Nose art
Nose art is a decorative painting or design on the fuselage of an aircraft, usually on the front. It began for the practical purpose of identifying friendly units and grew into a way for crews to express the individuality the military constrained, to remember home, and to steady themselves against the stresses of war.
Definition
Nose art is largely a military tradition. It was rarely officially approved, even where rules against it were not enforced, and part of its appeal came from that. Because it is individual and unofficial, it is considered folk art, tied to work and representative of a group, and it has been compared with graffiti: the artist is often anonymous, the work ephemeral, and the materials whatever came to hand.
For collectors of clothing, nose art matters because the same painters and the same images moved from aircraft to the backs of flight jackets. In our handling, a painted A-2 back is the nose art a crew could carry home.
Origin
Personal decoration on fighting aircraft began with Italian and German pilots. The first recorded example was a sea monster painted on an Italian flying boat in 1913, followed by the German First World War practice of painting a mouth beneath the propeller spinner. The shark face, perhaps the most famous nose art of all and later made famous by the Flying Tigers of the American Volunteer Group, first appeared in the First World War on a British Sopwith Dolphin and a German Roland C.II.
In the Second World War, bomber crews, who suffered high casualty rates, often formed strong bonds with their aircraft and decorated them affectionately. The pin-ups of Alberto Vargas and George Petty in Esquire magazine were often copied or adapted onto American and allied aircraft. Tony Starcer, resident artist of the 91st Bomb Group of the Eighth Air Force, painted more than a hundred pieces of B-17 nose art, including Memphis Belle. After the war, Strategic Air Command allowed nose art on its bombers in its last years, with the pin-up returning, fully clothed.
Key facts
| Definition | Painting on an aircraft's fuselage, usually the front |
|---|---|
| First recorded | Sea monster on an Italian flying boat, 1913 |
| Famous motif | Shark mouth, from the First World War; Flying Tigers |
| Second World War sources | Vargas and Petty pin-ups from Esquire |
| Status | Unofficial folk art |
How to identify it
- Name the subject. Pin-ups, cartoon characters, animals, bombs and mission tallies each belong to recognisable traditions.
- Period or later. In our handling, wartime jacket paint is cracked and worn into the leather; later paint sits on top; new paint on a reproduction is often signed. The house describes each as it reads.
- Named aircraft. Many backs copy the name and art of a real aircraft. Check the name against the aircraft it claims.
- Squadron patches. In our handling, a painted back often travels with a squadron patch on the chest; read the two together, and check that the unit and the aircraft belong to the same story.
- Licensed characters. Cartoon nose art was common in the war; on modern jackets, characters are often licensed and labelled as such.
Where it appears in the collection
Nose art lives on the flight jacket and nose art shelf. Examples include a wartime Perry Sportswear A-2 with Donald Duck, a hand-painted B-3 with a Heavenly Body pin-up and a Buzz Rickson's Jokers Wild II custom A-2. For the painted backs, see our guide to WWII A-2 back paint.
Related entries
- A-2 jacket: the jacket most often painted.
- Horsehide: the leather under the paint.
- Sukajan: the souvenir jacket that put similar images into embroidery.
Sources
- Nose art, encyclopaedia entry, history, World War II and post-war sections. wikipedia.org
Last reviewed 15 November 2026. The Japonista Curation and Concierge Team, Tokyo, Japan.