insignia with a red ring. My thought was that the ring simply reflected the Staffel color (2 Staffel), a reasonable supposition, but the prop spinners are solid yellow, indicating a 3 Staffel KG53 He111. This was taken about September, 1939, around the time of the Polish Campaign. Could it be after all these years that this insignia has been documented with the wrong color for the surrounding ring--it should be red instead of yellow? I've gone back to all of the photography of early I./KG53 He111s in the EOE DB, and it would be possible to interpret that ring color in black and white photos as either color.

Does anyone have any information on this? Could both colors have been in use, or have we carried this with the wrong color for all these years in the reference books?

Regards,