Unit Signs were a type of vehicle marking used in the Second World War (and afterward). The system of markings developed from early in the war, but underwent several changes before a relatively final form was reached in the mid-war period. The markings on this page reflect the late Second World War period. The purpose of unit signs was to ensure efficient traffic control and assist in recognition. Unit signs consisted of a Serial, usually in white, painted over a coloured background denoting the Arm of Service or Brigade that the unit belonged to. The unit signs were originally carried in metal frames attached to vehicles, and later in the war painted directly onto the vehicles themselves, on the front and rear mudguard. More details are in the general article on "Vehicle Markings."

A number of sources have published conflicting information regarding unit signs. following chart comes from two sources. In 1945, the Army Survey Establishment, Royal Canadian Engineers, published a "battle map" tracing the path of the 2nd Division through Northwest Europe and included all the unit signs as a decorative border, listing the signs as of 1945 (they were published on this website for several years.) Paul Schipper produced a chart in his article in Militaria Magazine, showing the unit signs of the 3rd Division, which disagrees with Jean Bouchery's book The Canadian Soldier. Secondary sources will always disagree, since the signs changed over time.

The information presented here comes from a memorandum from the files of 4th Canadian Armoured Division at the National Archives, dated 10 June 1944. Note that the source references "Support Battalions" and "Support Groups", which was a short-lived reorganization of the divisional machine gun battalions. The source also includes "divisional increments to corps troops" which are noted at the end of the list (these signs add a white 2" bar added to the top of the coloured background). Language in the listing has been kept as close to the source document as possible, even if not technically correct. For example "REME" is used instead of "RCEME" as this is what is present in the source document. Note also the source document listed the 36 LAD twice.

