BACKGROUND: On December 22ND 1920 the Weimar era Reichsheer, (National Army, Circa 1919-1933), instituted a system of sleeve rank insignia for enlisted personnel which remained in effect until the newly formed Wehrmacht Heer, (Armed Forces, Army), introduced a new system on September 25TH 1936. In March 1938 the Allgemeine-SS, (General-SS), adopted the Wehrmacht style rank chevrons for enlisted ranks with minor variations and this, in turn, was carried over to the Waffen-SS, (Armed-SS) on its inception. Originally the tress chevrons were worked in bright, silver/aluminum wire threads until regulations of April 25TH 1940 introduced a new, less visible, subdued, tress of matte blue/grey rayon for wear on the field uniform and a subdued golden/tan rayon tress for wear on the tropical uniform although the change over was never completely achieved. Of Note: The Allgemeine-SS and the SS-Sicherheitsdienst und Sicherheitspolizei, (SS-Security Service and Security Police), abolished the use of rank chevrons on January 17TH 1942 but they were still utilized by the Waffen-SS until the end of the war. Army regulations of April 25TH 1940 dictated the base color of the rank insignia was to match the color of the uniform being worn and as a result Panzer Gefreiter’s also wore this type of rank chevron. Of Note: Although army regulations stated that the base color of the rank insignia was to match the color of the uniform being worn the Waffen-SS pretty consistently utilized a black base regardless of the color of the uniform. Also Of Note: The RZM, Reich Zeug Meisterei, (National Equipment Quartermaster), was officially founded in June 1934 in Munich by the NSDAP, Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, (National Socialist German Worker’s Party), as a Reich Hauptamt, (State Central Office), and was based on the earlier SA, Sturm Abteilung, (Storm/Assault Detachment), Quartermaster’s Department. The functions of the RZM were not only to procure and distribute items to Party formations, including the SS, but also to approve chosen designs and to act as a quality control supervisor to ensure items manufactured for the Party met required specification and were standardized. Starting in late 1934 items manufactured for the SS came under the quality control of the RZM and were marked with an RZM/SS approval tag. In 1943 the Waffen-SS assumed full control over their uniform item production and no longer fell under the authority of the RZM.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: The insignia consists of a single, "V" shaped, machine woven, diamond patterned, tress chevron, in subdued, golden/tan rayon with interwoven, fine, black stripes, near both the inner and outer edges, machine stitched on a black wool base, which tapers down to a pointed tip. Excellent example.