APP-6A, Military Symbols for Land Based Systems was the NATO standard for military

map marking symbols. APP-6A was promulgated in December 1999. The NATO
standardization agreement that covers APP-6A is STANAG 2019 (edition 4), promulgated in
December 2000. APP-6A replaced APP-6 (last version, July 1986), which had been
promulgated in November 1984 (edition 3 of STANAG 2019 covered APP-6), and was
replaced in turn by APP-6B in 2008. The U.S. is the current custodian of APP-6A. The
initialism APP (pronounced "a-pee-pee") stands for Allied Procedural Publication.

APP-6A's American equivalent standard is MIL-STD-2525A, Common Warfighting

Symbology; the contents are essentially identical, but MIL-STD-2525 has been evolving
faster than NATO's APP-6. MIL-STD-2525 was issued in September 1994, MIL-STD-2525A
in December 1996, MIL-STD-2525A Change 1 in July 1997, MIL-STD-2525B in January
1999, MIL-STD-2525B Change 1 in July 2005, MIL-STD-2525B Change 2 in March 2007,
and MIL-STD-2525C in November 2008. APP-6A is considerably different from APP-6,
while the successive versions of MIL-STD-2525 more or less maintain continuity. APP-6B
seems to be a subset of MIL-STD-2525C.

The APP-6A standard provides common operational symbology along with details on their
display and plotting to ensure the compatibility, and to the greatest extent possible, the
interoperability of NATO Land Component Command, Control, Communications, Computer,
and Intelligence (C4I) systems, development, operations, and training. APP-6A addresses the
efficient transmission of symbology information through the use of a standard methodology
for symbol hierarchy, information taxonomy, and symbol identifiers.

These symbols are designed to enhance NATO’s joint interoperability by providing a

standard set of common symbols. APP-6A constitutes a single system of joint military
symbology for land based formations and units, which can be displayed for either automated
map display systems or for manual map marking. It covers all of the joint services and can be
used by them.

Contents
[hide]

 1 Symbol sets
 2 Icon-based symbols
 3 Status
 4 Affiliation
 5 Battle dimension
 6 Symbol modifiers
o 6.1 Graphic modifiers
 6.1.1 Feints/dummies and installations
 6.1.2 Mobility and auxiliary equipment
o 6.2 Text modifiers
 7 Unit icons
 8 Equipment icons
 9 Installation icons
 10 Modifier Icons
 11 Common combinations
  12 Unit sizes
 13 Other information
 14 References
 15 External links

[edit] Symbol sets

APP-6A recognises five broad sets of symbols, each set using its own SIDC (Symbol
identification coding) scheme:

 Units, Equipment, and Installations

 Military Operations (Tactical graphics)
 METOC (Meteorological and Oceanographic)
 Signals Intelligence
 MOOTW (Military Operations Other Than War)

Units, Equipment, and Installations consist of icons, generally framed, associated with a
single point on the map. All sorts of graphical and textual modifiers may surround them,
specifying categories, quantities, dates, direction of movement, etc.

Tactical graphics represent operational information that cannot be presented via icon-based
symbols alone: unit boundaries, special area designations, and other unique markings related
to battlespace geometry and necessary for battlefield planning and management. There are
point, line and area symbols in this category.

Meteorological and oceanographic symbology is the only set not under the standard's control:
rather, they are imported from the symbology established by the World Meteorological
Organization.

The Signals Intelligence and Military Operations Other Than War symbology sets stand apart
from Units, Equipment, and Installations although they obey the same conventions (i.e., they
consist of framed symbols associated to points on the map). They do not appear in APP-6A
proper, having been introduced by MIL-STD-2525B.

[edit] Icon-based symbols

Most of the symbols designate specific points, and consist of a frame (a geometric border), a
fill, a constituent icon, and optional symbol modifiers. The latter are optional text fields or
graphic indicators that provide additional information.

The frame provides a visual indication of the affiliation, battle dimension, and status of an
operational object. The use of shape and colour is redundant, allowing the symbology to be
used under less-than-ideal conditions such as a monochrome red display to preserve the
operator's night vision. Nearly all symbols are highly stylised and can be drawn by persons
almost entirely lacking in artistic skill; this allows one to draw a symbolic representation (a
GRAPHREP, Graphical report) using tools as rudimentary as plain paper and pencil.
The frame serves as the base to which other symbol components and modifiers are added. In
most cases a frame surrounds an icon. One major exception is equipment, which may be
represented by icons alone (in which case the icons are coloured as the frame would be).

