The Marking of U.S. Army Vehicle Registration Symbols and Numbers, 1941

Stencils for blue-drab lusterless enamel hood numbers are applied to Dodge trucks at the Detroit factory during World War II.

The following material is reprinted from Circular No. 74, War Department, Washington, D.C., dated 17 April 1941, which provided for changes in Army Regulations AR 850-5 of 25 September 1936 as pertaining to the marking of U.S. registration symbols and numbers.

Naturally, these regulations were subject to local interpretation by the unit, its commander, and even the men who applied the markings, etc. Hence, these regulations can only be considered as guidelines. There would actually have been considerable variety among the actual vehicles in the field, so modelers should not worry too much about following such “official regulations” to the letter.

Also, note that the material reprinted here are merely the changes made to the original AR 850-5, which were done in preparation for the—by then—very real possibility of America being pulled into the European war then well underway. Thus, the material here must be used together with the still in effect portions of AR 850-5 to acquire a complete picture of U.S. Army vehicle painting and markings.

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The marking on the vehicle will be with blue-drab lusterless enamel by means of a stencil, and on U.S. registration plates by a metal stamping device and blue painted figures as indicated in AR 850-5.

The marking required above will be placed on the outside of the vehicle except where otherwise indicated as per marking diagram:

Passenger Cars

All letters and figures will be placed under the hood, on the right side, in center of upper part, and on registration plates, front and rear.

Ambulances, Metropolitan

Same as passenger cars.

Ambulances, Field

On the outer surface of the hood, both sides, and also the rear doors.

Motorcycles (Both Solo and those with Side Cars)

On registration plates, rear only.

Trucks

On the outer surface of the hood, both sides, and also on tail gate. For trucks without hoods, on each end of the driver’s seat, and also on tail gate.

Reconnaissance Trucks

Same as trucks.

Panel and Sedan Delivery

Same as ambulances, field.

Trailers

In the center of the back.

Additional Details

Side, front, and rear markings are required only on vehicles assigned to units.

Side markings will be done by means of a stencil, using blue-drab lusterless enamel. Capital letters will be 3 inches in height, when the available space permits; otherwise, of a size appropriate to the space available. The height of small letters will be half that of capital letters. The numerical designation of regimental unit (or other unit) is to be displayed in Arabic numerals, followed by the component within the unit. Examples: 39th Inf. Co. F, 105th QM Regt. Co. A, 1st Armd. Regt. Co. A.

Front and rear markings will be stenciled with blue-drab lusterless enamel on olive drab lusterless enameled plates similar to state license plates, or, if plates are not suitable for the type or use of the vehicle, this marking will be placed on the lowest space available on the left rear surface of the body or tail gate, whichever is lower.

Insignia of arms, services, and bureaus requirements was rescinded.

The markings on recruiting service vehicles (Army Recruiting Service) will be marked on the sides and rear of the body with dark blue block letters U.S. ARMY RECRUITING SERVICE at least 3 inches in height, and with the insignia of the Adjutant General’s Department in approved colors in the center of the front door panels and in the middle of the rear below the lettering. On mobile recruiting stations (trailers), the lettering will include the words MOBILE STATION NO. ____, and the insignia will be placed in the middle of the sides and rear below the lettering.

All paints used in marking ambulances will be of lusterless synthetic enamel of the proper colors prescribed above.

No markings other than those provided for above will be permitted, and bumpers, headlight rims, etc., will be kept painted with olive drab lusterless enamel.

This is a page reproduced from Circular No. 74.

 

This is a page reproduced from Circular No. 74.

This is a page reproduced from Circular No. 74.

This is a page reproduced from Circular No. 74.

This is a page reproduced from Circular No. 74.

“Infantryman with half-track, a young soldier of the armed forces, holds and sights his Garand rifle like an old timer, Fort Knox, Ky. He likes the piece for its fine firing qualities and its rugged, dependable mechanism.” June 1942.

Detail of the right side engine compartment panel and fender of the previous photo (above and to the right of the soldier's helmet), with a portion of the registration number visible, in Blue-Drab Lusterless Enamel.

M3E3 Light Tank with registration number in blue-drab lusterless enamel on the rear hull side, 19 March 1942.

Another view of the same tank.

Another view of the same tank.

