View source for Engineering:Squadron code

{{short description|Military aircraft marking}}
A '''squadron code''' is a marking used on a [[Engineering:Military aircraft|military aircraft]] to visually identify the [[Social:Squadron (aviation)|squadron]] that it is assigned to.

Squadron codes of the World War II era, notably for {{wipe|Royal Air Force}} (RAF) and {{wipe|United States Army Air Forces}} (USAAF) aircraft operating in Europe, typically consisted of two characters (commonly two letters; sometimes a letter and a number) to denote the squadron, plus a third character to identify a specific aircraft and serve as its call sign.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://air-war.org.uk/GENERAL/rafcode.htm |title=RAF Squadron Reference Section 1939-1945 |website=air-war.org.uk |accessdate=November 21, 2022}}</ref><ref name=USAAF>{{cite web |url=https://www.worldwarphotos.info/usaaf-codes/ |title=USAAF squadron codes |website=worldwarphotos.info |accessdate=November 21, 2022}}</ref> In general, when an aircraft was lost or withdrawn from use, its call sign was applied to its replacement or another aircraft.<ref name="Lake303-304">{{cite book|last=Lake|first=Alan|title=Flying units of the RAF|publisher=Airlife Publishing|location=Shrewsbury|year=1999|edition=1st|pages=294–303|isbn=1-84037-086-6}}</ref>

==Gallery==
{{multiple image
| align     = center
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| total_width = 750
| image1    = Spitfire - Season Premiere Airshow 2018 (cropped).jpg
| caption1  = A [[Engineering:Supermarine Spitfire|Supermarine Spitfire]] with squadron code ZD, designating No. 222 Squadron RAF<ref>{{cite web |url=http://air-war.org.uk/SQNCODES/zmisc.htm |title=RAF Squadron Reference Section 1939-1945 {{!}} z to Misc |website=air-war.org.uk |accessdate=November 21, 2022}}</ref>
| image2    = Barksdale Global Power Museum September 2015 08 (Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress).jpg
| caption2  = A [[Engineering:Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress|Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress]] with squadron code PU, designating the 360th Bombardment Squadron of the 303rd Bombardment Group<ref name=USAAF/>
| image3    = 576th Bombardment Squadron - B-24 Liberators.jpg
| caption3  = A [[Engineering:Consolidated B-24 Liberator|Consolidated B-24 Liberator]] with squadron code CI, designating the 576th Bombardment Squadron of the 392nd Bombardment Group<ref name=USAAF/>
}}

==See also==
* [[Engineering:List of RAF squadron codes|List of RAF squadron codes]]
* [[Engineering:List of USAAF squadron codes|List of USAAF squadron codes]]
* [[Engineering:South African Air Force squadron identification codes|South African Air Force squadron identification codes]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Aircraft markings]]

{{Sourceattribution|Squadron code}}