Collar tab (Bundeswehr)

An artillery officer's collar tab

Collars are on the collar points of service suit the Heeres- and Air Force Uniform of the soldiers of the Bundeswehr sewn effects . The color (color of arms) of the flap as well as the shape and design of the patch on the base cloth applications allows conclusions about the branch of service , the armed force or a special service position or rank group to the carrier. Collar tabs were already found in earlier German armed forces and to this day in many armies from all over the world.

The Central Service Regulations (ZDv) 37/10 "Suit regulations for soldiers in the Bundeswehr" contain the relevant provisions on appearance and how to wear them . The legal basis for the collar tabs of the generals is the order of the Federal President on the rank designations and the uniform of the soldiers . Various technical delivery conditions (TL 8455-0014, TL 84550028 / -29, as well as TL 8455-0039 / -40) of the Federal Office for Defense Technology and Procurement specify the execution.

history

Earliest military branch badge (1956). For officers in the General Staff Service (and generals ), collar tabs similar to today's shape were already provided.

The first generals of the Bundeswehr on the day of their appointment: already with Larisch embroidery on collar tabs

The development of the first uniforms for the newly formed Bundeswehr was influenced by the plan for a joint army to be formed by Western European countries within the framework of the European Defense Community (EVG) . In order to visually bring the new German uniform a bit closer to the uniforms of other Western European countries, the German military planners foregoed too many links to the uniform tradition of the Wehrmacht when the uniform was introduced in 1955 - when the EVG's plan had actually already been abandoned . Therefore, the reintroduction of the traditional collar tabs was initially dispensed with. In order to differentiate between the types of armed forces in the army, characteristic metal emblems were used instead of traditional collar tabs in weapon colors, based on the model of the US armed forces . However, as early as 1956 there were calls in Bonn to reintroduce the traditional collar tabs in weapon color. Generals, on the other hand, wore the Larisch embroidery on a crimson ground cloth that is customary to this day since the formation of the Bundeswehr ; General staff officers began to wear the traditional butt embroidery around the same time . However, these were initially embroidered on gray cloth; Since the end of 1956 at the latest, however, it has been on the now familiar crimson red cloth.

The collar tabs were reintroduced for all soldiers by spring 1957 at the latest. The choice of color was based heavily on the color scheme of the Wehrmacht, cf. plus the weapon colors of the Army of the Wehrmacht and the Air Force of the Wehrmacht . However, the execution of the mirror strands has been simplified and the color of the base cloths has been changed slightly. The collar tab of the Bundeswehr is rectangular in order to adapt it to the new cut of the uniforms, which now have civil-looking collars and lapels instead of the traditional stand -up collar . The collar tabs are therefore now arranged almost vertically, so that the historical model of horizontal buttonhole embroidery can only be guessed at.

For the color of the basic cloth of disbanded military branches, the former color of still existing military branches and the first color for officers in the general staff service, see the history of the weapon colors of the Bundeswehr .

See also : History of the collar tabs in general

Collar tabs for army uniform wearers

Woven version for crews and NCOs of the infantry and tank grenadiers

The collar tabs for army uniform wearers (except for generals and officers in the general staff service ) show mirror strands (also called bars or double strands) in the form of a Roman two (" ") with a negative width , so that the two characters undercut , on a base cloth (the flap ) in the color of the weapon , which is based on the soldier's type of service. The actual mirror is the space formed by the two mirror-symmetrical strands, which is reminiscent of the buttonhole that was once there in historical uniforms.

The strands of the officers (except for generals and officers in the general staff service) and senior middlemen are hand-stitched from matt silver-colored metal web. The metal part of the web consists of aluminum wire . In particularly representative units (including, for example, the staff music corps of the Bundeswehr and the guard battalion at the Federal Ministry of Defense ), all ranks wear this "high quality" version of the collar tabs in the weapon colors green and white.

The strands of the collar tabs supplied for work for all other NCOs and crews are woven from matt gray ( white aluminum RAL 9006 ) textile spun. According to ZDv 37/10, NCOs are also allowed to wear collar tabs they have procured themselves. The strands of these self-procured collar tabs are hand-embroidered from the same matt gray textile weave, but due to their sublimity appear, depending on the design, significantly higher quality, lighter and shinier than the woven and almost flat mirror strands delivered for business.

The following table shows the collar tabs available for official use in the Bundeswehr for wearers of army uniforms (as of 2015 ^[obsolete] ):

Branch of service	Infantry and Panzer Grenadiers	Armored force	NBC defense force	Field police force	Artillery and topography troops	Army Air Force	Pioneer troop	Telecommunications force	Army Reconnaissance Force	( Army ) logistics force	Medical service	Military music service
Metal web, hand stitched
Textile spun, woven

Collar tab for Air Force uniform wearers

Embroidered	Woven

The collar tabs of the Luftwaffe uniform wearers (except for generals and officers in the general staff service) show a silver-colored wing (double wing) in an oak leaf wreath with a lower end in the form of a bow on a golden yellow ( melon yellow RAL 1028 ) basic cloth . The term collar tab is also unreservedly used for these effects by the Luftwaffe and was also used in the former Luftwaffe since 1935. In the strict sense of the word, however, the form here is not a "mirror", which was actually a buttonhole decorated with strands attached on both sides and as can still be guessed from the version for army uniforms as well as for generals and officers in the general staff service.

