Flying ace after he became the first pilot to down five German aircraft. The British initially used the term "star-turns" (a show business term), while the Germans described their elite fighter pilots as "Überkanonen" (which roughly translates to "top guns"). The successes of such German ace pilots as Max Immelmann and Oswald Boelcke were much publicised for the benefit of civilian morale, and the "Pour le Mérite", Prussia’s highest award for gallantry, became part of the uniform of a leading German ace. In the "Luftstreitkräfte" the "Pour le Mérite" was nicknamed "Der blaue Max"/The Blue Max, after Max Immelmann, who was the
Ace of spades anti-peace sign. More recently, in 2003 a deck of most-wanted Iraqi playing cards was issued to US Soldiers during Operation Iraqi Freedom, each card had the picture of a wanted Iraqi official on it. Saddam Hussein got the nickname "Ace of Spades" as that card bore his image. Various idioms involving the ace of spades include "black as the ace of spades" (which can refer either to color or to race), or alternatively a lack of cleanliness in a person and the French expression "fagoté comme l'as de pique"—that is, "(badly) dressed like the ace of spades." Ace of spades