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Chemical, biological, and radiological warfare agents are sometimes assigned what is termed a military symbol. Military symbols evolved out of the First World War from the British in part for secrecy, and to simplify reference to chemicals by something other than a chemical name. These symbols are sometimes applied as marking on weapons to indicate the agent contents.

Military symbols constantly change and have transitory definitions. For example, mustard gas was assigned the military symbol originally HS for "Hun Stuff". Later in the First World War the S in HS signified mustard gas that had about 25% solvent added to it. This was only in England, as HS was adopted as the military symbol by the United States - signifying crude mustard. In the Second World War the purity of mustard gas was improved through distillation, and this purified chemical warfare agent was designated HD. When it was mixed with a thickener (Agent VV), it was given the symbol HV. Today mustard gas is indicated by the single capital letter H, but HD is still in common use.

Military symbols can also reflect the name of where a chemical agent is manufactured. For example, chloropicrin has the symbol PS, which was derived from the British town in which it was manufactured during the First World War: Port Sunshine. Another devise in assigning military symbols is in honor of the person that had devised the agent, such as Agent TZ (saxitoxin), which was derived after the name of its principal investigator, Dr. Edward Shantz.

Numbers are occasionally added to military symbols to reflect particular preparations. With riot control agents a 1 signifies micropulverized (e.g., CS1), and a 2 signified microencapsulated (e.g., CS2). With biological agents a 1 signifies a wet-type agent (e.g., UL1), and a 2 signifies a dry-type agent (e.g., UL2). Binary chemical weapons are signified by adding a 2, as in binary sarin (i.e., GB2).

Other formulations have their own designation. When the Tear Agent CS is formulated in a solvent it is signified by CSX. When agents are thickened with the addition of a polymer a T is usually added to the beginning of the symbol (e.g, thickened soman is TGD). The tear agent Mace, or Agent CN, had been formulated in several solvent forms, indicated by CNB (with benzene), CNC (with chloroform), and CNS (with chloropicrin and chloroform). Mixtures of agents have been identified with either a hyphen (e.g., CN-DM), or combining letters of the two agents (e.g., HD mixed with L is HL). Furthermore, one strain of the biological agent Tularemia has the symbol SR (lethal Schu strain), while another strain has JT (incapacitant 452 strain).

Military symbols for agents change form time to time for administrative reasons as well. For preserving secrecy, tularemia's symbol UL1 and UL2 was changed to TT and ZZ at one time, and then later to SR. During the Second World War cyanogen chloride's symbol was changed from CK to CC - when it became apparent that CC marked munitions might be mistaken for CG (phosgene), the symbol was changed back.

The following designations are, or have been, used:

• CC - cyanogen chloride
• CK - cyanogen chloride
• CG - phosgene
• CN - mace
• CNC - mace + chloroform
• CS -
• CSC
• GA - tabun
• GB - sarin
• GB2 - sarin as a binary agent
• GC -
• GD - soman
• GF - syclosarin
• H – Undistilled sulfur mustard with 20–30% impurities; also known as Levinstein mustard.
• HD – Distilled sulfur mustard (bis-(2-chloroethyl) sulfide); approximately 96% pure. The term "mustard gas" usually refers to this variety of sulfur mustard.
• HT – A blend of 60% sulfur mustard (HD) and 40% T (oxygen mustard)
• HL – A blend of distilled mustard (HD) and lewisite (L)
• HQ – A blend of distilled mustard (HD) and sesquimustard (Q) (Gates and Moore 1946)
• L - lewisite
• PS - chloropicrin
• Q - sesquimustard
• T - oxygen mustard
• TT - tularemia
• TZ - saxitoxin
• VX
• VV
• ZZ - tularemia