The fill is the area within a symbol. If the fill is assigned a colour, it provides an enhanced
(redundant) presentation of information about the affiliation of the object. If colour is not
used, the fill is transparent. A very few icons have fills of their own, which are not affected
by affiliation.

The icons themselves, finally, can be understood as combinations of elementary glyphs that
use simple composition rules, in a manner reminiscent of some ideographic writing systems
such as Chinese. The standard, however, still attempts to provide an "exhaustive" listing of
possible icons instead of laying out a dictionary of component glyphs. This causes
operational problems when the need for an unforeseen symbol arises (particularly in
MOOTW), a problem exacerbated by the administratively centralised maintenance of the
symbology sets.

[edit] Status
The status of a symbol refers to whether a warfighting object exists at the location identified
(i.e., status is "present") or will in the future reside at that location (i.e., status is "planned,
anticipated, suspected," or "on order"). Regardless of affiliation, present status is indicated by
a solid line and planned status by a dashed line. The frame is solid or dashed, unless the
symbol icon is unframed, in which case the icon itself is drawn dashed. Planned status cannot
be shown if the symbol is an unframed filled icon.

[edit] Affiliation
Affiliation refers to your relationship to the operational object being represented. The basic
affiliation categories are: unknown, friend, neutral, and hostile. In the ground unit domain, a
yellow quatrefoil frame is used to denote unknown affiliation, a blue rectangle frame to
denote friendly affiliation, a green square frame to denote neutral affiliation, and a red
diamond frame to denote hostile affiliation. In the other domains (air and space, sea surface
and subsurface, etc.), the same color scheme is used.

Unknown Friend Neutral Hostile

The full set of affiliations is:

 Pending (P)
 Unknown (U)
 Assumed Friend (A)
 Friend (F)
  Neutral (N)
 Suspect (S) (Assumed Hostile)
 Hostile (H)
 Exercise Pending (G)
 Exercise Unknown (W)
 Exercise Assumed Friend (M)
 Exercise Friend (D)
 Exercise Neutral (L)
 Joker (J) (Exercise Suspect)
 Faker (K) (Exercise Hostile)

Oddly, there are as yet no "Assumed Neutral" and "Exercise Assumed Neutral" affiliations.

[edit] Battle dimension

Battle dimension defines the primary mission area for the operational object within the
battlespace. An object can have a mission area above the Earth's surface (i.e., in the air or
outer space), on it, or below it. If the mission area of an object is on the surface, it can be
either on land or sea. The subsurface dimension concerns those objects whose mission area is
below the sea surface (e.g., submarines and sea mines). Some cases require adjudication; for
example, an Army or Marine helicopter unit is a manoeuvring unit (i.e., a unit whose ground
support assets are included) and is thus represented in the land dimension. Likewise, a
landing craft whose primary mission is ferrying personnel or equipment to and from shore is
a maritime unit and is represented in the sea surface dimension. A landing craft whose
primary mission is to fight on land, on the other hand, is a ground asset and is represented in
the land dimension.

Closed frames are used to denote the land and sea surface dimensions, frames open at the
bottom denote the air/space dimension, and frames open at the top denote the subsurface
dimension.

Air and Space Ground Sea surface Subsurface

Friend

Neutral

Hostile
 Unknown

An unknown battle dimension is possible; for example, some electronic warfare signatures
(e.g., radar systems) are common to several battle dimensions and would therefore be
assigned an "Unknown" battle dimension until further discrimination becomes possible.

The full set of battle dimensions is:

 Space (P)
 Air (A)
 Ground (G)
 Sea Surface (S)
 Sea Subsurface (U)
 SOF (F)
 Other (X)
 Unknown (Z)

The letter in parentheses is used by the Symbol identification coding (SIDC) scheme —
strings of 15 characters used to transmit symbols.

