History

Foreigners in the Wehrmacht either wore their own national uniforms with German rank insignia, or German uniforms with sleeve insignia identifying their country of origin. These sleeve insignia were supposed to be worn on the right upper sleeve, although they were also often worn on the left side. The shield usually shows the national colours, and often comes with a country name in Latin capitals at the top.

Of most of the foreigners sleeve insignia one or more additional (slightly) altered variants may exist.

The Italy insignia has two main versions.

One version shows horizontal national colours, green/white/red, inside a black border, with “Italia” in white letters on black.
The other version shows a white fascist staff on red inside a green border, with “Italien” in white letters on green.