Between the wars...

    In the years immediately following the Great War, the United States determined it would be in their best interest to design and produce their own aircraft. Many great aircraft came out of this era, but the idea of concealment seemed to go out the window.

    For the most part, aircraft rolled off the production lines with a base color of olive drab. However, when these aircraft reached the active squadrons, their individual unit and personal markings quite often negated the camouflage effect of the olive drab base coat, and, although some were quite beautiful, sometimes these schemes became quite garish. Naval aircraft seemed to get into this trend too, their aircraft, for the most part, left natural metal, with bright colors to signify unit assignment, and wings painted a bright yellow (in case the aircraft had to ditch at sea, this color made them easier to spot from the air). The nationality marking had changed too; a blue disc with a white star, and a red circle in the center of the star.

    By the early 1930s, olive drab had almost disappeared from the front line fighter units, as fighter squadrons used bright blues, reds, and yellows to paint their aircraft. It almost seemed to show how arrogant we had become. The only times camouflage would come into play was during war exercises, when (supposedly) water-soluble earth-tone paints were used on the aircraft for concealment, or to show which unit was the "enemy".

    As Japan began its conquest of Asia, and Germany began its blitzkrieg in Europe, concealment of aircraft once again became important, even though we maintained an air of neutrality about us. Army Air Corp (AAC) aircraft began to be painted overall olive drab topsides, with light gray undersides. Individual aircraft numbers were usually yellow or white. Naval aircraft received a two-toned gray scheme, with red and white striped rudders. Individual aircraft numbers were either black or white. The nationality markings remained the same;  a blue disc with a white star, and a red circle in the center of the star. No unit markings were used on either AAC or Navy aircraft.