The Space and Air battle dimensions share a single frame shape. In the Ground battle
dimension, two different frames are used for the Friendly (and Assumed Friendly) affiliations
in order to distinguish between units and equipment. The SOF (Special Operations Forces)
are assigned their own battle dimension because they typically can operate across several
domains (air, ground, sea surface and subsurface) in the course of a single mission; the
frames are the same as for the Ground (unit) battle dimension. The Other battle dimension,
finally, seems to be reserved for future use (there are no instances of its use as of 2525B
Change 1).

[edit] Symbol modifiers

APP-6A stops with field AB. MIL-STD-2525B and 2525B Change 1 add a number of other
modifiers.
Positions of the various graphic modifiers around the symbol (itself field A). MIL-STD-
2525B Change 1 fails to specify where to place fields AD, AE, and AF.

[edit] Graphic modifiers

 Echelon (field B) Identifies command level (see Unit sizes, below).

 Task Force (field D) Identifies a unit as a task force. It may be used alone or in
combination with Echelon, like so:
 Frame Shape Modifier (field E) A short textual modifier that completes the affiliation,
battle dimension, or exercise description of an object ("U", "?", "X", "XU", "X?", "J"
or "K"). It is treated as a graphic modifier, however.
 Direction of Movement (field Q) A fixed-length arrow that identifies the direction of
movement or intended movement of an object. It emanates from the symbol's centre
except in the ground domain, where it is hooked to a short offset, straight down from
the symbol's base centre (see diagram).
 Mobility Indicator (field R) Depicts the mobility of an object (see Mobility, below). It
is used only with equipment.
 Headquarters Staff or Offset Location (field S) Identifies a unit as a headquarters, or
indicates the object's actual location on the map when it has been shifted away in
order to declutter the display. It goes straight down from the symbol's centre left, then
angles towards the actual location (see diagram).
 Feint/Dummy (field AB) Identifies a unit intended to draw the enemy’s attention
away from the area of the main attack, or a decoy designed to fool enemy intelligence.
It consists of a dashed chevron, placed above the frame, like the echelon graphic
modifier (the standard is unclear as to how the two combine graphically). See
Feints/Dummies, below.
 Installation (field AC) Identifies a particular symbol as an installation. It sits atop the
frame. See Installations, below.
 Auxiliary Equipment (field AG) Indicates the presence of a towed sonar array (used
exclusively in the sea surface or subsurface battle dimensions). It sits below the
frame, like field R (see Auxiliary equipment, below).
 Area of Uncertainty (field AH) Indicates the area where an object is most likely to be,
based on the object’s last report and the reporting accuracy of the sensor that detected
it. This can take various forms, such as an ellipse, a bounding box, or lines indicating
probable bearing and distance.
 Dead Reckoning Trailer (field AI) Identifies where an object should be located at
present, given its last reported course and speed. This can take the form of a dotted
line (extending from the symbol to the dead-reckoned position) or a dotted circle
 (bounding the zone the object may have reached since, when the direction of
movement is unknown or uncertain).
 Speed Leader (field AJ) Depicts the speed and direction of movement of an object. It
is identical to the Direction of Movement indicator except that its length is variable
(and there is no arrow head).
 Pairing Line (field AK) Connects two objects.

[edit] Feints/dummies and installations

Feint/Dummy Installations

[edit] Mobility and auxiliary equipment

Wheeled
Wheeled
(limited
cross- Tracked Half-tracked Towed Railway
cross-
country
country)

Snowmobile Sled Pack animals Barge Amphibious  

Short towed array (typ. Long towed array (typ.

 
sonar) sonar)

[edit] Text modifiers

 Quantity (field C) Identifies the number of equipment items present.

  Reinforced or Reduced (field F) Displays (+) for reinforced, (-) for reduced, (±) for
reinforced and reduced.
 Staff Comments (field G)
 Additional Information (field H)
 Evaluation Rating (field J) A letter-and-number reliability and credibility rating,
assigned by Intelligence.
 Combat Effectiveness (field K)
 Signature Equipment (field L) Used for hostile equipment; "!" indicates a detectable
electronic signature.
 Higher Formation (field M) Number or title of higher echelon command.
 Hostile (Enemy) (field N) "ENY" denotes hostile equipment.
 IFF/SIF (field P) IFF/SIF Identification modes and codes.
 SIGINT Mobility Indicator (field R2) "M" for Mobile, "S" for Static, "U" for
Uncertain.
 Unique Designation (field T)
 Type (field V)
 Date/Time Group (DTG) (field W) Indicates the symbol's date and time stamp.
 Altitude/Height/Depth (field X)
 Location (field Y) Location in degrees, minutes, and seconds (or in UTM or other
applicable display format).
 Speed (field Z) Velocity as set forth in MIL-STD-6040.
 Special C2 Headquarters (field AA)
 Platform Type (field AD) "ELNOT" (Electronic Intelligence Notation) or "CENOT"
(Communications Intelligence Notation)
 Equipment Teardown Time (field AE) In minutes.
 Common Identifier (field AF) Example: "Hawk" for a Hawk SAM system.

