Waffenfarbe (Austria)

Waffenfarbe(n) or Egalisierungsfarbe(n) are colors that communicate the rank and arm of service for members of the police force or the Federal Army of the Republic of Austria (de: Bundesheer der Republik Österreich) . They are also referred to as Kragenspiegel (English: collar patches or gorget patches).

Austrian Guard Company showing basic Waffenfarben of the Austrian uniform and Guards Waffenfarbe.

History

In 1920/21, the Austrian Federal Army of the First Republic adopted German Reichswehr uniforms along with their Waffenfarben, albeit with two notable exceptions: the Austrian infantry adopted grass-green, and the Austrian hunter troops adopted yellow-green (German colors were white for infantry and hunter-green for hunter troops). A new uniform was introduced in 1933 modeled on those worn by the Austro-Hungarian Land forces from 1867 to 1914. The so-called k.u.k. "Adjustierungsvorschrift" (English: service dress instruction) contains color pattern tables from the year 1912 and regulated the Egalisierungsfarben to be worn.

Austrian Federal Army Waffenfarben
See also: Ranks of the Austrian Bundesheer
Troops, unit, appointment Waffenfarbe Example
(Paroli)
Rank (NATO code)		 Rank (Austrian title)
Guards scharlachrot mit weißem Vorstoß
(English: scarlet(-red) with white edging strip)		       OR-8[1] Oberstabswachtmeister
     
  • Jagdkommando
    (English: skirmishing command)
  • Heeresportzentrum
    (Army Sports Center)
 gelbgün (yellow-green)       OR-3 Korporal
Jäger
(rifleman)		 grasgrün (meadow green)       OF-1a Oberleutnant
  • Panzer (armour)
  • Panzergrenadiere
    (panzergrenadiers)
 schwarz (black)       OF-1b Leutnant
Aufklärer
(reconnaissance)		 gelb (yellow)       OR-7 Stabswachtmeister
Theresian Military Academy rot
(red)		       OF-D Fähnrich
  • Artillery
  • Air defense
  • AD academy
 OR-9 Offizierstellvertreter
Engineer troops stahlgrün
(steel green)		       OR-4 Zugsführer
NBC-Defense hechtgrau
(pike gray)		       OR-2 Gefreiter
Communicators rostbraun
(rust brown)		       OR-9 Vizeleutnant
Aviators
(e.g. pilots)		 violett
(violet)		       OR-5 Wachtmeister
Technical service braun
(brown)		       OF-2 Hauptmann
Higher mil. technical service braun mit rotem Vorstoß
(en: brown with red edging strip)		       N/A
     
Higher mil. expert service rot-blau
(en: red blue)		       OF-3 Major
     
General staff service red-black       N/A
     
Intendance service green deep-red       N/A
     
Logistic deep-blue       N/A
Mil. medical service (human medicine) blue black       OF-3 Majorarzt
     
Mil. medical service (veterinary medicine) deep-red black       OF-5 Oberstveterinär
     
Mil. medical service (pharmacology) lilac black       N/A
     
Medical service sky blue       OR-6 Oberwachtmeister
Wirtschaftsdienst
(support service)		  light blue
(index #007BA7)		   OF-4 Oberstleutnant
General officers gold OF-9 General rank insignia on peaked cap left
basic uniform colors
  • jacket: field gray
  • trousers: stone gray
       OR-2 Gefreiter
     

Beret Colors

Austrian Bundesheer often wear berets. Normally, it will be worn to the dress uniform or on special occasions to the field suit. Exempted are only members of the Air Force and the Gebirgsjäger (en: mountain infantry) with an own headgear. The color of the particular beret corresponds to the appropriate branch of service and/or the particular unit or formation. The color of the Bundesadler (federal eagle) and the eagle double-wing on berets is as follows:

  • Metallic gray - recruits and charges (OR-1 to OR-4)
  • Silver - NCOs (OR-5 to OR-9)
  • Gold - officers (OR-1 to OF-5)
  • Gold on red background - general officers (OF-6 to OF-9)
Troops, unit, appointment Caps color Example Mainly used by
jaegergreun (rifleman-green)      
  • Infantrymen (not: Jägerbataillon 25)
  • members of the territorial organization
  • military schools and academy (not: Heereslogistikschule)
schwarz (black)       members of the armored corps, most members of the 3rd - and 4th Mechanized infantry brigade. The image shows an armored officer's beret with golden federal eagle
Garde (guards) scharlachrot (scarlet-red)       members of the Guards battalion
Red beret rot (red)       members of 25th Jaegerbataillon in Klagenfurt.
Coral-red beret Korallrot (coral-red)       members of the military patrols and military police
Rusty-brown beret Rostbaraun (rusty-brown)       members of the combat support troops
Pike-gray beret Hechtgrau (pike gray)       members of the NBC-defense school and the "Austrian Forces Disaster Relief Unit"
Dark-blue beret Dunkelblau (dark-blue)       members of the Army logistics school, Combat support command (with all subordinate elements), and the Military Medical Center
Yellow-green beret Gelbgruen (yellow-green)       Federal army's top performing athletes (German: Bundesheer-Leistungssportler) of the Army Sports Center (German: Heeres-Sportzentrum)
Olive-green beret
(with federal eagle)		 Olivegruen
(olive-green)		       members of the Skirmishing command (basic level distinguished by federal eagle)
Olive-green beret
(with Skirmishing patrol badge)		 members of the Skirmishing command that passed the basic Skirmishing command trainings course (advanced level – the federal eagle is replaced by the Skirmishing command badge)
Blue UN-beret UN-blue       soldiers on duty to, contract of, or by order of the United Nations.

Federal police

The Bundespolizei uses corps colors on the rank insignia and Tellerkappe (English: peaked cap).

  • Most police wear Krapprot (madder red)
  • Higher service (police legal advisor and public health official) wear Bordeauxviolett (Bordeaux red)

K.u.k. Egalisationfarben
K.u.k. Adjustation instruction (de: Adjustierungsvorschrift), edition 1912.
Main article: Rank insignia of the Austro-Hungarian armed forces

The Adjustierungsvorschrift (English: service dress instruction) contains the color pattern tables from the year 1912. The name Egalisierung consists of uniform color at the one hand, and corps color, Waffenfarbe or badge color at the other hand. The system was extremely complicated and was called by slang Farbkastel (English: paintbox). Ultimately, in the k.u.k. common army it was very difficult to distinguish the 102 infantry regiments from Hussars, Lancers or Dragoons, as well as services, service branches, special services, appointments, and so on.

  • Color
  • table 1
    table 1
  • table 2
    table 2
  • table 3
    table 3
  • table 4
    table 4
  • table 5
    table 5
  • table 6
    table 6


See also

References
  1. The abbreviation "OR" stands for "Other Ranks / fr: sous-officiers et militaires du rang / ru:другие ранги, кроме офицероф"
  • Glossary of German military terms
  • Adolf Schlicht, John R. Angolia: Die deutsche Wehrmacht, Uniformierung und Ausrüstung 1933-1945
    Vol. 1: Das Heer (ISBN 3613013908), Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1992
    Vol. 3: Die Luftwaffe (ISBN 3-613-02001-7), Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1999

Sources
  • Schriften des Heeresgeschichtlifhen Museums in Wien Das k.u.k. Heer im Jahre 1895 Edition Leopold Stocker Graz 1997 ISBN 3-7020-0783-0
  • Rest,Ortner,Illming Des Kaisers Rock im 1. Weltkrieg Edition Militaria Vienna 2002 ISBN 3-9501642-0-0
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