DRK Cloth Insignia

[HPL2008]

A Bergwacht [Mountain Rescue] patch.

Bergwacht items don't come up for sale very often, as it is the smallest of the DRK's tactical services. (It also uses far fewer badges and insignia than the other services to begin with.)

[HPL2008]

And the very latest Fachdienstabzeichen [trade badge], again in the velcro-backed version with 8 cm diameter. I recently learned that the smaller versions (see posts # 6/7) have become obsolete, as they are no longer to be worn on the service dress under the current uniform regulations.)

This one is for Freiwilligenkoordination [Volunteer Coordination], which is about the recruitment and assignment of volunteer helpers who are not members of the Red Cross:

[HPL2008]

By the way; for the benefit of German-speaking members, the 2014 uniform regulations of the DRK can be found here:

https://www.drk.de/fileadmin/user_up...t_20140613.PDF

(Note the current system of duty position insignia on pages 23 and 24. These now take the form of shoulder boards clearly inspired by those of the police, which I find a bit odd. Also, in my humble opinion, with no less than 40 different badges, the system is overcomplicated.)

[HPL2008]

Just in, an armband for a BRK physician:

[HPL2008]

I usually don't collect uniforms, but I made an exception for this post-war BRK service tunic which I found on German eBay, as I managed to get it for a very cheap price.

Unfortunately, it has been stripped of its collar patches. I bought it mostly for the rare "München" [Munich] cuff title. Also note the longevity stripes (in this case for 20 years):

[Gordon Craig]

Very nice tunic. Thanks very much for posting pictures of it.

Regards,

Gordon

[HPL2008]

Three more cuff titles have just joined the family.

These are an old model of duty position insignia for female members. (There are at least two more cuff titles in this series: Pflegedienstleiterin and Zugführerin).

[HPL2008]

I will go into some detail with this update, so I hope it won't be boring.

I'd like to feature the duty position insignia worn by members of the DRK's Landesverband Nordrhein [State Association North Rhine]. These are interesting, as the LV has not adopted the "police-style" rank stars for its duty position insignia, but is instead using a system based on bars and continues to use branch colors as well.

First, the basics.

There are three different models of duty position insignia in use: Seen here, from left to right, they are: Velcro-backed patches for work-/protective clothing (EMS jackets etc.), slip-ons for garments with soft shoulder straps (jumpers, cardigans, windbreakers, uniform shirts) and hard shoulder boards for garments equipped with provisions for mounting them (service tunics, dress shirts):

[HPL2008]

Personnel on general service with the organisation wear insignia without branch color, personnel of tactical units or in operational assignments wear insignia with a vertical stripe in their branch color.

The colors are:

• Blue = Sanitätsdienst [Medical Service]
• Yellow = Information und Kommunikation [Information and Communication], formerly known as Fernmeldedienst [Signals]
• Black = Technischer Dienst / Technik und Sicherheit [Technical Service / Engineering and Safety]
• Brown = Betreuungsdienst [Care Service]
• Red = Führung [Leadership/Command]

Note that the branch colors (except for brown) correspond to the military equivalents.

[HPL2008]

Note that the black branch color for the technical service is replaced by grey on the hard shoulder boards, as a black stripe would be invisible against the boards' black basecloth:

[HPL2008]

Duty position is indicated by the number of bars on the insignia (none to four) or, in the case of physicians, by an Aesculapius Rod.

The level of assignment is indicated by the color of the bars/rod and edging:

• Silver/silver = Bereitschaft [unit-level]
• Silver/gold = Kreisverband [county-level]
• Gold/Gold = Bezirksverband and Landesverband [district- and state-level]

(The embroidery on shoulder boards for personnel in higher duty positions is found both in silver/gold metallic thread or white/yellow thread. On all other insignia, silver and gold are always replaced by white and yellow.)

[HPL2008]

Boards for physicians always come in mirror-image pairs:

[HPL2008]

And now for the actual insignia. I can present the hard shoulder boards for (almost) all duty positions and will provide approximate translations of the duty positions.

Duty position designations are identical for the care-, technical- and communications service; the medical service differs only in that it has one additional duty position. Devices and edgings are always in white.

The insignia are:

• No bar = Helfer [Helper]
• 1 bar = Truppführer [Team Leader]
• 2 bars = Gruppenführer [Squad Leader]
• Aesculapius Rod = Zugarzt [Platoon Physician] [Sanitätsdienst only]

(Note the different shades of brown on the Betreuungsdienst boards; these are just manufacturers' variations.)

[HPL2008]

It's different and more complicated for the Führung segment. Insignia are...:


Silver/Silver

• No bar = Helfer [Helper]
• 1 bar = Truppführer [Team Leader]
• 2 bars = Führungsassistent [Leadership Assistant]
• 3 bars = Zugführer [Platoon Leader]

Silver/Gold

• 1 bar = Verbandführer 1 [Formation Leader 1]
• 2 bars = Verbandführer mit Stabsarbeit [Formation Leader with Staff Duties]
• 3 bars = Stellvertretender Operativer Krisenmanager Kreis [Deputy Operational Crisis Manager, County]
• 4 bars = Operativer Krisenmanager Kreis [Operational Crisis Manager, County]

Gold/Gold

• 1 bar = Verbandführer 2* [Formation Leader 1]
• 3 bars = Stellvertretender Operativer Krisenmanager Land [Deputy Operational Crisis Manager, State]
• 4 bars = Operativer Krisenmanager Land [Operational Crisis Manager, State]

*) That's the one board still missing in my collection. Note that there is no badge with two bars on this assignment level.

[HPL2008]

And now for the general "branch immaterial" insignia. Insignia are:

Silver/silver

• No bar = Helfer [Helper]
• 1 bar = Stellvertretender Gemeinschaftsleiter [Deputy Community Leader]
• 2 bars = Gemeinschaftsleiter [Community Leader]
• 3 bars = Stellvertretender Rotkreuzleiter [Deputy Red Cross Leader]
• 4 bars = Rotkreuzleiter [Red Cross Leader]
• Aesculapius Rod = Rotkreuzarzt [Red Cross Physician]

Silver/gold

• 3 bars = Stellvertretender Kreisrotkreuzleiter [Deputy County Red Cross Leader]
• 4 bars = Kreisrotkreuzleiter [County Red Cross Leader]
• Aesculapius Rod = Kreisverbandsarzt [County Organisation Physician]

Gold/gold

• 1 bar = Stellvertretender Bezirksrotkreuzleiter [Deputy District Red Cross Leader]
• 2 bars = Bezirksrotkreuzleiter [District Red Cross Leader]
• 3 bars = Stellvertretender Landesrotkreuzleiter [Deputy State Red Cross Leader]
• 4 bars = Landesrotkreuzleiter [State Red Cross Leader]
• Aesculapius Rod = Landesarzt [State Physician] and Stellvertretender Landesarzt [Deputy State Physician]