The double swing arm and wreath with a bow for officers (except for generals and officers in the General Staff Service) and senior middlemen are hand-stitched from woven metal. The collar tab is edged with a silver-colored, 2 mm thick metal spun cord. The metal part of the silver-colored metal web for embroidery and cord consists of aluminum wire. Air force uniform bearers of all ranks also wear this "high quality" version in representative units (including, for example, the air force uniform bearers in the guard battalion).

The double swing arm as well as the wreath with a bow of the collar tabs supplied for work for all other NCOs and men are woven. The collar tab is limited by a silver-colored sewing edge. The swing arm, wreath, bow and sewing edge are silver-colored in accordance with ZDv 37/10 and are made of white aluminum-colored textile weave ( RAL 9006 ), as is the case with the "simple" collar tabs of the army uniform wearers . According to ZDv 37/10, NCOs are also allowed to wear collar tabs they have procured themselves. The double swing arm, wreath, bow and cord are hand-embroidered on these collar tabs, which they procured themselves, but still consist of the same white aluminum-colored textile weave. Due to the production- related grandeur , the hand-embroidered collar tabs still appear, depending on the design, of significantly higher quality, lighter and shinier than the woven and almost flat collar tabs supplied for business purposes.

Collar tab for generals and officers in the general staff service

Major General Kammerer with the characteristic effects of a general: Larisch embroidery, crimson underlay of the epaulettes, gold piping for the collar and epaulette, gold-colored buttons, gold-colored badges of rank

Generals and officers in the General Staff Service wear special collar tabs.

All generals wear hand- embroidered gold embroidery on a crimson ( fire red RAL 3000 ) base. The collar tabs of the generals are worn in pairs as a left and right profile, the stylized tassels at the end of the (symbolic) buttonholes point outwards and imitate the dangling tassels of historical uniforms, even if this association is due to the almost vertical position of the collar tabs of the Bundeswehr with the historical model is hardly close. The threads for the embroidery are made of metal web, the metal part of which consists of silver wire with gold plating . The arabesque shape of this buttonhole embroidery is also known as oak leaf or Larisch embroidery . The color of the basic cloth corresponds to the weapon color of the artillery and topography troops.

The collar tabs for officers in the General Staff Service (IG) show hand-embroidered matt silver (matt aluminum) butt embroidery on a crimson ( raspberry red RAL 3027 ) basic cloth. The threads for the embroidery are made of metal web, the metal part of which consists of aluminum wire .

Generals	Officers in the general staff service

literature

• Walter Kunstwadl, Jan-Phillip Weisswange: From the monkey jacket to the tropical camouflage suit : the history of the Bundeswehr as reflected in its uniforms and badges . 1st edition. Report-Vlg, 2006, ISBN 3-932385-24-1 .
• Jörg-Michael Hormann: The Bundeswehr and their uniforms. 30 years of clothing history . Podzun-Pallas, 1987, ISBN 3-7909-0297-7 .
• Lothar Schuster: The equipment required for members of the Bundeswehr from 1955 to 2010 . 1st edition. Zeughausverlag, 2010, ISBN 3-938447-47-8 .

Web links

Commons : Bundeswehr collar tabs  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

