Single Panzer Collar Tab

Product Description: This single Panzer collar tab is an attractive example of a scarce and desirable piece of German Army insignia. This pattern of collar tab was worn on the black wraps worn by members of armored vehicle crews. It’s made out of a typical woven black wool fabric, with textbook pink rayon piping indicating membership in a Panzer unit. The machine stitching is typical for wartime factory made insignia. This single tab is adorned with a very nice aluminum skull emblem, which is made of aluminum. The skull shows little or no wear, and has a slight age patina. The back of this tab reveals a textbook tan buckram backing. One of the skull prongs is missing, but the skull remains securely in place. There appears to have been a different stull affixed to this tab in the past, as there are some additional holes in the buckram. This single Panzer collar tab retains bright original color, and is in excellent condition.

Historical Description: Collar insignia, in the form of collar tabs (Kragenspiegel) or simple woven Litzen, were very widely used by many German civil, political, military and paramilitary organizations, before and during WWII. In some cases, for example on collar tabs of the Luftwaffe, the collar insignia were rank specific, with devices or rank Tresse that changed as a soldier was promoted. In other cases, such as the pre-1938 Litzen used on enlisted field tunics of the German Army, the collar insignia had no rank identifier, but bore “Waffenfarbe” branch colors that identified a soldier’s unit type. Some German collar insignia were adorned with unit or branch specific metal emblems, while others featured hand or machine embroidery, and still others were made using hand applied wire bullion. Less commonly, collar insignia emblems could be directly applied to the collar itself, rather than being a removable patch. Collar insignia intended for field use was often different from the formal dress insignia used by the same organization. It is no exaggeration to say that many hundreds of different collar patterns were in use during the Third Reich, with some organizations having multiple patterns as regulations changed during the 1933-45 period. Some collar insignia, which was mass produced for large organizations, remains relatively common today, while other insignia types such as those for officers of the highest ranks, or for small organizations, are very scarce.

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