BSW Luftwaffe Pilots Badge

Product Description: This BSW Luftwaffe Pilots Badge is an extremely beautiful example of a scarce and very desirable early badge. It is struck from nickel silver, a material associated with top quality, prewar badges such as this. The eagle has a bold and striking look, with attractive luster to the nickel silver as well as nice original darkening in the recesses of the design. The wreath shows only slight wear, and retains most of the original finish, with a light old patina. The reverse is clean, with lots of original finish. The back of the eagle is marked with “BSW” in a clover leaf, the maker logo of the firm of Gebrüger Schneider AG in Vienna. The pin is functional, and has a couple of slight bends, indicating this piece was most likely actually worn on the uniform of a Luftwaffe pilot. The rivets that hold the eagle to the wreath are intact and untouched, and the hardware setup is textbook, with a barrel hinge and round wire catch, both originally attached. This early BSW Luftwaffe Pilots Badge has great visual appeal, and remains in excellent condition.

Historical Description: The Luftwaffe Pilot Badge was instituted by Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring on August 12, 1935. It was among the earliest badges introduced in the German Wehrmacht and was worn by all qualified pilots in the German Air Force, similar to the “wings” worn by some other armies. The design of the badge featured a large, swooping eagle clutching the German national swastika emblem, surrounded by a wreath of oak and laurel leaves. The badge was normally presented in a blue hinged case. It was worn on the upper left uniform pocket, and a cloth version was also authorized for field use. In the nearly ten years from the introduction of this badge, to the end of WWII, the manufacturers of these awards made many changes in the features of the designs. Some companies, like Juncker, Assmann, and Deumer, had early first pattern badges which looked completely different from later pieces by the same manufacturers. Pilot badges were made of aluminum, nickel silver, plated Tombak, and zinc. The eagle was always a separate piece, riveted to the wreath, with different manufacturers using different rivet designs. As the war progressed, and dies wore out, many makers produced badges with subtle changes. All of these changes, over time, opened up a large spectrum of variation collecting for Luftwaffe badge collectors.

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