Verbandsabzeichen-Arm Shields of the Bundeswehr

[Gordon Craig]

One area that needs to be explored are the arm shields worn in the Bundeswehr Heeres. There are a considerable number and some need to be studied closely to identify them correctly. The reason for this is that, while the shields all follow a specific format, there is room for a lot of variation within the basic design. Here is a scan of the basic technical specifications for an arm shield. The scan comes from Von der Affenjacke zum Tropentarnzug by Walter Kunstwadl.
The the large slightly grey section is the basic outline of the shield and may stay the same for a series of shields or change within the same series. The space with the diagonal black lines is the border of the shield. The colour of this section can vary widely and it may even be found without the black diagonal lines. There are two more areas within the shield design that may vary in colour. The area inside these sections contains the specific design of the shield. Confused yet?

[Gordon Craig]

The first shield I am going to post is a good example because it uses all of the techincal sections that can change colour plus a Roman numeral to differentiate between different locations. It is for Sanitätskommando I, Kiel. Othe similar shields only differ in the Roman numerals which are II for Diez/Lahn, III for Weissenfels, and IV for Bogen.

[Gordon Craig]

Some fotos of the tunic this arm shield is worn on follow. First the tunic frontal view.

[Gordon Craig]

The shoulder boards. Rank is for Hauptfeldwebel in the Sanitätstruppe.

[Gordon Craig]

Makers lable indicates the tinc was made 10/72.

Regards,

Gordon

[Gordon Craig]

I would like to see this thread stay alive and forum members post their shields here for reference purposes. They don't have to be on a uniform, although that would be nice, nor do you have to know what they are. I am sure someone can identify what you post so please help build this into a great reference thread by adding to it.

Regards,

Gordon

[acmer]

My small "collection". I was going to sell them but for some reason I wanted to keep them They are all probably very common.



I'd like to know the regulations on wearing them in Heer. Clothing items they are worn on and their positioning, occasions, special badge/rank limitations, eras...

I'm sort of a practical collector and I don't want to keep my stuff locked in a closet. Most of the items I have I've worn when hiking or just biking around. Verbandsabzeichen are still a small mystery to me and I don't want to wear them wrong

[Gordon Craig]

acmer,

A very nice selection of arm shields. They are normally worn on the left arm of the Diesntanzug (service dress) as shown in the picture of my tunic above. I have seen pictures of the shield for the Eurokorps worn on the right sleeve of the cammouflage uniform.
The exception is the Edelweiss badge which is worn on the right arm as per German military custom of the past. The Edelweiss shield you show is for the Panzerbrigade 22, part of 1 Gebirgsdivision. I do not have the specifications for wear on the uniform handy at the moment. I'll see if I can find them for you or perhaps someone else can post them?

Regards,

Gordon

[uscob]

37/10

[acmer]

More info from 37-10 (thanks for the tip)

Farbiges Wappenschild, gewebt oder gestickt, 7,5 cm lang, 5,5 cm breit (Ausnahmen: WBK VI/l. GebDiv und GebJgBrig 23: ovales Abzeichen)

Trageweise der Verbandsabzeichen
Das Verbandsabzeichen ist anzubringen am linken Oberärmel
- der Dienstjacke, grau,
- der Schibluse,
- des Mantels, grau ,
- der Feldbluse, Tarndruck ,
4 cm unterhalb der Ärmeleinsatznaht in Schulterklappenmitte.
Soldaten in der allgemeinen Grundausbildung tragen Verbandsabzeichen nur, wenn sie im Großverband verbleiben.

At first I thought it would be over the german flag (6cm under the shoulder seam), but apparently arm shields aren't worn on clothing with flags. Also it said that foreign soldiers don't have the flags but the Germany -badge 3,5cm below shoulder seam on left sleeve. Maybe that's the reason for arm shields on right arm for foreign soldiers.

I think the info is from 1989-1999 so I'm not sure if it has changed already. At least the dimensions seem a bit different from the image in the first post.

[Gordon Craig]

acmer,

Since the national flag was only worn on field type uniforms the reference for the location of the shield would be applicable there. The picture I mentioned showed a soldier from each of the nations with troops serving in the Eurodivision, including a West German, and they all wore the Eurodivision shield under their respective flag. The wearing of the Eurodivision would not be a departure from the practice of not having foreign troops wear West German arm shields since it is not stricktly speaking a West German shield only. I'll try and find time to post that particular picture tomorrow.

Thanks for posting the excerpts from 37-10.

Regards,

Gordon

[Gordon Craig]

Here is the picture of the Eurokorps showing the Verbandsabzeichen being worn on the right arm. We established earlier today that foreign troops could only wear the BW shields on the right arm. I guess the West German troops wore theirs on the right arm for uniformity.

Regards,

Gordon

[Gordon Craig]

A picture of the Verbandsabzeichen as worn on the over coat. Here a machine embroidered one for the BMVg (Bundesministerium der Verteidigung).

Regards,

Gordon

[Gordon Craig]

The coat in full view.

[Paul Torak]

Gordon , and acmer thanks,
Here are a few of mine that I could find to add to the mix...some are duplicates of acmer's, but hopefully can be of some help in research

Dave


please see Gordon's post #16 for picture. Gordon thanks for setting that in

Dave