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The Different Insignia Of The Army Air Force

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Poster promoting the Army Air Force showing an eagle flying with several fighter planes
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Early AAF Insignia with red center At the time of the attack on Pearl
Harbor this was the official Army Air
Force insignia. As the war progressed
there was growing concern that the red
dot could be mistaken, in the heat of
battle, for the Japanese insignia called
a "meatball" by allied forces. On May
12, 1942 the red dot was ordered
removed.
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Middle AAF Insignia with all white star
After awhile it was discovered that
the circle with just a white star was
still a problem. At a distance under
certain light and reflection conditions
the white star was hard to see and
the insignia appeared as a solid circle
which could still be mistaken for a
Japanese "meatball".
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Late AAF Insignia with horizontal bars
And so the white and blue bars were
added which effectively eliminated
the problem **. This version
continues in use today.
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Late AAF Insignia with red border
** Sometimes seen without a
border around the white bars
or with a red border all around.
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Late AAF Insignia with yellow surrond
** Or with a yellow border
around the circle (generally
only in the Mediterranean-
African theater).

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Small early AAF insignia