Gun colors (NVA)
Weapon colors , based on the traditions of the German armed forces, were also worn in the East German NVA on military uniforms as a distinguishing feature for the various branches of arms , special troops, services and uses from 1956 to 1990.
General specifications
The basic uniform color (inside service and exit uniform) of the land and air forces as well as the border troops of the GDR was uniformly "stone gray" (jackets, pants, hats, coats). Exceptions were the field service uniforms (camouflage colors), the on-board and work uniforms of the technicians / mechanics (navy, air forces, tanks, vehicles, etc.) and, at times, the jackets of the official uniforms of the officers and generals (depending on the type of service in light gray, pastel blue or white) . The GDR navy (→ Volksmarine ) traditionally wore navy blue or white (office and exit uniform).
The backing and piping of the shoulder pieces, collar tabs and the cap trim were kept in the gun color. Initially, the collar edges of the cloth uniform jackets, cuffs and flaps as well as the side trouser seams also had gun-colored, 2 mm wide piping . From the late 1960s, this was simplified. The uniform pieces with weapon-colored piping were applied or, for the land forces, for example, replaced by uniform white piping. The border troops continued to wear green piping and the green cap ribbon. Tucks and piping in the weapon color concerned were only binding for the air forces and air defense. Sleeve flaps were generally abolished from 1981.
The generals kept the gun-colored piping on uniform caps, collars and sleeves as well as the cap ribbons, lampasses and arabesques of the relevant armed forces (TSK) (land forces - crimson, air forces / air defense - sky blue and border troops - green).
Land Forces
The overview below shows the weapon colors of the TSK Land Forces.
Type of service, special force, service | colour | Insignia (examples) | comment | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Generals ( land forces ) |
Bright red ( RAL color 3024 ) |
Colonel-General piping , cap ribbon, arabesques and lampasses in bright red |
|||
|
Brick red | Captain | |||
|
White |
With the exception of the Volksmarine, military musicians also wore swallow nests (there were also music corps of the air force, the Volksmarine and the border troops of the GDR. They wore the respective weapon color with a silver or gold-colored lyre on the shoulder pieces.) |
|||
Tank driver and tank service |
pink | Senior Ensign | |||
News communication and telephone communication tasks |
yellow | First lieutenant | |||
Paratroopers | orange |
Ensign Shoulder pieces with orange piping. Piping on the jacket and trousers is white as with the other land forces, but instead of the peaked cap an orange-colored beret for officers, ensigns and professional NCOs (professional soldiers) as well as to the summer uniform of the team and NCO ranks (temporary soldiers) - otherwise for both groups to the field service uniform camouflage-colored beret. |
|||
Construction soldiers | Olive | Construction soldiers also wore a silver spade on their shoulder pieces as a mark (original uniform brass spade painted stone gray). | |||
Rear services
|
Dark green |
Major All three service careers also had a gold or silver-colored symbol on the shoulder pieces in other branches of service.
|
|||
|
Black ( RAL color 9005 ) |
sergeant | |||
Basic color NVA uniform | Stone gray | Same uniform color NVA LaSK , LSK / LV and DDR GT as well as DDR ZV |
Air Force
The air force uniforms of the NVA differed from the uniforms of the land forces in particular with regard to the insignia and more clearly emphasized weapon color (e.g. on the collar tabs). The air forces wore blue piping on the cuffs and peaked caps, in the case of professional soldiers also on the jacket collars and as side tucks. The collar patch underlay was held in sky-blue (weapon color ) over a large area - for team ranks and NCOs with a silver-colored wing, from ensign to captain additionally with a wreath of honorary leaves open to the top (palm fronds and acorns), from major to colonel with a closed wreath of honorary leaves , around one wing each, and from ensign to colonel with a silver-colored hem around the entire collar tab. Like the other branches of arms, generals wore gold-colored arabesques, but here with a sky-blue underlay. The visor caps of the air forces had - in contrast to the other branches of the armed forces - the cockade (GDR emblem), which was crowned with honorary foliage (oak leaves and acorns for team ranks, palm fronds and acorns for professional soldiers of all ranks) with straight four-part wings and above, on the cap plate, a silver-colored cockade propellers crowned with ears of corn (all ranks, gold-colored for generals).
The air defense uniforms corresponded to those of the land forces, but with sky-blue piping and "light gray" double diamond on the collar tabs.
Rank group | colour | Insignia (examples) | Type of service / comment | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
General Air Force |
Sky blue |
|
Lieutenant General
|
||
Staff officers |
|
|
|
||
Officers to captain and ensigns |
|
lieutenant | |||
Crews and NCOs |
|
Corporal | |||
Men, NCOs, ensigns and officers |
Light gray |
|
Sergeant major | ||
Basic color NVA uniform | Stone gray | Same uniform color NVA LaSK , LSK / LV and DDR GT as well as DDR ZV |
Border troops
The gun color of the border troops of the GDR was generally green. The piping of the jacket and trousers as well as the trimming of the hat were green in gun color. In addition, a green cuff with the white inscription "Grenztruppen der DDR" was worn on the lower left uniform sleeve (jacket and winter coat).
The border pilots wore the uniforms of the air force. The gun color was green instead of sky blue. The green sleeve stripe was also used here.
The Coastal Border Brigade wore the uniform of the People's Navy, but had green piped shoulder boards and the green cuffs of the border troops.
Rank group | colour | Insignia (examples) | comment | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Generals | green | Piping, cap band and lampasses in green. Collar tabs (arabesques) like LaSK, only with green underlay, plus sleeve stripes in green
Example here: shoulder piece and arabesque major general |
|||
Officers and ensigns |
Piping, cap band and sleeve stripes in green
here: Ensign |
||||
NCO and men |
Piping, cap band and sleeve stripes in green
here: sergeant major |
||||
Basic color NVA uniform | Stone gray | Same uniform color NVA LaSK , LSK / LV and DDR GT as well as DDR ZV |
People's Navy
The weapon color of the People's Navy was generally "navy blue". The naval aviators wore the piping of the air forces. (In 1990 this was changed to navy blue for a short time until the dissolution of the NVA on October 2, 1990.)
Rank group | colour | Insignia (examples) | comment | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Admirals | Navy blue |
Fleet admiral to rear admiral |
||||
Officers |
Sea captain to lieutenant |
|||||
Ensigns | Chief of Staff to Ensign |
|||||
NCOs |
Chief of Staff to Maat |
|||||
Teams |
Staff sailor to sailor |
Civil defense of the GDR
- general (also generals): Malino
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Klaus-Ulrich Keubke, Manfred Kunz: Military uniforms in the GDR 1949–1990 . Mittler & Sohn, 3rd edition, Hamburg / Berlin / Bonn 2009.
- ↑ Plate 62, Military Lexicon of the GDR, 2nd edition, Berlin 1973.
- ↑ Construction soldiers. Legal basis → §7 |.