[edit] Unit icons

The icon is the innermost part of a symbol which, when displayed, provides an abstract
pictorial or alphanumeric representation of an operational object. The icon portrays the role
or mission performed by the object. APP-6A distinguishes between icons that must be framed
or unframed and icons where framing is optional.

Unit symbol Unit type

Air Defence

Ammunition

Anti-tank

Armour (Stylized tank treads)

Field artillery (Simplified version of the Artillery insignia, a cannonball)

Aviation (rotary wing)

Aviation (fixed wing)

Bridging

Combat Service Support

Engineer

Electronic Warfare

Explosive Ordnance Disposal

Fuel (POL: Petroleum, Oil, and Lubricants)

Hospital (personnel)

HQ

Infantry (evocative of the crossed bandoliers of Napoleonic infantry)

Maintenance

Medical

Meteorological

Missile

Mortar

Military Police (or "SP" for Shore Patrol)

 Navy

NBC Defence

Ordnance

Radar

Psychological Operations

Reconnaissance (or cavalry; inspired by the cavalry's sabre strap)

Signals

Special Forces

Special Operations Forces

Supply

Topographical

Transportation

Unmanned Air Vehicle

[edit] Equipment icons

Equipment icons are "frame optional".

Equipment symbol (framed) (unframed) Equipment type

Bridge (e.g. AVLB)

[edit] Installation icons

Installation symbol Installation type
Bridge production

[edit] Modifier Icons

These unit type symbols can be combined, for example to represent armoured infantry units.
There are also symbols that can be used to modify other unit symbols (they cannot appear by
themselves):

Modifier symbol Meaning

Airborne (including Air Assault and Paratrooper forces)

Paratrooper

Airmobile

Airmobile with organic lift

Amphibious

Motorized

Mountain

Rocket

Wheeled

[edit] Common combinations

Some of the most common combinations are:

Modifier
Meaning
symbol
Mountain Infantry examples: Italy's Alpini, Germany's Gebirgsjäger, France's
Chasseurs Alpins, United States 10th Mountain Division
Parachute Infantry example: 82nd Airborne Division (United States), Division
Spezielle Operationen (Germany), United Kingdom's Parachute Regiment, 3rd
Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (Australia)
Airmobile Infantry example: 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault),
Jägerregiment 1
Mechanized Infantry example: US 3rd Infantry Division (equipment example:
M113 APC),
Combined Arms (new symbol for the Maneuver Elements of the US Heavy
Brigade Combat Teams) example: US 1st Armored Division
Mechanized Infantry equipped with Infantry Fighting Vehicles equipment
examples: M2 Bradley, BMP-3, Dardo IFV
Amphibious Mechanized Infantry example: 1st Marine Regiment (United
States) equipment example: Amphibious Assault Vehicle
Mechanized Infantry (wheeled-"medium") equipment examples: 3rd Brigade
(US 2nd Infantry Division), Stryker, Patria AMV, Mowag Piranha, BTR-80,
Freccia (with machine gun turrets)
Mechanized Infantry (wheeled-"medium") equipped with wheeled Infantry
Fighting Vehicles equipment examples: Stryker, Patria AMV, Mowag Piranha,
BTR-90, Freccia (with autocannon turrets)

Tank Destroyer equipment examples: B1 Centauro, AMX 10 RC

Wheeled Armoured Reconnaissance equipment examples: Fennek, VBL,

BRDM-2, ASLAV
Armoured Engineers equipment examples: M60A1 AVLB, Bergepanzer BPz3.
Also engineers mounted in IFVs such as Bradley or Warrior.
Self-propelled Anti-Aircraft Artillery equipment examples: FlaKPz Gepard,
SA-19 "Grison", Type 95 SPAAA
Armoured Artillery equipment examples: M109 howitzer, PzH 2000, 2S19
Msta, AS90

