The practice of putting personalized decorations on fighting aircraft originated with Italian and German pilots. The first recorded piece of nose art was a sea monster painted on the nose of an Italian flying boat in 1913. This was followed by the popular tradition of painting mouths underneath the propeller spinner, initiated by the German pilots in World War I, and exemplified by the cavallino of Francesco Baracca. After these beginnings, though, most nose art was conceived and produced by the aircraft ground crews, not the pilots.Some World War I examples became famous, including the "Hat in the Ring" of the USAAF 94h Aero Squadron (attributed to Lt. Johnny Wentworth) or the "Kicking Mule" of the 95th Aero Squadron. This followed the official policy, established by the AEF's Chief of the Air Service, Brigadier Benjamin Foulois, on 6 May 1918, insisting units have their own distinct, readily identifiable insigne. Nose art was not common practice during Depression-era Army Air Corps austerity, but it would be during the global crisis of World War II that the practice of naming aircraft flourished, with some merely christened, others artistically adorned with cartoons and pin-ups. Puns and references to popular culture were common subjects.
While the nose art in World War I were mainly embellished or extravagant squadron insignia, true nose art started to occur in World War II, which is considered the golden age of nose art by many observers, with both Axis and Allied pilots taking part. At the height of the war, nose-artists were in very high demand in the Army Air Force and were paid quite well for their services while AAF officials tolerated the nose art in an effort to boost the morale of the crew. The U.S. Navy, by contrast, prohibited nose art. In RAF or RCAF service, in addition, nose art seems not to have been commonplace.
