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.

The Cockade & Winged Oak Leaves insignia features a tricolour cockade at the centre of an oak leaf wreath with straight wings on either side. It was worn on the blue and white Visor Caps.

The Luftwaffe tricolour cockade was introduced in 1935. It features three concentric rows of the Wehrmacht national colours, black-white-red, with an additional exterior white/grey, silver, or gold coloured row. The additional row colour is associated with the rank of the wearer, with gold for Generals, silver for Officers, and white/grey for NCO/EM (Non-Commissioned Officers/Enlisted Men) ranks.
When the cockade was worn on its own it was hand or machine-embroidered. Hand-embroidered versions are composed of bullion, celleon, or aluminum, while machine-embroidered version are made from cotton thread.

While the entire insignia was often made completely from embroidery, or stamped white metal or aluminum, it was also common to combine the two compositions in a single insignia. When these composite insignia were produced the cockade is generally composed of stamped metal and the wings and wreath are embroidered. General ranks wore embroidered insignia. Officer ranks could wear either embroidered or metal insignia. NCO/EM wore metal insignia. For Generals, the insignia is gold-coloured, while for Officers and NCO/EMs the insignia is silver-coloured.