The 15th Air Force, like the 8th Air Force, prescribed distinctive colored markings for each of their fighter and bombardment groups as they needed a better way to keep track of them during missions. These markings were not designed by the groups themselves, but by higher headquarters.

In the 8th Air Force, P-47s originally were painted after March 1943 with a 24 inch wide cowl band, 15 inch wide bands on the horizontal stabilizers, and a 12 inch wide band on the vertical stabilizer to distinguish them from Fw 190s, when it was noticed they didn't use white as an identifying color. The exact size wasn't really important as the initial markings were often applied sloppily. Early P-51s arriving in theater in late 1943 received the same treatment through official channels, (air depots) including having stripes near the wing root. When it became USAAF policy to stop painting aircraft made after February 13, 1944, the identification markings changed to black on bare-metal aircraft. As more and more new units arrived or became equipped with the P-51 Mustang in spring 1944, a system of colored nose markings was gradually applied to all groups. Some units that operated P-47s until particularly late in the war used it, (i.e. the 78th and 353rd) while others (i.e. the 56th and 356th) generally didn't. The P-38 groups of the 8th Air Force (20th, 55th, 364th, 479th) didn't receive their markings at all until after they transitioned to P-51s.

8th Air Force Fighter Groups:

Fighter Group	Squadron (Code)	Squadron (Code)	Squadron (Code)	Marking
4th	334th (QP)	335th (WD)	336th (VF)	Red noses
20th	55th (KI)	77th (LC)	79th (MC)	White spinner tip and white band behind the black cowl identification band, and later "piano keys"
55th	38th (CG)	338th (CL)	343rd (CY)	Green and yellow spinner and checkerboard
56th (P-47)	61st (HV)	62nd (LM)	63rd (UN)	Red noses (squadron-color noses until late in the war)
78th	82nd (MX)	83rd (HL)	84th (WZ)	Black and white spinner and checkerboard
339th	503rd (D7)	504th (5Q)	505th (6N)	Red and white spinner and checkerboard
352nd	328th (PE)	486th (PZ)	487th (HO)	Blue noses and anti-glare panels
353rd	350th (LH)	351st (YJ)	352nd (SX)	Black and yellow spinner and checkerboard
355th	354th (WR)	357th (OS)	358th (YF)	White spinners
356th	359th (OC)	360th (PI)	361st (QI)	Blue and red checkerboard noses and anti-glare panels
357th	362nd (G4)	363rd (B6)	364th (C5)	Red and yellow spinner and checkerboard
359th	368th (CV)	369th (IV)	370th (CR/CS)	Green noses
361st	371st (B7)	375th (E2)	376th (CR/E9)	Yellow noses and/or anti-glare panels
364th	383rd (N2)	384th (5Y)	385th (5E)	Blue and white striped noses
479th	434th (L2)	435th (J2)	436th (9B)	Highly polished bare metal spinners

15th Air Force Fighter Groups:

Fighter Group	Squadron (Code)	Squadron (Code)	Squadron (Code)	Marking
1st	27th (HV)	71st (LM)	94th (UN)	Red spinners, stripes on tail booms with color (red, white or black, yellow) indicating squadron (27th, 71st, 94th)
14th	48th (fuselage numbers 1-30)	49th (31-60)	37th (61-90)	Red spinners; stripes on vertical fins with color (white, blue, red) indicating squadron (48th, 49th, 37th)
31st	307th (HL)	308th (MX)	309th (WZ)	Red spinners; striped red tails
52nd	2nd (QP)	4th (WD)	5th (VF)	Red spinners; completely yellow tails or yellow fuselage stripe
82nd	95th (A*; squadron letter followed by individual aircraft letter or number)	96th (B*)	97th (C*)	Red spinners and nose tips; colored tails (red, black, yellow) indicating squadron (95th, 96th, 97th)
325th	317th (10-39)	318th (40-69)	319th (70-99)	Red spinners; black and yellow checkered tails
332nd	99th (A1-A39)	100th (1-39)	301st (40-69)	302nd (70-99)