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 Free Arab Legion insignia shows a red stripe with two white stars over three vertical stripes, green/white/black, inside a black border, with the words “Free Arabia” in black on white, in Arabic at the top, and in German at the bottom.

The Sonderverband 287 version was worn by this particular unit, which was part of the Free Arab Legion. The insignia shows a dark blue-green oval with a white palm tree and rising sun inside two branches of palm leaves and a swastika at the bottom.