Sign	1st Canadian Division	2nd Canadian Division	3rd Canadian Division
	Headquarters 1st Canadian Infantry Division	Headquarters 2nd Canadian Infantry Division	Headquarters 3rd Canadian Infantry Division
	1 Cdn Inf Div Support Battalion (Saskatoon Light Infantry (M.G.))	2 Cdn Inf Div Support Battalion (Toronto Scottish (M.G.))	3 Cdn Inf Div Support Battalion (Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa (M.G.))
	4th Reconnaissance Regiment (4th Princess Louise Dragoon Guards)	8th Reconnaissance Regiment (14th Canadian Hussars)	7th Reconnaissance Regiment (The 17th Duke of York's Royal Canadian Hussars)
	68 Light Aid Detachment (B)	20 Light Aid Detachment (B)	62 Light Aid Detachment (B)
	Headquarters, 1st Canadian Infantry Division Artillery	Headquarters, 2nd Canadian Infantry Division Artillery	Headquarters, 3rd Canadian Infantry Division Artillery
	1st Field Regiment	4th Canadian Field Regiment	12th Canadian Field Regiment
	7 Light Aid Detachment (B)	19 Light Aid Detachment (B)	32 Light Aid Detachment (B)
	2nd Canadian Field Regiment	5th Canadian Field Regiment	13th Canadian Field Regiment
	8 Light Aid Detachment (B)	22 Light Aid Detachment (B)	33 Light Aid Detachment (B)
	3rd Canadian Field Regiment	6th Canadian Field Regiment	14th Canadian Field Regiment
	9 Light Aid Detachment (B)	24 Light Aid Detachment (B)	34 Light Aid Detachment (B)
	1st Canadian Anti-Tank Regiment	2nd Canadian Anti-Tank Regiment	3rd Canadian Anti-Tank Regiment
	13 Light Aid Detachment (B)	69 Light Aid Detachment (A)	35 Light Aid Detachment (A)
	2nd Canadian Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment	3rd Canadian Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment	4th Canadian Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment
	2nd Canadian Light Anti-Aircraft Workshop	3rd Canadian Light Anti-Aircraft Workshop	4th Canadian Light Anti-Aircraft Workshop
	Headquarters, 1st Canadian Division Engineers	Headquarters, 2nd Canadian Division Engineers	Headquarters, 3rd Canadian Division Engineers
	2nd Canadian Field Park Company, RCE	1st Canadian Field Park Company, RCE	3rd Canadian Field Park Company, RCE
	1st Canadian Field Company, RCE	2nd Canadian Field Company, RCE	6th Canadian Field Company, RCE
	3rd Canadian Field Company, RCE	7th Canadian Field Company, RCE	16th Canadian Field Company, RCE
	4th Canadian Field Company, RCE	11th Canadian Field Company, RCE	18th Canadian Field Company, RCE
	15 Light Aid Detachment (B)	23 Light Aid Detachment (B)	30 Light Aid Detachment (B)
	n/a	n/a	5 Field Company, RCE
	1st Canadian Infantry Division Signals	2nd Canadian Infantry Division Signals	3rd Canadian Infantry Division Signals
	14 Light Aid Detachment (B)	21 Light Aid Detachment (B)	31 Light Aid Detachment (B)
	1st Canadian Infantry Brigade HQ	4th Canadian Infantry Brigade HQ	7th Canadian Infantry Brigade HQ
	1 Cdn Inf Bde Support Group	4 Cdn Inf Bde Support Group	7 Cdn Inf Bde Support Group
	1 Light Aid Detachment (A)	16 Light Aid Detachment (A)	36 Light Aid Detachment (A)
	The Royal Canadian Regiment	The Royal Regiment of Canada	The Royal Winnipeg Rifles
	The Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment	The Royal Hamilton Light Infantry	The Regina Rifle Regiment
	48th Highlanders of Canada	The Essex Scottish Regiment	The Canadian Scottish Regiment
	2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade HQ	5th Canadian Infantry Brigade HQ	8th Canadian Infantry Brigade HQ
	2 Cdn Inf Bde Support Group	5 Cdn Inf Bde Support Group	8 Cdn Inf Bde Support Group
	2 Light Aid Detachment (A)	17 Light Aid Detachment (A)	37 Light Aid Detachment (A)
	Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI)	The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada	The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada
	The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada	Le Regiment de Maisonneueve	Le Regiment de la Chaudiere
	The Loyal Edmonton Regiment	The Calgary Highlanders	The North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment
	3rd Canadian Infantry Brigade HQ	6th Canadian Infantry Brigade HQ	9th Canadian Infantry Brigade HQ
	3 Cdn Inf Bde Support Group	6 Cdn Inf Bde Support Group	9 Cdn Inf Bde Support Group
	3 Light Aid Detachment (A)	18 Light Aid Detachment (A)	36 Light Aid Detachment (A)
	Royal 22e Regiment	Les Fusilier Mont-Royal	The Highland Light Infantry of Canada
	The Carleton and York Regiment	The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada	The Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders
	The West Nova Scotia Regiment	The South Saskatchewan Regiment	The North Nova Scotia Highlanders
	Headquarters 1st Canadian Infantry Division Royal Canadian Army Service Corps (RCASC)	Headquarters 2nd Canadian Division Royal Canadian Army Service Corps (RCASC)	Headquarters 3rd Canadian Division Royal Canadian Army Service Corps (RCASC)
	1st Canadian Infantry Division Troops Company	2nd Canadian Infantry Division Troops Company	3rd Canadian Infantry Division Troops Company
	1st Canadian Infantry Brigade Company	4th Canadian Infantry Brigade Company	7th Canadian Infantry Brigade Company
	2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade Company	5th Canadian Infantry Brigade Company	8th Canadian Infantry Brigade Company
	3rd Canadian Infantry Brigade Company	6th Canadian Infantry Brigade Company	9th Canadian Infantry Brigade Company
	4th Canadian Field Ambulance	10th Canadian Field Ambulance	14th Canadian Field Ambulance
	5th Canadian Field Ambulance	11th Canadian Field Ambulance	22nd Canadian Field Ambulance
	9th Canadian Field Ambulance	18th Canadian Field Ambulance	23rd Canadian Field Ambulance
	1st Canadian Field Dressing Station	21st Canadian Field Dressing Station	5th Canadian Field Dressing Station
	2nd Canadian Field Dressing Station	4th Canadian Field Dressing Station	7th Canadian Field Dressing Station
	2nd Canadian Field Hygiene Section	13th Canadian Field Hygiene Section	7th Canadian Field Hygiene Section
	Headquarters, 1st Canadian Infantry Division Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers	Headquarters, 2nd Canadian Infantry Division Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers	Headquarters, 3rd Canadian Infantry Division Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
	1st Canadian Infantry Brigade Workshop	4th Canadian Infantry Brigade Workshop	7th Canadian Infantry Brigade Workshop
	2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade Workshop	5th Canadian Infantry Brigade Workshop	8th Canadian Infantry Brigade Workshop
	3rd Canadian Infantry Brigade Workshop	6th Canadian Infantry Brigade Workshop	9th Canadian Infantry Brigade Workshop
	1st Canadian Provost Company	2nd Canadian Provost Company	4th Canadian Provost Company
	1st Canadian Infantry Division Postal Unit	2nd Canadian Infantry Division Postal Unit	3rd Canadian Infantry Division Postal Unit
	1st Canadian Field Security Section	2nd Canadian Field Security Section	3rd Canadian Field Security Section
Divisional Increments to Corps Troops
Sign	1st Canadian Division	2nd Canadian Division	3rd Canadian Division
	1st Canadian Infantry Division Troops Workshop	n/a	n/a
	n/a	2nd Canadian Infantry Division Troops Workshop	n/a
	n/a	n/a	3rd Canadian Infantry Division Troops Workshop
	1st Canadian Infantry Division Sub Park	n/a	n/a
	n/a	2nd Canadian Infantry Division Sub Park	n/a
	n/a	n/a	3rd Canadian Infantry Division Sub Park
	1st Canadian Infantry Division Section Refit Camp	2nd Canadian Infantry Division Section Refit Camp	3rd Canadian Infantry Division Section Refit Camp
	1st Canadian Infantry Division Field Cash Office	2nd Canadian Infantry Division Field Cash Office	3rd Canadian Infantry Division Field Cash Office

References

See also Dingwall, Don Canadian Vehicle Markings: A Comprehensive Guide to the Colours and Markings of the Canadian Army Overseas During WWII (Canadian Tracks Publishing, Carp, ON)

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