Heer M34 Cap

[LuckyStrike23]

looks pink but was formerly red:

[Stepdale]

Thanks derka and LS13. I can see some remains of red in your soutache. I'm still trying to get some time to make more photos of the one on mine and get them posted, but life keeps interfering! I always assumed mine was faded artillery, but the more I look at it, I can't see any sign that mine was ever any color but pink, either on the reverse of the outer part or the part behind the flap. I'll try to get photos ASAP to show what I mean.
Dale

[Stepdale]

I finally got a chance to take some more photos of the soutache. I still believe it is and has always been pink, though I'm certainly not an expert on these. Maybe the cap had a red soutache originally and he later switched to Panzerabwehr? Here is why I think it may be replaced.

If you look here on the each side where the braid goes under the cap, it looks like the seam may have been torn open and resewn with the same thread used to sew the entire soutache.

[Stepdale]

Because the braid is sewn very loosely, it's easy to see the backside of it, and you can see that the color on the reverse is the same as that on the front. You can also see the wool under the braid is not as faded as the rest of the cap, but the unfaded part is slightly wider than the current braid, leading me to believe the soutache was changed from the original one. I don't think it was done postwar, but just some time after the original, wider soutache was removed.

[Stepdale]

Finally, when placed side by side, the braid behind the outer flap of the cap is the same pink as the that on the outside. Also, you can see on the inside where a couple of stitches of the green thread used to hold the soutache went through the liner. Not sure if this normal or why this was done, but there is no sign that the seam of the liner was ever undone.