Painting of 155 mm artillery projectiles

Color by main use

Ammunition components are painted primarily to prevent rust. Colors are used for camouflage, for recognizing the main use of the item and for identifying hazardous fillers used in the munitions. These are the colors used to indicate the main use of ammunition.

Inscriptions on projectiles:

• Yellow - High-explosive fragmentation
• Brown - Reduced explosiveness
• Gray - Chemical
• Light green - Smoke
• Light red - Incendiary
• White - Illuminating and pyrotechnic
• Black - Armor-piercing
• Aluminum (silver) - Countermeasure.
• Blue - Practice

The most commonly used color for painting projectiles is dark olive. It is used only for camouflage and means nothing. But inscriptions on the projectile, for example in yellow, indicate that it is a high-explosive fragmentation projectile.

Colored bands on projectiles

Bands are usually used to identify the types of components in the munitions. However, in some cases the color of the band indicates the main use.

Band colors and their meaning:

• Yellow. High-explosive fragmentation effect (HE). Chemical elements are used to burst the body and, for example, to disperse a smoke mixture, toxic chemicals or scatter anti-personnel mines.

• Brown. Contains a low-explosive charge. Low-explosive charges are usually used for registration or for removing the payload from the projectile.

• Dark green. Contains a toxic chemical agent.

• Dark red. Contains a riot-control chemical agent.

• Violet. Contains an incapacitating chemical agent.

• White. Indicates an illuminating munition.

• Black. On a high-explosive fragmentation projectile this means armor-defeating capability.

Combining color codes

Some types of munitions can carry several color codes on one projectile
to identify the main use, the type of components and hazardous materials. (See the figure) Example:

1. Base color. Light green means the main use is smoke.
2. A yellow band means the item contains a high-explosive charge.
3. Markings. Light-red marks mean the item also has an incendiary effect.

Now, if you combine your knowledge of the color codes with what you have learned about markings, you can fully identify this item. It is a 155 mm howitzer smoke projectile filled with white phosphorus (WP), and it is a high-explosive fragmentation bursting projectile.

 Marking of projectiles by weight marks and colors

Related articles:

• Markings and inscriptions on projectiles
• Smoke and chemical projectiles — all pages of the section
• Illuminating projectiles — all pages of the section
• Cargo projectiles — all pages of the section
• High-explosive fragmentation projectiles — all pages of the section
• All EU-made 155 mm projectiles
• 155 mm smoke projectiles: how they work and how they lay a screen
• Cognitive information — all articles of the section