You are right on all accounts... And that did happen.... It is said that some Japanese Aces would land after a sortie, and tell the crew chief, in front of the new and green pilots, "Add 3 marks", as to instill confidence in them that the Americans were easy prey...
Erich Hartmann had the black tulip on the nose of his -109, and Russian pilots were warned not to get into combat with him, but to flee and fight another day....
Didnt make much of a difference....
Also, Lidiya Litvjaková, questionably the Highest scoring Female Soviet Ace, was subsequently fingered out and destroyed because of artwork... She is reported to have been fond of wildflowers and often carried them in the cockpit with her during missions... She is also said to have painted a White Lily, sometimes mistaken for a Rose, on each side of the cockpit of her Yak, and for this reason became known as the "White Rose of Stalingrad..." The white rose on the fuselage became famous among the Germans, who knew better than to try to dogfight the familiar YaK-1, and usually tried to make good their escape before Litvyak got too close...
The Germans were aware of this, and her, and the order was posted to destroy "The White Rose"...
On August 1, she wearily pulled herself into the cockpit for the fourth and final time of the day... She had already claimed two kills in previous flights. Somehow she became separated from her flight... During the ensuing melee, she encountered eight Bf109s and was shot down and killed... They say the white rose on her Yak had drawn her killers to her...
Because of her notoriety amongst the Germans, eight Messerschmitt Me-109's concentrated solely on Lilya's YaK-1, and it took all eight of them to finally shoot down the "White Rose of Stalingrad"...