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GERMAN ARMBANDS ANATOMY -
This section of the website provides a view of how civilian and miliatry armbands were constructed.
The information covers manufacturing techniques, tags and markings that were applied to the armbands and
other aspects of this iconic acoutrement of the Third Reich.
The data provided here is brought to you courtesy of MilitaryItems.com,
providers of military antiques and collectibles. Come and visit our on-line store.
In general, there are two basic types of construction for the German WWII armband: Printed and Embroidered.
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The "printed" type of armband is featured in the photo on the left. The design is inked stamped into the body,
This includes the swastika and other letters.
The "Embroidered" type of construction is featured in the photo on the right. The stitching applied to make the
letters are clearly visible.
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Another factor to consider when looking at the armband construction are the compound armbands. These are
armbands that have additional pieces sewn to the main body. Since it is more expensive to build them this
way, these armbands are normally reserved for high ranking positions.
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The photos shown here are examples of armbands with multiple piece construction. The first photo to the right
was issued to a high ranking NSDAP leader. The white circle is a separate piece and is bordered with a yellow
rope.
The photo to the far right illustrates a swastika where every arm is a separate fold.
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The inside of the armband shows how the different designs are applied to the main body. It is important to note
that the variations shown here do not represent all of the ones that existed. But rather a representation of the
most commonlyy found.
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This example shows a completly separate piece attached as a circle. This type of construction is very high
quality and expensive. This was found in a NSDAP leader armband.
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This view shows the back of a design that has been embroidered. It shows the reverse of the pattern. A similar
variation is known as Bevo.
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This is a simple stitching pattern. A separate piece was attached to the front and this is how the back looks.
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Additional characteristics that can be found on the back of the armband are tags and ink stamps. Some of the
tags are sewn. Others may be glued in place. usually the tags will have a serial number, an RZM number and
other miscellaneous information.
If you want to see examples of armbands visit our
WWII German Armband Collection ,
where several different types of variations are discussed.
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