The nationality markings (hereinafter: insignia) on the planes of the Russian Air Force began to be used from their very inception, i.e. from 1912, when the Air Fleet of His Imperial Majesty was established. Emperor's Military Air Fleet). On the machines she uses, on the fuselages and wings, a uniform roundelle was most often used, consisting of three closely adjacent white, blue and red circles, the circle of which the largest diameter was red. It is worth adding that the largest area in such a roundelle was white. On the other hand, the stylized flag of the Russian Empire in the same colors as the roundelle with the following colors (looking from above): white, red and blue was used as the designation of the fin flash. Such markings were used until 1917 and partly during the Civil War (1917-1922). A specific successor of the air force of imperial Russia was the Soviet air force (rus. Voyenno-Vozdushnye Sily ), which were formed as early as 1918. In their case, a red, five-pointed star was used as a machine insignia, which was used both to mark the wings and fuselage of machines, but also to mark vertical fins (fin flash). In the interwar period and during World War II, a uniform red star or a red star with a white or gold border was most often used. After 1945, actually until now, the above-mentioned star with a white border is mainly used. It is worth adding that since 2010, theoretically, the official insignia of the aircraft of the Russian Federation is a red star with white and blue outlines, thus referring to the color of the Russian national flag.
The Polish air force began to use the red and white checkerboard as its hallmark from the end of 1918. In the first days of regaining independence, the white-and-red coat of arms or the Polish flag pointing downwards (with a red field on the right) were used as hallmarks. It is worth adding that the white and red checkerboard was initially the personal emblem of the pilot Stefan Stec, which was noticed on his plane by Lt. Hipolit £ossowski and recommended to the General Staff as a sign of nationality. From December 1, 1918, this chess game became the official hallmark of Polish aviation. In the years 1918-1921, a relatively simple chessboard with two white and two red squares without a dust jacket was used. In 1921, red dust covers were added to the white fields, and white ones to the red fields. Interestingly, this distinctive mark survived until 1993, when only the order of the squares in the chessboard was changed, keeping the general arrangement of the mark. It is worth adding that after the defeat of the September campaign, Polish airmen continued to use the white and red checkerboard to emphasize the nationality of their planes. In the case of machines used in France in 1939-1940, the checkerboard was painted in the middle of the fuselage, while in Great Britain (1940-1945) the checkerboard was much smaller and painted in the nose of the machine.