page_title: British heavy tanks of World War I
section_title: Markings
hierarchical_section_title: British heavy tanks of World War I / Markings
caption_attribution_description: Nederlands: Mark IV in het Koninklijk Museum van het Leger en de Krijgsgeschiedenis (29 jan 2005) - eigen foto English: British Mk IV Male tank Lodestar III in original colours.
context_page_description: British heavy tanks were a series of related armoured fighting vehicles developed by the UK during the First World War.
  The Mark I was the world's first tank, a tracked, armed, and armoured vehicle, to enter combat. The name "tank" was initially a code name to maintain secrecy and disguise its true purpose by making it appear to be a water transport vehicle for bringing water to the troops at the front line. The type was developed in 1915 to break the stalemate of trench warfare. It could survive the machine gun and small-arms fire in "No Man's Land", travel over difficult terrain, crush barbed wire, and cross trenches to assault fortified enemy positions with powerful armament. Tanks also carried supplies and troops.
  British heavy tanks are distinguished by an unusual rhomboidal shape with a high climbing face of the track, designed to cross the wide and deep trenches prevalent on the battlefields of the Western Front. Due to the height necessary for this shape, an armed turret would have made the vehicle too tall and unstable. Instead, the main armament was arranged in sponsons at the side of the vehicle.
context_section_description: When first deployed, British tanks were painted with a four-colour camouflage scheme devised by the artist Solomon Joseph Solomon. It was found that they quickly got covered with mud, rendering elaborate, camouflage paint schemes superfluous. In late 1916, the Solomon scheme was abandoned and tanks were painted with a single shade of dark brown.
  At the rear of the tank, a three, four or five digit serial number was painted in white or yellow at the factory. At the front there was a large tactical marking, a prefix letter indicating the company or battalion, and a number (training tanks had no letter, but three numbers). Some tanks had their tactical number painted on the roof for air recognition. Later, vertical red and white stripes were painted on the front to aid recognition after the Germans began deploying captured British tanks.
  Tanks were often given individual names and these were sometimes painted on the outside. A small handful were known to carry artwork (similar to aircraft nose art).
caption: The Mark IV tank Lodestar III at the Belgian Royal Museum of the Army, Brussels (2005). This tank retains its original paint
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