NSKOV Gorget

Description: Fantastic example the NSKOV Gorget worn by flag bearers in the Nationalsozialistischer Kriegsopferversorgung (NSKOV), an organization made up of war wounded, widows of fallen soldiers, parents and orphaned children of fallen soldiers, and members of the SA and Nazi Party who were wounded in street fighting during the Nazi rise to power.  They were a uniformed organization with their own regalia and flags, and the people entrusted with carrying their standards at rallies and in parades wore this impressive gorget. The NSKOV gorget is made of light weight metal, nickel plated. It measures about 4-3/4” across and 5-1/4” high. The heart-shaped backing plate features a separate gilt sunburst emblem, on top of this is a striking white and black painted NSKOV emblem featuring a swastika, sword and Iron Cross surrounded by a wreath. There is a gilt button on each upper corner. This one shows only extremely minor traces of age and wear, with some very minor spots on the nickeled backing plate. The white and black paint on the NSKOV sword and swastika emblem shows no damage at all, just some normal patination from age. The back is nearly perfect, the original dark blue fabric backing is intact, as are the hooks that would affix this to a standard bearer’s uniform. The tips of a couple of the hooks show some finish wear, likely from rubbing against a uniform. The original chain is also still present, made of closely spaced wire links, with no condition issues to note. The NSKOV gorget is not an easy piece of regalia to find. This one is very near perfect.

Historical Background: Gorgets were originally part of a knight’s armor during medieval times. Long after suits of armor were abandoned, the gorget continued to be used in many European armies as a form of military insignia. In the Imperial German Army until 1914, gorgets were worn as a special mark of distinction by certain elite units. Following WWI, German paramilitary and police organizations used gorgets for standard bearers, as insignia, and to denote personnel assigned special tasks. Following the Nazi rise to power, there was a vast increase in the number of uniformed organizations, and a variety of new gorgets were instituted for use by these civil, political and paramiliary organizations, as well as by the military. Standard bearers of most organizations, who were entrusted with carrying flags at rallies and in parades, wore gorgets. Other gorgets indicated assignment to guard or security forces. The military police personnel of the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS had their own gorgets as a part of their uniforms, and were nicknamed “chained dogs” by the troops due to the chain used to suspend the gorget around the wearer’s neck. Because gorgets were never general issue to all personnel of any organization or military branch, they were manufactured in limited numbers, and are generally scarce to encounter today,

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