page_title: Victory marking
hierarchical_section_title: Victory marking
caption_attribution_description: English: Lieutenant-Colonel James H Howard of the 354th Fighter Group in his P-51 Mustang April 1944.
context_page_description: A victory marking is a symbol applied in stencil or decal to the side of a military aircraft to denote an aerial victory achieved by the aircraft's pilot or crew. The use of victory markings originated during World War I, burgeoned during World War II and frequently took the form of the roundel or national flag of the nationality of the aircraft defeated.
  In the United States Air Force, as of 2010, victory markings are applied in the form of six inch green stars set within a black border with the type of aircraft defeated stenciled inside the star in white lettering.
  Several examples of victory markings being applied to aircraft for reasons other than aerial victories exist. During the period of its use for astronaut recovery, the U.S. Navy's Helicopter 66 bore victory marks showing a space capsule silhouette, with one mark added for each recovery in which it participated. Meanwhile, in 2012, a Luftwaffe Eurofighter was spotted with a kill mark denoting a victory over a U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor achieved in a simulated dogfight during a training exercise.
context_section_description: A victory marking (also called a victory mark, kill marking, or kill mark) is a symbol applied in stencil or decal to the side of a military aircraft to denote an aerial victory achieved by the aircraft's pilot or crew. The use of victory markings originated during World War I,  burgeoned during World War II and frequently took the form of the roundel or national flag of the nationality of the aircraft defeated.
  In the United States Air Force, as of 2010, victory markings are applied in the form of six inch green stars set within a black border with the type of aircraft defeated stenciled inside the star in white lettering.
  Several examples of victory markings being applied to aircraft for reasons other than aerial victories exist. During the period of its use for astronaut recovery, the U.S. Navy's Helicopter 66 bore victory marks showing a space capsule silhouette, with one mark added for each recovery in which it participated. Meanwhile, in 2012, a Luftwaffe Eurofighter was spotted with a kill mark denoting a victory over a U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor achieved in a simulated dogfight during a training exercise.
caption: Photograph of Lt Col James H. Howard's P-51 Mustang showing 12 kill marks for aerial victories over German and Japanese pilots
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