Officer Shoulder Patches

[Rev462]

My main collecting interest is DDR, but I recently started dabbling in Bundeswehr stuff just to get a few representative items from the Cold War.

I recently acquired a Bundeswehr Heer Medical officer tunic (Leutnant) dated 1980. The shoulder patch is done in fabric thread embroidery.

My question is: should officer shoulder patches be embroidered in bullion or could they chose either cloth or bullion?

Thanks for any help you can give!

[uscob]

They can choose.
I know Officers who are walking around in the Standard Variation as they don't want to pay the higher price for the Bullion Patches. I also know a HFW who's wearing a Bullion Patch and nobody complains.

[speedytop]

Hi,

e.g. ZDv 37/10 November 1972 (and later in variations):

Nr. 2304
...
An Stelle der Metallabzeichen ist das Tragen handgestickter Abzeichen in gleicher Farbe, Form und Anordnung gestattet.
(Instead of the metal badges the wearing of hand embroidered badges in the same color, form and arrangement is permitted)

Uwe

[Collectinsteve]

A few years ago a bunch of unissued NCO jackets came to the US market with bullion collar and arm badges on them. They were higher quality and had Wachtbatallion cuff bands on them. The only thing they was the shoulder epaulets, which were removable like the Mantel's epaulets. So in this case these things appear to have been factory sewn.

Steve

[Rev462]

Thanks everyone. I've just started to learn a bit about Bundeswehr stuff so the comments were very helpful.

Here are a couple quick shots of the tunic and the patch.

[Collectinsteve]

Oddly enough, tonight I stumbled upon the very same WB jacket I mentioned above available on German eBay. Seems they have plenty to sell!

http://www.ebay.de/itm/100x-Restpost...IAAOSwmgJY727U

Steve

[Asbjoern]

While the jacket may be from cold war times the patch clearly is not. The Sanitätskommando II was first established in October 2001, so the jacke was used in this configuration later on ...

Jens

[speedytop]

Hi,

sorry, as a German I sometimes have problems with the used terms.

For me a shoulder patch (strap) is a "Schulterklappe", with the rank on it.

An "Ärmelabzeichen" is an arm badge (patch) like that shown here for the "Sanitätskommando II".

My above quotation was for a shoulder strap for officers.

The quotation for the "Verbandsabzeichen" is in 1972:

"Nr. 2311. Die Verbandsabzeichen werden in Form eines gewebten oder gestickten, farbigen Wappenschildes von 7,5cmm Länge und 5,5cm Breite ... am linken Oberärmel am Rock ... getragen." > woven or embroidered

We can find three different versions:
- woven,
- machine embroidered,
- hand embroidered.

The "normal" woven patch is in the middle woven, and the border is machine embroidered.

In my collection is a well worn jacket from a Brigadegeneral, with a normal woven patch.

Uwe

[Collectinsteve]

Uwe makes a great point that there is, in fact, three types of Ärmelabzeichen. The third type, "Handgesticht", is noticeably different from the machine embroidered type seen on the Wachtbatallion link I posted above. I rarely see the Handgesticht type on uniforms up on eBay, but I do see the machine embroidered types fairly frequently.

I have a couple of general's uniforms and for sure one of them has a "normal" woven type. But then again it is from 1964 so I'm not sure if there were other options at that time. Does anybody know when the embroidered types started being used?

Steve

[Proud Kraut]

Maybe the term "patch" has to be defined exactly one more time here.
A (shoulder) patch is an embroidered or woven cloth unit insignia (Verbandsabzeichen/Ärmelabzeichen) worn on the right or left sleeve.

A shoulder board or shoulder strap is a soldier's rank insignia (Schulterklappe).

For more informations about Verbandsabzeichen check this thread:

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=588301