Lozenge camouflage

[4] Lozenge camouflage came in varying widths, sometimes in 4.5-foot-wide (1.4 m) bolts of fabric, and pieces were cut to fit between the leading and trailing edges of the wing.

The less common Vierfarbiger, or four-color lozenge pattern of 1.30 meter bolt width, and the more common Fünffarbiger, or five-color pattern of 1.345 meter bolt width, also had lighter color lower surface and darker color upper surface variations available for use.

Two patterns have been named by historians from the surviving World War I-era German fighter aircraft that have had relatively intact examples of these lozenge coverings on them, each as the "type aircraft" that inspired the modern names for both the four and five color lozenge camouflage designs: the four-color fabric is called Knowlton from the intact Fokker D.VII on display with serial number D.VII(Alb) 6810/18 (built under license by Albatros Flugzeugwerke for the Fokker firm) in a museum located in the Knowlton suburb of Lac-Brome, Quebec; and the more often used five-color fabric is called Canberra, from the similarly intact Albatros D.Va fighter (serial number D.5390/17) at Canberra's Australian War Memorial.

[8] An individual might paint the nose and tail in bright, unique colors to distinguish him in the air from his squadron mates.

Flying aces such as Georg von Hantelmann painted their fighters with two goals: to display unit colors, and to show personal flair.

Hantelmann's Albatros D.V was decorated with a prominent death's head in white against the dark blue fuselage and red nose which indicated his unit, Jasta 15.

[9] Similarly, Ernst Udet, the second-highest scoring German ace of World War I, painted his Fokker D.VII bright red with bold white stripes and large white lettering on the rudder reading "Du doch nicht!!"

A light-toned four-color, or Vierfarbiger lozenge camouflage pattern typical of daytime operations for underside use
A hexagon-based lozenge camouflage typical of night operations
A Fokker D.VII shows a four-color Lozenge-Tarnung (lozenge camouflage), and its early Balkenkreuz black "core cross" on the fuselage has a white outline completely surrounding it.
Another Fokker D.VII with a typical five-color pattern
National markings such as the Balkenkreuz made camouflage less effective.
A five-color lozenge camouflage alternates with the pilot's personal color choice of pink on the fuselage of this Fokker D.VII reproduction. Its wing is covered in lozenge fabric.