1. ↑ The collar tabs shown here are probably self-procured because of their particularly high-quality appearance. However, the collar tabs are not ZDv-compliant: They are (accidentally) rotated by 180 °, i.e. they are upside down, attached to the service jacket.
2. ↑ ^{a b} In practice, hand-embroidered ZDv-compliant badges for non-commissioned officers are rarely sold commercially, especially not by the LH Bundeswehr clothing company . Therefore non-commissioned officers sometimes wear ZDv-adverse - sometimes tolerated by their superiors - either the officers' collar tabs or the commercially available machine-embroidered collar tabs, which in turn are often made from brightly shining threads, however, against ZDv.
3. ↑ If there is no special note, then use the designation as in ZDv 37/10. For the weapon colors of all military branches not mentioned in ZDv 37/10 and thus for the assignment of a collar tab, see list of weapon colors . For the source of the images, see the individual file description pages.
4. ↑ Includes in the sense of ZDv 37/10 the army uniform wearers in the guard battalion at the Federal Ministry of Defense as well as the bulk of the special forces in the special forces command , cf. Notes on list of weapon colors .
5. ↑ Includes in the sense of ZDv 37/10 the troops for operational communication and the telecommunications troops EloKa , cf. Notes on list of weapon colors .
6. ↑ In terms of ZDv 37/10, the Army Reconnaissance Force is the successor to the armored reconnaissance , tele-spying and field intelligence forces listed in ZDv 37/10 , cf. Notes on list of weapon colors .
7. ↑ The logistics troops including the army logistics troops are in the sense of ZDv 37/10 the successor troops of the technical troops listed in ZDv 37/10 instead .
8. ↑ In the sense of ZDv 37/10, the term also includes the army medical service .
9. ↑ The collar tab is shown, which is worn on the right side of the body.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r} Hartmut Bagger , Command Staff of the Armed Forces I 3, Federal Ministry of Defense (ed.): ZDv 37/10. Suit regulations for soldiers in the Bundeswehr . July 1996. Reprint from October 2008. Bonn July 16, 2008, 4 labels, p. 539 ( digitized version [PDF; 3.5 MB ] Reprint October 2008 replaces first edition from July 1996). Digitized version ( memento of the original from September 19, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ↑ ^{a b} The Federal President (Ed.): Order of the Federal President on the rank designations and the uniform of the soldiers . BPresUnifAnO. July 14, 1978 ( gesetze-im-internet.de [PDF] Order of the Federal President on the rank designations and uniforms of soldiers from July 14, 1978 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 1067 ), last amended by Article 1 of the order of 31. May 1996 ( BGBl. I p. 746 ) has been changed).
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Technical delivery conditions. Collar tabs for generals and general staff officers, hand-embroidered (TL 8455-0014). (PDF) (No longer available online.) Federal Office for Defense Technology and Procurement , September 2006, formerly in the original ; Retrieved June 26, 2014 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.    
4. ↑ ^{a b c} Technical delivery conditions, collar tabs, woven, Army (TL 8455-0028). (PDF) (No longer available online.) Federal Office for Defense Technology and Procurement , October 2006, formerly in the original ; Retrieved June 26, 2014 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.    
5. ↑ ^{a b c d} Technical delivery conditions. Collar tab for officers, army, hand-embroidered (TL 8455-0029). (PDF) (No longer available online.) Federal Office for Defense Technology and Procurement , September 2006, formerly in the original ; Retrieved June 26, 2014 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.    
6. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i} Technical delivery conditions. Collar tab for officers, air force, hand-embroidered (TL 8455-0039). (PDF) (No longer available online.) Federal Office for Defense Technology and Procurement , April 2006, formerly in the original ; Retrieved June 26, 2014 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.    
7. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Technical delivery conditions, collar tabs, woven, Luftwaffe (TL 8455-0040). (PDF) (No longer available online.) Federal Office for Defense Technology and Procurement , September 2006, formerly in the original ; Retrieved June 26, 2014 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.    
8. ↑ ^{a b} cf. also Federal Minister of Defense (Ed.): Ministerialblatt of the Federal Ministry of Defense . Born in 1957, December 5, 1956, p. 12 f .
9. ^ Matthias Molt: From the Wehrmacht to the Bundeswehr. Personnel continuity and discontinuity in the development of the German armed forces 1955–1966 . Heidelberg 2007, p. 326 (footnote 142) ( d-nb.info [PDF; accessed on June 23, 2014]).
10. ↑ ^{a b c d} Wilhelm Volrad von Rauchhaupt: From colorful skirts to colorful ties . In: Der Spiegel . No. 25 , 1956 ( online ).
11. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h} Military History Museum of the Bundeswehr : Exhibit of the month February / March 2009: "Stay away from me with the merely decorative!" - Fabric seal pattern for collar tabs of the Bundeswehr from 1959. (Not more available online.) Federal Ministry of Defense , Head of the Press and Information Staff , March 27, 2009, archived from the original ; Retrieved June 29, 2014 . 
12. ↑ Bundeswehr. Web of yesteryear . In: Der Spiegel . No. 23 , 1962 ( online ).
13. ↑ Günther Heysing: A bridge, a bridge ... With the taxi to the army maneuvers in 1957 in Schleswig-Holstein . In: The time . No. 42 , 1957 ( zeit.de ).
14. ↑ cf. Military Intelligence Training Center : Handbook on German Army Identification . Ed .: War department . Camp Ritchie, Maryland / Washington April 9, 1943 ( thortrains.net [PDF; accessed June 21, 2014]).
15. ↑ ^{a b c} research. Uniforms. Handle the button . In: Der Spiegel . No. 30 , 1968 ( online - illustrated description of the historical development from horizontal buttonhole embroidery with a tassel as a finishing touch to today's collar tabs).
16. ^ Karl-Heinz Völker: Documents and documentary photos on the history of the German Air Force . Ed .: Military History Research Office (=  contributions to military and war history (series of publications by MGFA) . Volume 9 ). Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1968, 147-A-4. "Collar tab", p. 363-367 .