Order of battle at Battle of Lützen, 1632 (drawn by MATTHÄUS MERIAN I (1593-1650)).
Graphical orders of battle (OOBs) existed since the immemorial times, first as literally paintings/engravings, later as simpler tactical symbols to get a clear view on the OOB.
With the advent of mass armies and especially during WW I huge amount of OOBs now required standardization. As a result, available tactical symbols were often used.
A simple Order of battle of the British army in 1742 under the command of John Dalrymple, 2nd Earl of Stair (1673-1747). War of the Austrian Succession (1740-48). Note the units are shown as if they are lining up for battle, with infantry in the center and cavalry on both flanks.
Most people knows only NATO-style unit tactical symbols, often used in orders of battle, presentations on military matters, etc. Some people know about Soviet-style unit tactical symbols, used in USSR, current Russia and China.
Yet there were other systems I'd like to show you.
Note, in
all systems friendly troops are marked in blue and enemy in red. Probably from
the fact most armies wore blue coats in 19th century. There were only two
exceptions: British Empire (with its Redcoats ) and communist countries (with
their red flags). Though some post-communist countries retained this system.
For example, it took Russian invasion for Ukraine to change into blue for friendly
troops in 2016, while Russia and China (PRC) use red for their troops still.
Classical tactical
symbols, first used by all countries of the world, were pretty simple. On
tactical maps troop column looked like column from above, battle line –
like battle line, cannon – like cannon. There
were few kinds of units and equipment, so marking them required just few
captions besides obvious numbers and names.
Classical symbols from British source, 1911.
Another
kind of symbols existed in drill manuals to describe positions of individuals
during the various drills, which were extremely complicated by modern
standards. In order not to litter drill evolutions pictures with captions, special symbols were
used to distinguish officer from sergeant and ordinary private from private-flag
bearer. Some symbols from such drill manuals later migrated to OOBs to show unit commanders, specialists or equipment, as well as organization of small units (usually platoons and squads).
US Cavalry Regiment HQ as shown in FM 2-5 "Cavalry Drill Regulations, Horse", 1944. First whole regimental organization is shown in US tactical symbols, than all HQ personnel and vehicles are shown in individual symbols.
"Appointment Symbols" for the drill on foot from "The Canadian Forces Manual of Drill and Ceremonial", 2006. Officers are marked with circles, soldiers with squares. Details are little changed from WW I.
By the
beginning of the WW I symbols begun to multiply. New types of units and
equipment appeared which had to be marked. Logistic become very important part
of the modern battle, so special symbols for depots, hospitals, etc. had to be
created. Automobile troops, aviation and later armor required new symbols as
well. WW I brought way more new units and equipment, as well as new symbols for
them. Some symbols become very complicated, requiring some graphical talent to
draw them by hand.
French and
especially Italian systems of tactical symbols are fine examples of this. Especially
the later, so complicated as if every Italian officer had to be a painter by
default.
Classical French symbols for infantry, cavalry
and artillery in 1914. Very simple.
French symbols for infantry, cavalry and artillery in
1940. Every class of gun or armor has its own unit marker. Compare it with 1914 set.
Italian unit symbols from WW II. How about you’ll
quickly draw a symbol for the mixed AA and AT Bersaglieri Battalion (in the middle
of the right column)? ;)
Fortunately for many staff officers, US military decided they need more consistent and simple system of unit tactical symbols. Under some French influence they've developed their own original system during WW I.
From this was born currently the most known and most used system of the tactical symbols of the world – US/NATO-style tactical symbols. They were adopted by the US military in 1920s. Probably in 1924, as 1923 manual still showing WW I system, while 1925 manual already showing classical system.
US WW I tactical symbols,1923. Some French
influence can be seen.
US system
allowed to quickly and uniformly show unit type, size and number. And it was
easy to draw by hand. It was based on rectangle, above which was unit size
symbol, on the sides – sub-unit name (to the left) and unit name (on the right),
below was for unit modifier like MG symbol for infantry MG company. Unit types were based on some mnemonics like crossed lines = cross
belts for the infantry and single dot = cannonball for the artillery.
US tactical symbols, 1940.
Many
modifications followed, but the basic system remained unchanged till the very
end of the 20th century. With the creation of NATO in 1949 tactical symbols of
the largest military in the organization – US, become the NATO standard. Thus they
began to spread not just to US allies, but also to the countries with strong
British and French military influence. Being simple, easy to draw and consistent really helped. Thus large part of the world now using
this system, albeit with local modifications.
