Balkenkreuz
The Balkenkreuz (lit. "beam cross" or "bar cross") is a cross symbol based on the cross of Teutonic Order and that was first introduced in WWI and later became the emblem of the Wehrmacht (German Armed Forces) and its branches from 1935 until the end of World War II. German armed forces had used other cross symbols before this, but a reason for using this particular symbol was to improve the visual recognition. Despite this, Wikipedia claims without citing any source that the symbol was later changed to reduce its visibility.
History
WWI
It was first adopted in mid-April 1918 by the Luftstreitkräfte of World War I Germany, only about a week before the death of Manfred von Richthofen, and used from that time to the end of World War I,[1] and its use resumed from the beginning of the Third Reich's Luftwaffe in 1935, to the end of World War II in Europe.
Wehrmacht
The straight-armed Balkenkreuz, which is a stylized version of the Iron Cross, was the German war emblem of World War II (Wehrmacht, Heer, Luftwaffe, and Kriegsmarine).
Luftwaffe
Its use resumed, with new standardized dimensions, from the beginning of the Germany's Luftwaffe in 1935, as part of the new Wehrmacht unified German military forces founded in mid-March 1935. The Condor Legion used an alternative Balkenkreuz shaped like an unbalanced "X", some state it was a stylized St. Andrew's cross.
German armored fighting vehicles (AFVs) during the Poland Campaign (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:
- one with narrower white "flanks" on upper wing surfaces – before July 1939, it was used in all six regular positions on an airframe
- one with wider white "flanks" surrounding the same width (25% wide as long from end to end for both versions) central black cross beneath the wings and on the fuselage sides of German military aircraft during the war years
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.
Bundeswehr
The Iron Cross used by today's German Bundeswehr unified defense forces inherits the four white, or lighter-colored, "flanks" of the older Balkenkreuz, but with the "flanks" following the flared arms of the Iron Cross instead.
See also
References
- ↑ 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: [...]". In paragraph 2, the second sentence specifies: "This alteration is to be carried out by 15 April 1918." The closing sentence reads: "Order 41390 is to be speedily executed."
