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Old 22nd October 2008, 02:20
Larry Hickey Larry Hickey is offline
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Larry Hickey
Wrong Color on I./KG53 Insignia?

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,
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Old 22nd October 2008, 23:41
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obdl3945 obdl3945 is offline
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Re: Wrong Color on I./KG53 Insignia?

Hi, Larry...

Doug Stankey and Larry de Zeng's Bomber Units of the Luftwaffe 1933-1945, Volume 1 (Midland Publishing), page 161, shows the emblem as having a yellow outer ring. I'm sure I have seen a rendition of the emblem with a red ring as well somewhere - sorry, I can't remember in what publication - but never in a colour photo, and I've always taken it to be yellow. At the bottom of page 162 of the above-mentioned book, is a black and white photo of A1+BH, clearly showing a light-coloured outer ring, and at the top of page 166, a winter camouflaged aircraft A1+AH with it's emblem almost entirely surrounded with white distemper, but no clear indication of a darker 'red' outline. Oh, and don't forget... the propellor spinners on the machine in your photo may have been 'acquired' from another machine in a hurry... will we ever know...?

Regards...
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