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Serbia: Aircraft markings

Last modified: 2024-09-28 by rob raeside
Keywords: roundel | takovo |
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Serbia Air force roundel & fin flash 1913-1915

[aircraft marking] images by Nozomi Kariyasu, 26 August 2024

Sources: Military Aircraft Insignia of the World 1998 & 2014 [c2e98]

Different aircraft markings have been reported for the period 1912-1915, based on a book which was published by the Aeronautical Museum, Belgrade (at that time, Yugoslav Aeronautical Museum) in 1993.
Tomislav Todorovic, 26 August 2024

Serbia Air force roundel & fin flash 1916-1918

[aircraft marking] images by Nozomi Kariyasu, 26 August 2024

Sources: Military Aircraft Insignia of the World 1998 & 2014 [c2e98]

There was virtually no air force 1915-1916.
Tomislav Todorovic, 26 August 2024

Air force roundel & fin flash 1918-1922

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes

[aircraft marking] images by Nozomi Kariyasu, 26 August 2024

Sources: Military Aircraft Insignia of the World 1998 & 2014 [c2e98]

Serbia Air force roundel & fin flash variant 1918-1922

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes

[aircraft marking] images by Nozomi Kariyasu, 26 August 2024

Sources: Military Aircraft Insignia of the World 1998 & 2014 [c2e98]

Serbia Air force roundel & fin flash 1922-1929

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes

[aircraft marking] images by Nozomi Kariyasu, 26 August 2024

Sources: Military Aircraft Insignia of the World 1998 & 2014 [c2e98]

Air force roundel & fin flash 1929-1941

Kingdom of Yugoslavia

[aircraft marking] images by Nozomi Kariyasu, 26 August 2024

Sources: Military Aircraft Insignia of the World 1998 & 2014 [c2e98]

Also: https://sr.wikipedia.org/sr
Tomislav Šipek, 26 August 2024

Yugoslavia Air force roundel & fin flash 1941-1945

[aircraft marking]  [aircraft marking] images by Nozomi Kariyasu, 26 August 2024

This is the mark of Tito's partisans. In 1943, they proclaimed the Democratic Federative Yugoslavia (not a kingdom and not a republic), which existed in that form until 1945. The kingdom de facto disintegrated at that time.
Also, according to the pictures from the web, there was also a gold border around the roundel as a variant, as well as a "vertical" fine flash.
https://sh.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balkansko_ratno_vazduhoplovstvo
https://bs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratno_vazduhoplovstvo_i_protivvazdu%C5%A1na_odbrana_SFRJ
Tomislav Šipek, 26 August 2024

Yugoslavia Air force roundel & fin flash 1945-1992

[aircraft marking]  [aircraft marking] images by Nozomi Kariyasu, 26 August 2024

Yugoslavia Air force roundel & fin flash 1992-2003

[aircraft marking]  [aircraft marking] images by Nozomi Kariyasu, 26 August 2024

Serbia-Montenegro Air force low visibility roundel & fin flash 2003-2006

[aircraft marking]  [aircraft marking] images by Nozomi Kariyasu, 26 August 2024

Temporary roundel, 2006

[Airforce roundel]

Temporary airforce roundel of Serbia - Image by Eugene Ipavec, 15 August 2006

The recently adopted roundel of Serbia is horizontally divided red-blue-white - obviously based on the roundel used previously by Serbia and Montenegro and by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia before that, only the colours are re-arranged to match the national flag. The fin flash was also re-arranged in the same way.
The markings are provisional, so they might be changed soon.

Milan Jovanović & Tomislav Todorović, 25 October 2006

Serbia Air force roundel & fin flash 2006-

[aircraft marking]  [aircraft marking] images by Nozomi Kariyasu, 26 August 2024

Quoting Beta, 13 November 2006:

Serbian military jets and helicopters will receive new designations and new camouflage paint jobs.
The changes will be in accordance with the traditional marks used by the Military of the Yugoslav monarchy in the period between the two World Wars. According to air force commanders, the aircrafts will have stylized versions of the Takovo cross with red, blue and white in the middle circle, on the wings.
On the tails of the jets and helicopters there will be Serbian flags and the serial numbers of the aircrafts. [...]

Milan Jovanović, 14 November 2006

The Serbian Heraldry Society is upset with this roundel as well as with other markings and flags proposals for the Serbian Army and Air Force.
Quoting (translating) the Serbian newspaper Vecernje Novosti:

"We think that the markings proposed for the Serbian Air Force and Army are not good solutions; they have been designed by non-professionals and do not comply either with the vexillological and heraldic standards or with the Serbian tradition" says Kosta Knezević, member of the Serbian Heraldry Society.
The cross on the aircraft roundel is the Kosovo Cross and not Takovo Cross. It belonged originally to the medieval Kosovo Serb lord Bosko Jugović.
The order of colors is also wrong. Kosta Knezević claims that the Serbian roundel should have red in the middle, blue around it and then white at the edge.
The Serbian Army has set up a working group to design new symbols. Their member Bojan Dimitrijević: claimed that proposals were already adopted unofficialy and are waiting for President of the Republic Boris Tadić to validate them. All proposals will be soon presented to the public.

Milan Jovanović, 24 November 2006

Serbia Air force low visibility roundel

[aircraft marking]  [aircraft marking] images by Nozomi Kariyasu, 26 August 2024

Take a good look at the fins of the photographed plane - there is a low visibility fin flash which seems to be a light gray-dark gray-white tricolor, but I am not quite sure.
Tomislav Todorovic, 26 August 2024

Five Serbian remaining MiG-29 were overhauled, and repainted in two shades of gray (probably FS 36118 and FS 36375), according to a low-visibility scheme.

Milan Jovanović, 5 April 2008