1:48, 1:72 Luftwaffe Fighter Unit Emblems

The emblems of one fighter wing from 1939 to 1943

Unit heraldry in the German fighter force was more elaborate than is usually recalled today. Every Staffel kept its own emblem, which traveled with it at every move, and on reorganization it moved into the new unit as well. This sheet follows one wing across several years and shows how its symbolism built up in layers.

The oldest item is the emblem of the 2nd Staffel from the fall of 1939, with a sword cutting through an umbrella, an allusion to British policy of the time. The largest group is made up of four color variants of a mythical mountain dragon, which differ by Staffel in yellow, green, white and red; the green one was brought into the wing by a unit transferred from another formation in January 1942. To these are added the Maltese cross of the 3rd Gruppe introduced in the summer of 1941, the lightning-spitting devil of the 7th Staffel, two mocking emblems of the 8th Staffel and a staff emblem from the fall of 1943.

From a collector's point of view it is also interesting that the same artwork appears on machines of two different types, because the wing re-equipped during the period covered. The emblem is therefore tied not to one airframe but to the unit, and on a model it works as a dating detail.

Two sizes on one sheet

The emblems are printed in two forms, so they suit models in 1:48 and 1:72 alike and one purchase covers both shelves. It is precisely with small circular emblems that thin printing pays off: the dragon artwork has several colors in registration, and with a heavy film it would stand out on the rounded side of a fuselage like a sticker.

The sheet contains no national insignia, no technical stencils and no plastic parts; it is solely the unit emblems of one wing.