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Military symbols (APP-6 / MIL-STD-2525)

Markers gain an optional sidc field. When set, maproll renders the NATO Joint Military Symbology glyph for that code — the affiliation-framed unit / equipment / installation icon that defense desks, OSINT researchers, conflict journalists, wargamers and think-tanks already work with — instead of one of the 30 generic icons.

Powered by milsymbol. Supports APP-6 B/D/E and MIL-STD-2525 C/D/E + FM 1-02.2.

Quick example​

curl -sS -X POST 'https://api.maproll.io/render/map' \
  -H 'content-type: application/json' \
  --data-binary @- <<'JSON' > /tmp/app6.svg
{
  "scope": "world", "theme": "dark", "width": 1400,
  "markers": [
    { "lat": 48.5, "lon": 38.0, "sidc": "30031000001211000000", "label": "Friendly Mech Inf" },
    { "lat": 49.8, "lon": 36.0, "sidc": "30061000001211000000", "label": "Hostile Mech Inf" }
  ]
}
JSON

Or via GET URL — the SIDC goes in the icon slot (type-distinguished from named icons by being all digits):

https://api.maproll.io/map.svg?scope=world&theme=dark&markers=40,-30:30031000001211000000:1-64+AR
Friendly mech inf SIDC marker

When to use this vs icon​

If you have…Use
A formal SIDC (your data already uses APP-6 / 2525)sidc
A generic point of interest (airport, factory, fire)icon
A polygon (area of interest, exclusion zone)shapes
A route or flow lineroutes

icon and sidc are mutually exclusive on a single marker. Pick one.

SIDC format​

A Symbol Identification Code is a digit string of length 20 (APP-6E / 2525D core) or 30 (APP-6E / 2525E full). The leading digits encode:

  • Standard identity (friend / hostile / neutral / unknown / suspect / assumed friend)
  • Symbol set (units / equipment / installations / activities / SIGINT / cyberspace / …)
  • Status (present / anticipated / damaged / destroyed / full to capacity)
  • Headquarters / task force / dummy
  • Echelon / amplifier (platoon / company / battalion / brigade / …)
  • Main icon + modifiers (the specific unit / equipment / activity)

maproll does not validate semantic correctness — it checks the length and lets milsymbol render. A syntactically-correct but semantically-broken SIDC lands in X-Geo-Warnings: invalid-markers:<idx>:sidc and the render still returns 200.

If you don't have a SIDC builder, the milsymbol library and the APP-6E specification document the digit-position semantics.

Marker fields when using sidc​

FieldEffect
lat, lonPosition on the map. Same as icon markers.
sidcRequired (instead of icon). 20 or 30 digits.
sizeDefault 30 px (vs 12 for icon markers). 1–200.
rotationMaps to milsymbol's direction option (-360..360).
labelRendered as the milsymbol uniqueDesignation amplifier — top-right field of the frame on unit symbols. Max 64 chars.
colorIgnored when sidc is set. Affiliation drives colour per APP-6 / 2525.
labelPositionIgnored when sidc is set. The amplifier position is determined by the standard.

Limits and behaviour​

  • Up to 1000 markers per request (the existing MAX_MARKERS cap — SIDC and icon markers share the budget).
  • Length-only schema check; malformed → 400 invalid_body.
  • Runtime SIDC failure (semantic) → marker skipped + X-Geo-Warnings: invalid-markers:<idx>:sidc + render returns 200.
  • Marker outside the projection's visible domain → silently skipped (same as icon markers).
  • Cache: sidc is part of the per-marker hash, so changing it produces a new ETag. SIDC and icon variants at the same coord cache to different entries.

Reserved (not exposed in v1)​

milsymbol supports many more options that aren't yet surfaced through the API. Mention if you need one:

  • quantity, staffComments, additionalInformation, higherFormation
  • dtg (date-time group), location, combatEffectiveness
  • filled / unfilled, explicit frameColor / monoColor overrides
  • Tactical graphics / control measures (boundaries, attack axes, phase lines) — these are polyline/polygon symbology and will arrive later as an extension of shapes.