Summary

• The SR-71 Blackbird’s black paint was practical and helped with camouflage and heat absorption.
• The Blue Angels’ F/A-18 Hornets are painted bright blue and gold for public displays.
• The nose paint of the B-17 Flying Fortress boosted the morale of bomber crews during World War II with its colorful designs.

For our purposes, Merriam-Webster defines “Livery” as “an identifying mark (as on a vehicle) that identifies the owner.” (Not to be confused, of course, with “liver,” one of the few meat products that this proud, self-professed carnivore personally finds unappetizing).

Today, most aviation fans and air travelers probably associate the word “livery” with the logos of civilian airliners. But liveries are also an integral part of military aircraft. With this in mind, Simple Flying examines what are arguably the five most legendary liveries in US military history.

5 The black paintwork of the SR-71 Blackbird

The sleek black paint helped absorb heat and added camouflage.

Okay, admittedly, this selection is nowhere near as artistic (for lack of a better word) as the more famous commercial aircraft liveries…or even the other military liveries on our list.

But as one of the fastest air-breathing aircraft of all time (a record that still stands 25 years after the plane was officially retired), the Lockheed SR-71’s livery can certainly still be considered iconic. After all, it’s one of the reasons for the fighter’s official name.

Although the SR-71 is the fastest **air-breathing** aircraft in history, THE fastest aircraft **of any kind** ever to fly was the rocket-powered, hypersonic North American X-15.

The Blackbird’s comparatively understated paint job emphasized practicality and pragmatism over beauty. As the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM) explains:

“After the Air Force put the SR-71 into service, it was officially named Blackbird – after the special black paint with which the aircraft was coated. This paint was designed to absorb radar signals, radiate some of the tremendous heat generated by air friction, and camouflage the aircraft against the dark skies at high altitudes.”

Given that the SR-71 was never shot down by enemies, it’s fair to say that this paint strategy worked quite well (although speed obviously played a role as well).

4 The Blue Angels’ F/A-18 Hornets

The US Navy demonstration team in bright blue and gold livery symbolizes precision and pride.

In 180-degree contrast to the philosophy behind the SR-71 paint scheme, the Blue Angels’ F/A-18 Hornets were given a paint scheme that was intended to be absolutely beautiful, eye-catching and colorful.

This is only logical, since these aircraft are designed to impress the public, not invade enemy airspace. Just as the Blackbird’s black paint job lends a certain credibility to the aircraft’s nickname, the blue paint job lends a literal meaning to the Blue Angels’ group name.

Additionally, since the Blue Angels are a public relations and recruiting tool for the U.S. Navy, it makes sense that their aircraft are painted in the official U.S. Navy colors of blue and gold (although admittedly these aircraft are not the literal shade of navy blue).

3 Invasion stripes of the P-51 Mustang

Black and white stripes for D-Day marking one of the most famous aircraft of World War II.

Once again, we have an example of practicality being prioritized over beauty in military aircraft livery, although unlike the SR-71, camouflage was not the reason for the invasion stripes on the Mustang (and all other Allied fighters of that pattern). In fact, it is quite the opposite: the invasion stripes were intended to make the Mustang and its Allied fighters stand out more, thus reducing the risk of confusion and (not so) “friendly fire” kills (or, to use the 21st century catchphrase, “blue-on-blue” incidents).

Allan Janus of NASM provides additional insight in an article published on the 70th anniversary of the D-Day invasion:

“The existing system for identifying friendly aircraft, Identification Friend or Foe (IFF), would in all probability be overwhelmed by the sheer number of aircraft over the beaches. To avoid brotherly incidents, D-Day planners called for paint and brushes and ordered that the aircraft of the Allied Expeditionary Air Force and supporting units be painted with alternating black and white stripes on the wings and fuselage – 18 inches wide on single-engine aircraft and 24 inches wide on twin-engine aircraft.”

“They were called invasion stripes. Tests showed that the stripes were easily visible on the ground and in the air – more visible than the usual national markings carried by Allied aircraft. Therefore, a simple order could be given to Allied gunners and pilots: If it has no stripes, shoot it down. Fearing that the Luftwaffe might get wind of the plan and confuse matters by painting their own stripes, the plan was kept top secret.”

The verdict? Mr Janus concludes:

“The black and white stripes had served their purpose, and in December 1944 the air units were ordered to remove them. But the photographs of the planes have been preserved and remind us of one of the most striking symbols of that day 70 years ago.”

2 The red-white-blue color scheme of the Thunderbirds

The USAF demonstration team in patriotic colors represents American air power.

Another 180-degree turn, as we are now again discussing a military demonstration team and a PR and recruitment tool, as opposed to a team that puts itself in danger by flying over an enemy’s territory.

The Thunderbirds are the US Air Force’s counterpart to the US Navy’s Blue Angels and have accordingly opted for a more striking and colourful livery. The Thunderbirds even go one step further in terms of colour splendour and paint their fighting birds in the red, white and blue of the American flag rather than in a service-specific colour combination.

The Thunderbirds’ official website states:

“The display consists of a mix of six aircraft performing formation flights and solo exercises. The diamond formation of four aircraft demonstrates the precision and training of the US Air Force pilots as well as the elegance of the F-16. The two solos demonstrate the power and maximum capabilities of the mighty F-16 Fighting Falcon, a front-line fighter.”

1 B-17 Flying Fortress’ nose paint

Individual, often cheeky works of art that boosted morale during World War II.

We’re closing this time with a proverbial 90-degree turn rather than a 180-degree turn. This time we’re talking about the livery of a fighter plane that was actually sent into enemy territory rather than putting on air shows for the public, but which was at the same time significantly more colorful than the plain black examples with the black and white invasion stripes of the SR-71 or the P-51.

We are talking about the nose paint on the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers of World War II, a nose paint job designed to boost the morale of the crews. The importance of these morale-boosting measures cannot be overstated, given the high losses suffered by these combat aircraft and their crew members alike, especially in the early days of the air war, before the aforementioned P-51s arrived to escort the “heavy bombers” for the entire duration of the bombing raids. The raid on Schweinfurt on August 17, 1943 is a particularly notorious example (60 of 376 “Flying Forts” deployed were lost).

Some of the decals were comical, some romantic, and some downright daring by today’s standards, as aviation artist and nose art historian Gary Velasco described:

“During World War II, designs became even more elaborate, particularly on the U.S. side, where scantily clad and nude pin-ups were painted based on the pin-up calendars of the time and various other theater magazines and periodicals.”

Daring or not, like the invasion stripes, the nose art of the Flying Fortresses’ aircraft served its purpose… and helped immortalize the bomber in the annals of military history.