1-300 USA White Star & Bar with Red Outline 1943 Decals
These 1-300 USA White Star & Bar with Red Outline 1943 decals reproduce the aircraft identification markings represented by this sheet for use on 1-300 scale aircraft miniatures. They are intended for historically appropriate aircraft, units, and periods associated with the marking.
Decal Information
The sheet includes USA White Star & Bar with Red Outline 1943 markings suitable for use on 1-300 scale aircraft miniatures.
They are printed on clear-background waterslide decal paper. They need to be individually cut out. Apply over a properly prepared and gloss-coated model surface using normal waterslide-decal techniques.
Key Historical Details
Region / Nation: USA
Service: United States Military Aviation
Time Period: World War II
Primary Marking: Aircraft Identification Markings
Scale: 1-300
Application: Historically appropriate aircraft and aviation subjects
Historical Information
1-300 USA White Star & Bar with Red Outline 1943
These 1-300 USA White Star & Bar with Red Outline decals reproduce the short-lived American national aircraft insignia introduced in June 1943. The familiar white star on a blue circular field was expanded with white horizontal bars on each side and surrounded by a distinctive Insignia Red outline.
By 1943, U.S. authorities had concluded that the overall shape of an aircraft marking was more important for long-range recognition than its colors. To make the national insignia more immediately recognizable, white rectangular bars were added to the sides of the existing star-and-circle marking.
The red-outlined star-and-bar became official on June 28, 1943. Its use was brief, however, because some units objected to the prominent red border in combat theaters where red was strongly associated with enemy aircraft markings.
Despite its short service life, the marking appeared on a wide range of Army, Navy, and Marine aircraft. Representative types included the P-38 Lightning, P-39 Airacobra, P-40 Warhawk, P-47 Thunderbolt, P-51 Mustang, F4F/FM-1 Wildcat, F6F Hellcat, SBD Dauntless, TBF Avenger, B-24 Liberator, and B-25 Mitchell.
In August 1943, the red outline was officially replaced by an Insignia Blue border, with field implementation following shortly afterward. The red-outline version therefore represents one of the briefest standardized U.S. national aircraft markings of World War II.
