Balkenkreuz

It was used by the Wehrmacht Heer (Army), Luftwaffe (Air Force), and Kriegsmarine (Navy).

[2][3] Germany's Luftstreitkräfte (the army air service of the German Imperial Army) first officially adopted the Balkenkreuz in mid-April 1918 (about a week before the death of Manfred von Richthofen), and used it from that time until World War I ended in November 1918.

The IdFlieg directive of 20 March 1918 to all manufacturers states in the first sentence (translated to English): "To improve the recognition of our aircraft, the following is ordered: [...]".

German armored fighting vehicles (AFVs) during the invasion of Poland (September–October 1939) used a plain white cross, but before the onset of Operation Weserübung (April 1940), the black core cross with white "flanks" that the Luftwaffe used had become the basic German AFV national insignia, as used for the rest of the war (to 1945).

The Luftwaffe used two specifications for the Balkenkreuz:[4] Late in World War II it became increasingly common for the Balkenkreuz national insignia to be painted on without the black-color "core cross", using only the quartet of right-angled "flanks" for its form to reduce its visibility – this could be done in either white or black, and with both the narrow and wide-flank forms of the cross.