Pilots Badge B&NL

Product Description: This Pilots Badge B&NL is a top quality, early piece, in outstanding condition. It’s made of a brass alloy (Tombak) and likely dates from the prewar era. The beautifully detailed central eagle and swastika emblem retains nearly all of the original dark finish, with wear to high points exposing the golden tones of the base metal. The wreath retains full original detail and an incredible 95 percent of the original silvering, which has great original luster and only very slight age toning. The reverse of this Pilots Badge B&NL retains very nearly all of the original finish, with a light, uncleaned patina. It’s nicely marked behind the eagle with a crisp “B&N L” stamp indicating manufacture by the firm of Berg & Nolte, in Lüdenscheid. The hardware setup is intact and functional, with a barrel hinge and round wire pin and catch. The typical rivets are nice and tight and this badge is completely free of any damage or repair. This choice badge displays extremely well, and could be the centerpiece of a collection of Luftwaffe awards. The condition is a strong excellent.

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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