History

The basic types of SS cloth cap insignia are machine-woven cotton or aluminum wire and hand-embroidered metal wire.

The SS death's head is in white or light grey on a black background.

The main difference between the insignia found on Officer’s and Non-Commissioned Officer/Enlisted Men’s caps is the quality of material used. Officer’s caps were primarily made with silver bullion or aluminum wire. In the early years of the Third Reich, it was discovered that silver wire quickly becomes black and so it was replaced with aluminum thread.

Another difference is the method of manufacture; early examples of Officer Insignia were hand embroidered, while examples from the caps of NCOs and Enlisted Men were machine embroidered.

Machine woven insignia is often referred to as “BeVo” or “BeVo weave.”