History

On March 25, 1933 the DLV (Deutscher Luftsportverband = German Air Sports Association) was created as a civilian sports organisation, the umbrella organisation of all air-related sports. However, from the very beginning, the DLV was used to secretly train its members for future roles in the newly emerging Luftwaffe, a breach of the terms of the Versailles Treaty.
The organisation should not be confused with the Deutscher Luftfahrtverband (also abbreviated DLV), which was formed in 1902, but disbanded in favour of the new DLV under Third Reich rule.

The DLV was split into two groups, the civilian section and the secret military section, known as the “Fliegerschaft” (air crew). The organisation eventually became obsolete after the official unveiling of the Luftwaffe in 1935, and it was disbanded and replaced by the National Socialist Flyers Corps (NSFK or Nationalsozialistisches Fliegerkorps) in 1937.

The collar tabs of the glider section were introduced on November 10, 1933. They were worn on both collars, mirrored images of one another. They are royal blue parallelograms.

A second pattern was introduced in 1935. The collar tabs remained royal blue in colour and parallelograms in shape, but now featured a wing propeller. They are still mirrored images. However, there is insufficient information on the designs of the individual ranks to be displayed here.

The DLV collar tabs were discontinued with the dissolution of the organisation on April 17, 1937.

The collar tabs for the ranks of Segelflughauptführer (Glider Senior Leader) and Segelflugreferent bei den Fliegerlandesgruppen und Verbandssegelfliegerschulen (Glider Aide with the Transregional Flyer Groups and Glider Association Schools) feature an aluminum hand-embroidered elongated “S” with a horizontal bar and aluminum twist cord piping.