29th SS Russian Volunteer Collar Tab

Product Description:This is an outstanding and highly desirable example of an 29th SS Russian Volunteer Collar Tab, specifically intended for wear by members of the 29th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS RONA (1st Russian). This infamous formation was composed of foreign volunteers recruited from Bronislav Kaminski’s Waffen-Sturm-Brigade RONA, a collaborationist unit operating on the Eastern Front.

 The front of the tab features a striking cross and swords emblem, crisply and precisely machine-embroidered in white cotton thread. The base is constructed of fine black badge cloth, expertly folded around a tan buckram stiffener, with the edges neatly secured on the reverse by white machine stitching. This construction method is consistent with known examples recovered from the SS supply depots discovered at Dachau concentration camp, near Munich, at the close of the war.

Since the war’s end, these unissued tabs have surfaced primarily through U.S. veteran estates, having been brought back as war souvenirs. This particular piece shows no evidence of ever having been sewn to a uniform—there are no stitch holes, no stains, and no damage of any kind. This 29th SS Russian Volunteer Collar Tab remains in absolutely pristine condition, making it a textbook example of an unissued collar tab from one of the most historically significant—and controversial—SS foreign volunteer formations.

Historical Description: Regulations for the SS Collar Tab went through quite an evolution in just a short 16-year period. The first SS Collar Tabs were introduced in 1929 by Heinrich Himmler as part of the newly introduced SS uniform code. Initially, tabs were worn by both lower rank SS men and their senior leaders. Lower ranks would wear a rank tab as well as a numbered unit identification tab, with senior leaders wearing their rank tabs on both collars. In 1933 the well-known “SS” runic tab was adopted by Hitler’s personal bodyguard detachment, the “Leibstandarte” or “LAH”. The LAH used this runic tab in lieu of the numerical unit identification tab to identify them as members of the elite unit protecting the “Führer”. In 1934 the runic “SS” tabs were again adopted for use by the early “SS-VT” units. This adoption eventually led to the widespread use of SS runic tabs by German Divisions; the later non-German volunteer units would not be permitted to wear the runes, and bore their own unit designed patch instead. SS Collar tabs can be found in an extraordinary variety of numbers, designs, and pipings depending on unit and rank, from hand-embroidered tabs worn by officers to mass produced embroidered and machine woven types that were used on combat uniforms.

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