FM 1-02.

X
UNOFFICIAL MILITARY SYMBOL TECHNIQUES

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MARCH 2023
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 Defining Vehicle Types
Why does it matter what we call a tank? On Wikipedia, “armored fighting vehicle” can refer to any
military vehicle with weapons and armor, but normally a narrower definition is used. This can cause
confusion in the planning process with consequences ranging from annoying to deadly.
This guide will (hopefully) provide some tips and tricks that can help everyone get on the same
page so planning and execution go smoother!

That being said, this guide also has a lot of subjective assessments, so keep that in mind if you
plan to use this as a reference to start fights with people who outrank you.
There is currently no definition in FM 1-02.1 or FM 1-02.2 for the terms below, so lets fix that:
(There are probably better definitions out there, but I either haven’t fount them, or they’re not in unclassified publications)

Description
Symbol Proposed Definition
(FM 1-02.2)
Tank A (usually) tracked vehicle primarily designed to employ
(Generic) mobile, protected direct fires in offensive operations

Tank A tank with less than average armor protection, generally

(Light) trading protection for mobility

Tank A tank with average armor and mobility relative to other

(Medium) contemporary tanks

Tank A tank with above average armor protection, generally

(Heavy) trading mobility for protection

A troop-carrying, armored vehicle with the armor, protection,

Armored
and mobility to effectively engage most vehicles on the
Fighting
battlefield
Vehicle
Synonyms: Infantry Fighting Vehicle, Fighting Vehicle

Armored
A troop-carrying, armored vehicle that can withstand most
Personnel
machinegun and small arms fire, can be armed or unarmed
Carrier

Armored
Any vehicle with armor
Protected
(This icon represents a tracked vehicle unless specified otherwise with a mobility modifier such as “wheeled”)
Vehicle

Vehicle Any vehicle

(Generic) (Doctrine says this icon requires a mobility modifier to be complete such as “wheeled”, “tracked”, etc.)

No symbol Troop Carrier A troop-carrying vehicle with no or limited protection from

in (not mentioned in FM 1-02) small arms fire/fragmentation
FM 1-02.2
but often Generally interchangeable with “medium tank”;
Main Battle
referenced A tank with firepower, protection, and mobility on par with
Tank
most contemporary tanks
 Examples
(all images are courtesy of Wikipedia)
Vehicle icons can be drawn with or without a frame. Framed icons, like unit icons, are always drawn oriented up.
Unframed icons are often oriented in the same way as they are in the real world (e.g., gun pointing at target)

Symbol Examples

Tank
(generic)

This can be used

for any tank!
Leopard I T-90M Challenger 2

Light Tank
MPF BMP-T M551

Medium Tank
M1 Abrams LeClerc K2 Black Panther

Heavy Tank IS-3

M103 T28

Armored Fighting
Vehicle Marder AMX-10P
BMP-3

Armored Personnel
Carrier Namer
M113 VAB

Armored Vehicle
MT-LB M992 M1117 (with wheeled modifier)
 Useful Symbols Not Found in FM 1-02.2
It’s difficult to believe, but there are useful symbols that for one reason or another, appear in doctrine but are not in the
Military Symbols manual. This is a list of potentially useful ones. As always when deviating from official doctrine, it’s
important to make sure everyone knows the symbols before throwing them out there! The source for the symbol is
listed with a superscript number (e.g., “1”) that identifies which of the publications it came from (listed below).
Symbol Description Symbol Description

Mine Roller (attached to tank) 1 Company Commander3

Mine Plow (attached to tank) 1 Company Executive Officer3

Assault Breacher Vehicle (ABV) 1

Company First Sergeant3

Tank Recovery Vehicle2 Platoon Leader4

Armored Combat Service Platoon Sergeant4

Support Vehicle2

Smoke Generator2 Pathfinder (Ground to Air (GTA)

communication) 7

Armored Vehicle Launched Sniper8

Bridge8
S
Main Unit Icons

Air Traffic Heavy Motorized6 Mountain2 Firepower Unit6 Missile Unit6

Control5 Weapons2 (Infantry) (Infantry) (Chinese Doctrine;
Artillery, Air Defense, and
(Chinese Doctrine; Air
Can be confusing when Russia Defense, and Anti-Armor
(Infantry) calls mechanized troops
Current modifier is “ ” Anti-Armor all in one unit) all in one unit)
and hard to draw
Current modifier is “WPN” “motorized”; useful for describing (Both combine the main unit icons from each
and hard to draw truck mounted infantry, easier to component)
draw with a map pen than “ OOO “

1) ATP 3-90.1 – Armor and Mechanized Infantry Company Team (2016) References
2) FM 1-02 – Operational Terms and Graphics (2004)
6) ATP 7-100.3 – Chinese Tactics (2021)
3) ATP 3-21.10 – Infantry Rifle Company (2018)
7) ATP 3-21.38 – Pathfinder Operations (2006)
4) ATP 3-21.8 – Infantry Platoon and Squad (2016)
8) FM 101-5-1 – Operational Terms and Graphics (1997)
5) ATP 3-04.6 – Air Traffic Services Operations (2022)
 Unofficial Symbols
None of these symbols come from doctrine – use them at your own risk! They are an attempt to enable simple
and clear depiction of emerging capabilities. Hopefully these gaps will be filled by doctrine in the near future,
but in the meantime, leaders need to find ways to keep everyone on the same

Symbol Description / Notes / Example(s)

Troop Carrier – (APC icon without armor sides)

A different icon may help reinforce to mission planners that
troop carriers such as the Infantry Squad Vehicle are not Vertical Line Indicating Troop Carrier with
Embarked Squad Cross Country Mobility
fighting platforms and require different considerations
Rotary UAS – UAS equipment icon with Rotary Wing equipment icon as a modifier

Armed UAS – Vertically dropped explosives (UAS equipment icon with grenade
launcher icon pointing down)

Armed UAS – Missile (UAS equipment icon with missile icon pointing down)

Tiltrotor Aircraft – Half rotary, half fixed wing equipment icon (ugly, just like tiltrotors)

Balloon – It’s just a balloon

Combination guns/missiles – Missile and direct fire gun equipment icons

overlayed with each other

Destroyed/Abandoned Equipment – equipment icon circled with a dashed line

(because you can never be sure!) and “D” or “A” respectively.
D D
-Destroyed Equipment Destroyed Armored Fighting Vehicle

A A
-Abandoned Equipment Abandoned Tank