History

The German Wehrmacht was composed of three main branches, the Heer, the Kriegsmarine, and the Luftwaffe. The Heer and Kriegsmarine uniforms were based upon the designs utilized by their predecessor organizations, the Deutsches Heer and the Kaiserliche Marine. Conversely, the Luftwaffe uniforms were based upon the uniforms worn in the sports and para-military 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.

There were two main organizational precursors of the Luftwaffe, the German Air Sports Association (DLV or Deutscher Luftsportverband), and the National Air Raid Protection League (RLB or Reichs Luftschutzbund). The DLV included both a civilian group and a secret military sub-group called the DLV-Fliegerschaft (Pilot Base).

The DLV and the RLB were officially founded in 1933, and they were used to secretly train members for future roles in the Luftwaffe. The DLV became obsolete after Hitler’s official introduction of the Luftwaffe in 1935, and it was disbanded in 1937.

Within the Luftwaffe, there were specific branches of service/arms of service (waffenfarben). Each of these branches was associated with a specific colour. These waffenfarben were included in the design of the rank insignia and other uniform insignia of Luftwaffe personnel. From 1935 to 1945, the known waffenfarben colours include:

White (for General Officers/ranks from Generalmajor to Generaloberst),
White with dark red piping (Hermann Göring Division, and Artillery and Air Defence personnel),
Red (for Anti-Aircraft Troop/Luftwaffe Artillery),
Carmine Red (for General Staff Service Officers/Generalstabsoffiziere),
Pink (for Aviator Engineering Service/Fliegeringenieurdienst),
Bordeaux/Purple (for Military Judicial Service/Militärgerichtsbarkeit),
Golden Yellow (for Pilots and Ground Personnel, and Parachute Troops),
Bright/Meadow Green (for RDAR Units and Air Traffic Control),
Dark Green (for Administration/Militärverwaltung),
Light Blue (for Transport Units/Transporteinheiten or Luftwaffe Reserve/Luftwaffenreserve),
Dark Blue (for Luftwaffe Medical Corps/Sanitätstruppe),
Brown (for Luftwaffe Communication Corps/Lufnachrichtentruppe), and
Black (for Construction Engineer Corp/Baupioniere or Luftwaffe Engineer Corp/Luftwaffen-Pioniere).

The first regulations concerning Luftwaffe shoulder boards were issued on April 22, 1935, within an order that delineated the official forms of Luftwaffe insignia. These shoulder boards identify the rank and branch of service of Luftwaffe personnel. Their design was based heavily on the designs of DLV shoulder boards.

The Shoulder Boards are composed of several main elements, including the cords, the button hole, the underlay or piping, the rank pips, and the career insignia. The Luftwaffe shoulder boards were permanently attached to the majority of uniform pieces on which they were worn, including the cloth greatcoat and rock tunic, but when they were worn on the leather overcoat they were removable.

Non-Commissioned Officer shoulder boards are composed of a flat wool base coloured Luftwaffe blue-grey, and with a silver-coloured tress along the edges of the shoulder boards. The silver-coloured tress was initially composed of bright aluminum, but the material was given a matte finish in 1942, in order to make the shoulder boards less visible. Both the matte-silver and bright aluminum-silver tress was worn from 1942 until the end of the Second World War.

The cloth underlay was generally composed of wool or cotton, and coloured to reflect the recipient’s branch of service (waffenfarben). Piping, instead of an underlay, was worn on the shoulder boards of Non-Commissioned Officers and enlisted men. The piping's colour reflected the wearer's waffenfarben.

The colour of the rank pips changes according to the rank of the wearer, and the associated colour of the board’s cords. The number and position of pips on the shoulder boards vary according to the wearer’s rank.

Additional career insignia may be located on the shoulder board, and they are either embroidered or composed of metal (alloys, white metal, aluminum). The metal insignia were generally gold-coloured (gilt) for Officers, and silver-coloured for Generals, Non-Commissioned Officers, and other enlisted ranks. Embroidered insignia was festured on the shoulder boards of personnel with the ranks of Unterfeldwebel to Flieger. These insignia were generally machine-embroidered, but could be hand-embroidered when purchased privately. The career insignia were generally gothic/ornate letters or a symbol associated with the wearer’s trade. The possible career insignia include, but are not limited to:

Advanced Luftwaffe School: “HS”
Aerial Warfare School Staff: Intertwined “KS”
Air Ministry Staff: “RLM”
Air Signals Intelligence Detachment of the High Command of the Luftwaffe Personnel: Intertwined “OL”
Air Signals School Staff: Intertwined “NS”
Air War Academy Staff: Intertwined “KA”
Anti-Aircraft School Staff: “FAS”
Anti-Tank Instruction Battalions Personnel: Intertwined “PL”
Battalion numbers: Small Roman or Arabic numbers
Fortress Anti-Aircraft Artillery Personnel: “F”, may include numbers below the letter associated with the wearer’s specific battalion
Guard Battalion of the Luftwaffe Cadre Personnel: Intertwined “LW”
Instituted for Air Defence Personnel: Intertwined “RL”
Instructional Units of the Luftwaffe Personnel: “L”
Judiciary Officials: Judicial Sword (bronze coloured)
Luftwaffe Medical Academy Personnel: “A”
Luftwaffe Medical Personnel: Rod of Aesculapius
Luftwaffe Musicians: Lyre
Luftwaffe Reserve Officers in the Maritime Luftwaffe Command: “S”
Luftwaffe Secret Field Police: “GFP”
Luftwaffe Special Forces Service: Caduceus
Luftwaffe Sports School Personnel: “SS”
Luftwaffe Technical Academy Personnel: “TA”
Maritime Instruction Squadron: “SL“
Motor Transport School Personnel: Intertwined “KRS”
Non-Commissioned Officer School Staff: “US”
Ordnance Armourer School Personnel: “WS”
Ordnance Officers: “W”
Reconnaissance Instruction Group Jüterbog Personnel: Intertwined “AL”
School for Air Traffic Control Personnel: Intertwined “LS”
War Ordnance School Personnel: “FS”

The Unterfeldwebel Shoulder Boards feature no silver-coloured pips.