Hey all!

I am not very experienced in Olive Drab WW2 vehicles so perhaps I'm asking for something you ought to know... Please forgive me than...
I've seen colour pictures (or coloured in ones) of allied vehicles with a yellow star instead of a white one. There was no circle arround it, just a star.
Well, I know red stars are russian allies :-) but what about those yellow stars? What's the difference between the yellow ones and the white ones (besides the colour)?

Is it perhaps subject to the area, becuase I only found it on pictures from Italy and Tunesia. Or was it used all over Europe?

In some occasions there was also a red number in the upper part of the yellow star. What's the meaning of that number?

Thanks in advance!

Paul

I'm pretty sure that the yellow stars were used at the start of the North African Campaign but were discontinued after a short while and white stars became standard markings. They might have still shown up on tanks in the Sicilian and Italian Campaigns on vehicles that survived all three campaigns, and perhaps on a few vehicles in 6th Army Group in North West Europe.
The red numbers inside the stars would probably be vehicle ID numbers, either for company or batallion level depending on the unit.
No guarantees about 100% accuracy with the above, but I am pretty sure it's on the right track.

Earlier in WW2 American vehicles also were marked in Blue Drab as well, with both stars and registration numbers in this color.

Stars are also seen with and without the circle around them.

It depends on what period you are depicting on what color the markings were, with white being the most common.

Cliff and Ed,

Thanks for the answers. I could not find info about it on the net (google and alta vista). But what you wrote seem to be a reasonable explanetion to me.




Blue Drab?? That's an interesting thing. Never heard of that. Do you know some reference pictures (on the internet) of vehicles in this colour? And the stars were also in yellow?




I find this become more and more interesting.
On the Coppermine Photogallery I found a combination of a yellow circle and a white star, used in Italy. But no info about it why it's used in this combination. So, if anyone knows more...





Paul

Euh.... anyone?

Bottom line #1 is that there was a US Army standard for markings, but there was a wide variation in those markings -- color, size, surrounds, or backgrounds.

Mostly (ie the standard) stars were white (but see pre- & early war variants) but might be yellow. Some were surrounded by a circle of bars, but that may have been painted as a solid bar. Someone may have painted the bar thicker than standard. Some may have painted it yellow vs white. I have seen pictures in N.Europe with yellow circle.

Main purpose of the national insignia became air recognition; thus number, size, location might vary due to local conditions. When you have air superiority, it is more important to be seen by your own side, than hidden from the other side, so the markings get bigger, more colorful ...

In the Pacific, I believe the stars were more noticeable by their absence ....

Bottom line #2. Go with the photo references for the specific one you are building.

John

There was an other variant used. F.E. during the normandy landing vehicles could be spotted which showed the stars in a brownish yellow. Both variants with and without circle were used. I was a special paint, that changed the color when chemical items were detected.

Cheers
Harald

It may also be a divisional thing at first.

1st (US) Armd Div, which went to Tunisia, seems to have used yellow stars and tac markings, including bands and geometric shapes.

2nd (US) Armd Div seems to have started out using a reversed version of the USAAC star on a disc with another disc in the middle of the star. This shows up in pictures of them training.

As the star sometimes was mistaken for a cross at long range in Tunisia, instructions for the landing in Sicily specified adding a circle round the cross. Which is why the circle sometimes extend off the side of the vehicle as it was painted around an already existing star.

Later on, stars were white.

As for blue drab serials, this is how the tanks were delivered from the factory, possibly to make the serials hard to read for security reasons. Certainly makes them difficult to see in B/W photographs . Visibility problems and the lack of blue drab paint when the tanks were repainted of camouflage painted meant the serials ended up being painted white, like the rest of the markings.

At least that's how I understand it ..