History

The German Wehrmacht was composed of three main branches, the Heer (Army), the Kriegsmarine (Navy), and the Luftwaffe (Air Force). The Heer and Kriegsmarine uniforms were based upon the designs utilized by their predecessor organizations, the Reichsheer and the Kaiserliche Marine. Conversely, the Luftwaffe uniforms were based upon the uniforms worn in the sports and paramilitary organizations that were the forerunners of the Luftwaffe. The Luftwaffe uniforms were specifically designed to deviate from the designs of the other Wehrmacht service branches. It was also necessary that the uniforms differentiate between military and civilian pilots.

Luftwaffe headgear features the distinct Luftwaffe style national eagle emblem insignia. There are two different patterns. The 1st pattern eagles produced from 1934 to 1936 feature an eagle with a “droop” tail, while the 2nd pattern eagles produced from 1936/1937 to 1945 feature an eagle with a “flared” tail.

The cap eagle insignia may be embroidered or made from metal, usually either aluminum or white metal. General ranks wore gold-coloured insignia, while Officer ranks wore silver-coloured insignia. The metal eagle on NCO/EM (Non-Commissioned Officers/Enlisted Men) ranks’ Visor Caps are made of silver-coloured metal as well. On other headgear, NCO/EM ranks wore embroidered eagles made of off-white or grey thread. General and Officer ranks had their embroidered eagles made of bullion wire.

The embroidered eagles come on a cloth backing that is in the colour of the uniform it was used on: blue-grey for the regular uniform, white for the summer uniform, tan for the Tropical uniform, and white eagles on black for uniforms of members of the “Hermann Göring” Division.
On the Visored Field Caps of NCO/EM ranks a combined or “one-piece” eagle and cockade combination (without oak leaf wreath and wings) on a trapeze backing was worn, with an off-white eagle on a blue-grey or black (for “Hermann Göring” Division members) backing.