If you are referring to the checkerboard marking on 1414, that has been illustrated in a number of different colors: black and white, green and white and red and white. I subscribe to the idea of red and white for the following reason.
The pilot was a naval officer, and came from a naval tradition. According to a (reprint) of a WWI Jane's Fighting Ships, the red/white checkerboard was the naval signal flag for the number "1". So the pilot was telling his fellow (naval) pilots "Hey, here's the Number One pilot". Given the well-known humility of fighter pilots, it makes ssense to me
