History

The Officers and enlisted ranks of the SS-Verfügungstruppe originally wore Allgemeine-SS shoulder boards. Eventually, the enlisted ranks were issued army-pattern shoulder boards, while the Commissioned ranks continued to wear the Allgemeine-SS shoulder boards.

The first pattern army-issue shoulder boards were manufactured out of black cloth, had rounded ends and were piped with twisted black and aluminium cord. A regimental cypher was machine-embroidered onto the centre of the shoulder board. This type of shoulder board was directly sewn onto the uniform.

The second pattern army-issue shoulder board was produced out of black cloth, had pointed ends, and a regimental cypher embroidered onto the centre of the shoulder board. This type of shoulder board features a tongue that passes through a loop on the uniform and is secured with a button. On occasion, the button features the company number in Arabic numerals. These shoulder boards were later modified to featured coloured piping that reflected the military branch of the wearer.

In around 1937-1938, SS-VT Officers also began to wear army-issue Officer shoulder boards. The shoulder boards were identical to those worn in the army but featured a white underlay. They were later produced with coloured underlays that corresponded with the wearer’s service branch. The shoulder boards utilised silver tresses and metal pips to indicate the wearer's rank.

For the first two years of the war, members of the SS-VT/Waffen-SS wore the pointed shoulder boards, which followed the army rank system of braids and pips. These shoulder boards were eventually phased out in favour of round-ended shoulder boards. During the war, the monogram was produced separately as a metal cypher pin or a slip-on cover to speed up production time. For more information regarding wartime shoulder boards, please visit the Waffen-SS section.