History

During the Third Reich, an effort was made to unite all of Germany’s disparate provincial police forces and agencies into a single cohesive national unit. To attain this goal, Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler was named Chief of the German Police in the Ministry of the Interior in June 1936. That same month, Himmler implemented new standardized uniforms, headgear, and insignia. The uniforms worn prior to Himmler’s appointment were often navy blue, particularly in what had been Prussia. The new uniforms were green, in a shade that was then dubbed “Police green”.

The German Police were divided into two main units, the Ordnungspolizei (Orps or Regular Police) and the Sicherheitspolizei (Secret Police); the Ordnungspolizei were unofficially called the green police (Grüne Polizei) as a result of their uniform colour. The Sicherheitspolizei were made up of two main organizations, the Gestapo and the Kriminalpolizei (Criminal Investigation Police). At the beginning of the Second World War, the Sicherheitspolizei were brought under the auspices of the Reich Main Security Office.

Cuff titles are not to be confused with armbands, even though both were worn in a similar manner. While armbands usually denoted a special task, cuff titles were worn to denote membership in a certain unit.

Cuff titles were generally worn on the lower left sleeve, however, period photographs sometimes show wear on the lower right sleeve instead, usually contrary to regulations.

The cuff title 'Polizei-Fliegerstaffel' (police aviation wing) was introduced on August 5, 1940 and worn by members of the police aviation unit. It is dark brown with silver-grey Gothic letters. The version worn by Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) and Enlisted Men (EMs) usually has machine-embroidered artificial silk threads, while the one used by Officers has hand-embroidered aluminum threads.