The major change
in US/NATO unit tactical symbols appeared in 1998, when new APP-6(A) “Military
Symbols for Land Based Systems” (now “NATO Joint Military Symbology”) was adopted.
It officially abandoned rectangle as the sole organization symbol, introducing
various shapes depending on if the unit is friendly, enemy, neutral or undetermined
and also if the unit is land, land piece of equipment, air, sea surface,
subsurface. Instead of one shape we now have 11, instead of 2 colors we have 4 neutral
is green and undetermined is yellow.
New version
become also more complicated, adding more unit and equipment symbols as well as
more details for the symbols itself. Just to understand the difference: 1986
version of APP-6 had 114 pages, 1998 version of APP-6 had 403 pagers, current
2017 version of APP-6 has 922 pages!
This became
possible with the massive digitalization of staff work. 1986 version was
based on mostly hand-drawn map work, sometimes with just one color of the available
pen. Current APP-6 are based on digital map work, where color symbols just
added from the symbol library or composed from available shapes with few mouse
clicks.
Only in 2017 version of APP-6 "Dismounted Individual symbols" (as they were called) have finally appeared, so now you can use APP-6 to officially indicate individual soldiers with their specialty/weaponry and even rank/specialization.
Examples of 2017 NATO Joint Military Symbology,
showing its complex looks.
The polar
opposite of the US/NATO unit tactical symbols are Soviet-style unit tactical
symbols, which don’t have special unit symbols. They also have relatively few symbols
at all. Even modern symbol manual of the Russian armed forces (which still use Soviet
system) has some 110 pages at all, while all map symbols in 1990 Soviet manual for
company/battalion commanders will fit on 10 A4 pages. For the unavailable
symbols improvisation is norm, not exception. Most symbols are enhanced/explained
by captions.
The Soviet-style
system is way less rigid, than US/NATO system. On the other hand, it requires a
lot of handwriting and improvisation – not a big problem for individual paper
maps, but making it less suitable in the digital maps era.
Examples of the Soviet tactical symbols.
Limited number of Soviet tactical symbols still
allows user to make complicated maps (company defense sector from Soviet 1990 field manual).
Chinese military (PRC) combining Soviet tactical symbols
with original unit designators (top to bottom: front to platoon).
The most aesthetically
pleasing system of unit tactical symbols (at least in my opinion) was the German system.
It was developed from the classical system during the WW I and by WW II become
a very complex thing, combining various symbols of units and their weaponry
into the whole.
Its peculiarity
was, that unit symbol was made not just from several basic symbols – it had to
be made especially for current unit. For example, symbols for 3-company and
4-combany battalions were different, so does of two 4-company battalions with
different amount of weapons, as the later were usually painted inside the unit
symbol. So this system required a lot of different drawing to make an OOB.
On the
other hand, German system allowed at a glance detailed understanding of unit
structure and armament, which neither US/NATO nor Soviet systems allow. With the
help of colored pencils Germans added the capability to see the condition of
the unit – the trick NATO system started to do only in 1980s.
German WW II unit symbols by arm and service
and sample OOB of the 1st Panzer Division in 1939 (drawn by Dr. Leo Niehorster).
Several
other independent systems of unit tactical symbols worth mentioning.
Austro-Hungarian
system, which developed before during WW I, stands something in between French and
German systems, though is simple then either of them. After the dissolution of
this country it was used by several countries like Poland and Hungary (with local
modifications, of course).
Examples of the British system: unit size and unit type indicators.
Japanese tactical
symbols were developed from the classical system, and mostly retained original
simplicity. Without doubt, their authors knew that not any officer is a born painter.
Japanese tactical symbols.
In 1933 peculiar
system of tactical symbols was adopted by Spain. It was way less fancy that of
the French neighbors. Its feature was ability to draw simple symbol first and
then enhance it when necessary.
Spanish tactical symbols. Second picture showing development of the symbol of
artillery battalion: from just the battalion symbol on the upper left to the
medical aid station of the 2nd Battalion of the 5th Artillery Regiment, armed
with 75-mm guns.
Any
additions /corrections are more than welcome. Especially if somebody knows
system tactical symbols I don’t know. My email is: pinak77@yahoo.com
