History

Within the Luftwaffe, women were only permitted to serve as civilian employees. After the Second World War began men in clerical roles were moved to the front line and women were moved into clerical and office duties, as well as non-combative roles. They were still considered civilian employees in these roles and were responsible for purchasing their own uniforms.

Prior to 1940, the uniforms worn by women serving in the Luftwaffe were not coordinated across all divisions, sometimes the women were even provided with male uniform pieces. In 1940, specific regulations concerning the uniforms and insignia of the Luftnachrichten-Helferinnenschaft (Ln-Helferinnen), Female Air Signals Assistance Service, were introduced. The same basic uniform was worn by women in the Luftschutzwarndienst (Ls-Warndienst-Helferinnenschaft/Air Raid Warning Service), and by the Flakwaffenhelferinnen (Falkhelferin/Anti-Aircraft Auxiliary), after their official establishment in 1943. These different groups were differentiated by the insignia they wore on the uniform tops.

The rank titles were prefixed with "Flakw.-" for female personnel within the Flakwaffenhelferinnenschaft.

The chevrons were worn by members of the Flakwaffenhelferinnenschaft (Anti-Aircraft Auxiliaries). The chevrons mirrored the patterns used by female personnel within the Luftwaffen-Helferinnen. Like the chevrons worn by their male counterparts, these chevrons were worn on the upper left sleeve of the female auxiliary jacket or winter jacket.

These chevrons were generally sewn onto a blue-grey wool backing and composed of silver-coloured (aluminum) tress.

These chevron insignias were also known as sleeve ratings.

The Führerin chevron insignia features three stacked chevrons, with two thick and one thin chevron and a curl at the base of the bottom thin chevron. Personnel with the rank of Führerin also wore an embroidered aluminum star on either collar point and had additional twisted silver-coloured (aluminum) cord along their jacket collar.