Mountain Artillery equipment example: OTO Melara Mod 56

Multiple Rocket Launcher equipment example: M270 MLRS

Wheeled Multiple Rocket Launcher equipment example: HIMARS, Pinaka,

BM-27 Uragan, Astros II MLRS

Missile Air Defence equipment example: MIM-104 Patriot, Roland

Attack Helicopter equipment examples: AH-64 Apache, AH-1 Cobra,

Eurocopter Tiger, Mil Mi-28, Kamov Ka-50, Agusta A129 Mangusta
Medium Transport Helicopter equipment examples: CH-53E Super Stallion,
CH-46 Sea Knight, UH-60 Blackhawk, Mi-17 Hip
 Aerial refueling equipment examples: KC-135 Stratotanker, Il-78 Midas

an Airmobile Supply Transport Unit

[edit] Unit sizes

Above the unit symbol, a symbol representing the size of the unit can be displayed. Here are
the different possibilities:

Typical rank of
leader
Typical no. of No. of subordinate (Commonwealth
Symbol Name personnel units and USA)
XXXXX Region or 250,000 + Several army groups Commonwealth:Fiel
X Theatre (very d Marshal
rare in US:General of the
peacetime) Army
XXXXX Army Group 120,000 + Several armies Commonwealth:Fiel
(rare in d Marshal
peacetime) US:General of the
Army
XXXX Army 100,000 Nominally several General
corps, typically 5–10
Divisions.
XXX Corps 30,000–60,000 Several divisions Lieutenant General
XX Division 10,000–20,000 Nominally several Major General
Brigades, typically ~10
Battalions plus support
units.
X Brigade or 2000–5000 Several U.S. Battalions Commonwealth:
Commonwealth U.S, 4,000– or 2–50 Commonwealth Brigadier or Major
Regiment 20,000 tactical (field) General
[Administrative Commonwealt Regiments. Largest US: Colonel
] h permanent grouping for
Commonwealth units.
III Group or 500–2000 3–7 Batallions or Colonel or
Commonwealth Wings. Commonwealth
Regiment Group Captain
[Tactical]
II Battalion or 300–1000 2–6 Companies, Lieutenant colonel or
equivalent, e.g. Batteries, U.S. Troops, Commonwealth
Commonwealth or Commonwealth Wing Commander
 Regiment (some Squadrons.
countries/arms
only) & Wing
or U.S. Cavalry
Squadron.
I Company or 60–250 Several U.S. Platoons Captain or Squadron
equivalent, e.g. or Commonwealth Leader assisted by a
Commonwealth Platoons/Troops/Flights First Lieutenant or
Squadron or . Flight Lieutenant
U.S. Artillery Also assisted by a
Battery & Company Sergeant
Cavalry Troop Major, Master
Aircrew/Warrant
Officer
(Commonwealth) or
by a First Sergeant
(US)
••• Platoon or 25–40 Several squads, Commonwealth:
equivalent, e.g. sections, or vehicles. Lieutenant or Flight
Commonwealth Lieutenant assisted
Flight & Troop by a Staff Sergeant,
(certain Colour Sergeant or
corps/armies Flight Sergeant
only) or French US: Second
Army Section. Lieutenant assisted
by a Sergeant First
Class (or Gunnery
Sergeant in USMC)
•• Section or 7–13 2–3 Fireteams Commonwealth:
Squad [implies Corporal or Sergeant
inherent light US: Sergeant or Staff
machine gun] Sergeant
• Crew or Patrol 5–10 1–2 Fireteams Commonwealth:
[implies Corporal or sergeant
absence of light US: Sergeant or Staff
machine gun] Sergeant
Ø Fireteam 3–5 n/a Commonwealth:
Lance Corporal or
Corporal
US: Corporal or
Sergeant
ø Fire and 2 n/a n/a
maneuver team

[edit] Other information

On the lower left of the unit symbol, the name of the unit can be displayed; on the lower
right, the name of the unit it is part of can be displayed (if applicable).