For many of us, there is a bit of a fascination with insignia. These bits of paint on military aircraft are something that helps to make an aircraft somewhat unique. There may be thousands of F-16s, but those with markings from countries like Poland, Egypt, or Venezuela seem to be more exotic that thouse of its home of record.

Initially, military aircraft had no markings, but then it was decided that they needed to have some way of easily identifying themselves to other aircraft and to observers on the ground. Initially used in various competitions, they grew to something more unique and eventually several standard shapes seem to have found favor, though they were and are by no means universal among nations.

Some of these insignia are quite complex while others are quite basic. Other time, military aircraft carry no unique insignia, but simply registration numbers and a national flag on the fin to show affiliation. Over the years, there have been nations that have simply kept the shape of their national markings and eliminated the color, reverting to shades of grey. Others have reduced their size to where they are nearly invisible unless one is relatively close.

In this book, all current nations from Abkazia to Zimbabwe are covered as are some that have come and gone. Each national section includes not only current, but former insignia so you get nations like Germany that have a considerable number of insignia included in their section. In addition to all the national insignia, there are a considerable number of photographs, though I have to say that some are so small as to make it difficult to see anything in them. I mean how effective is a 40x20mm image?

Aside from these few situations, the book itself is not only a great reference, but a very interesting read. I very much enjoyed reading it and I'm sure you will as well.

September 2014

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