A original wartime color photo of an M5 Light Tank, 27th Cavalry at Camp Chorrera, Panama, March 1943. Despite the less than perfect quality of this photo, the blue-drab lusterless enamel registration number can barely be discerned on the rear hull side.

Faintly visible in this enlargement of the rear hull side of the previous photo is the “USA” and a registration number below that in blue-drab lusterless enamel.

WC9 Truck, 1/2 ton, 4x4, Dodge Ambulance, w/o winch. Photo dated 15 May 1941. Interestingly, the August 1942 regulations did not specify that ambulances should be painted with the white star. They did specify the red cross commonly seen, but not the stars. Some units followed the regulations and did not apply stars, while most simply decided that every vehicle should be marked, and applied whatever variation of the star was in use at the time. Ambulances can thus be seen in period photographs with and without stars.

Personnel belonging to a Medical Detachment (attached to an Armored unit) are being transported in an M3A1 Scout Car.

WC-54 Ambulances of the 546th Motor Ambulance Company, attached to XIX Army Corps, are disembarking from LCT 550, Normandy beach, France, June 1944. The two ambulance sin front have white stars on  their doors. The two vehicles behind them have white stars on the cab roof.

Village street in Foy (approx. 3 miles north of Bastogne), after its recapture by troopers of the 101st Airborne Division. Ambulances stand ready to collect any wounded left behind. Picture taken 16 January 45. Both ambulances have white stars on their doors, but smaller than those on the ambulances in the above photo.

7A  995F  A17 — The bumper markings on this truck follow regulations fairly closely except for the omission of the dash between each group. The "FA" designation has also been shortened to simply "F". On the left of the bumper, an unit identifier of three horizontal colored bars with the letter "S" is seen. Most sources associate the use of these color identifiers with amphibious operations.

11Δ  42Δ  SV-61 — Captured German RSO (Raupenschlepper Ost) tractor with markings for vehicle 61 of Service Company, 42nd Tank Battalion, 11th Armored Division.

3A-34M  EV-24 — Truck from 34th Evacuation Hospital, Third Army, marked according to regulations.

TSF  BP  382P  HQ — Jeep of the Military Police, Theater Service Forces, with complete unit markings. This photograph is most likely a post-war photograph taken during occupation duty.

3AX  HQ — A GI poses beside General Patton's jeep from Third Army Headquarters. The jeep has unit markings for Third Army HQ along with a three-star flag and plate. The jeep also mounts the trombone air horns used by General Patton on the hood.

28-103E  HQ-4 — A jeep from the 103rd Engineer Combat Battalion, 28th Infantry Division photographed on a bridge somewhere in Europe. The unit bumper markings are applied according to regulations and designate the 4th vehicle of the Headquarters of 103rd Engineers, 28th Infantry Division. The windshield carries the addition marking "T4 Cole" in white.

3 ★ 411  648 — A soldier poses in front of a truck marked with the unit identifier for Third Air Force, 411th Bombardment Group, 648th Squadron. The 411th Bombardment Group was a replacement training unit which was activated July 1943 and disbanded May 1944. The markings are missing the fourth group containing the vehicle number.

102-406-I  MED-4 — A jeep and trailer from the Medical Detachment of the 406th Infantry Regiment, 102nd Infantry Division carry regulation markings.

The invasion of Sicily would lead to the next major change. In order to avoid confusion between the American star and the German cross, especially at a distance, a yellow circle was painted around the white star. This variation was also used during the Italian campaign. The width of the yellow circle varied considerably from one unit to the next.  Paratroopers of the 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment, North Africa, 1943. The early hard cab U.S. 2½-ton CCKW truck has the yellow circle applied around the star for "Operation Torch", November 1942, the invasion of North Africa. The door carries the POM (Preparation for Overseas Movement ) marking: Olive Drab/Blue/Olive Drab with ‘4426-A’ in white.

For the invasion of Normandy, the yellow circle was changed to white to match the star. Using stencils to paint these stars resulted in so-called “lazy stars or lazy circles,” because of the gaps created in the circle from the stencil. Despite regulations prescribing the appropriate size of stars for specific vehicles, the stars on the top of vehicles were often made as large as possible, with the hope that they would be visible to Allied aircraft and would help prevent friendly fire incidents.