Military map symbol for a friendly land unit or formation.
The blue frame and icon were defined in APP-6 to indicate friendly. In APP-6A, the friendly frame and icon could be produced in blue (typical for hand drawn or on when used over a bright background in electronic display) or cyan (for use over darker backgrounds in electronic display). In APP-6, all units were represented by a rectangle with dimensions that varied from 1.5 by 1 to 1.7 by 1. The 1.5 by 1.0 frame was stated as the standard dimension for a friendly unit in APP-6A.
The proper shape of the armoured icon is supposed to be a lozenge shape, but an oval shape is often substituted, likely because it is easier to create in the draw function of many word processors. The oval depection even appeared in US and Canadian doctrine standards for map symbols:
- US Army's FM 1-02 Operational Terms and Graphics September 2004

- Canadian Army's B-GL-331-003/FP-001 Military Symbols for Land Operations addendum 27 June 2005
Own work
CdnMCG