Experimentally it is known that the degree of polarization (DOP) of luminescence is a sensitive function of strain in III-V materials. It has been assumed that DOP = −K e (e 1 − e 2) and that the rotated degree of polarization (ROP) = 2 K e e 6 , where K e is a positive calibration constant, e 1 and e 2 are the normal components of strain along perpendicular '1' and '2' directions, and e 6 = e 12 is the tensor shear strain. K e has been measured experimentally for GaAs and InP. In this paper, the results of a simple analytic determination of expressions for DOP as a function of strain are presented. Given the wide ranges reported for the strain deformation potentials b and d, it is not possible to give definitive and meaningful numerical values for expressions for DOP and K e. However, the sensitivity of DOP to strain suggests that it might be possible to design simple experiments to provide accurate values for the deformation potentials. The b and d deformation potentials might not be independent. For the results presented here and in the limit of isotropic material, an isotropic result for the DOP is found if d = √ 3 b.