BACKGROUND: The DRK, "Deutsches Rotes Kreuz" (German Red Cross), a voluntary civil assistance organization originally instituted in 1864, was officially acknowledged by the Geneva Convention in 1929. In December 1937 it gained status as a legally recognized organization by the NSDAP. As with other essential services in Third Reich Germany, it came under control of the NSDAP in late 1938 under the auspices of the Ministry of the Interior’s Social Welfare Organization.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: White cotton/rayon armband, upon which is machine woven a red Balkan cross, with "Deutsches Rotes Kreuz" scrolled around it in black Gothic script.