Small Arbeits Dank Sport Shirt Emblem

Product Description: This small Arbeits Dank Sport Shirt Emblem is a very seldom-encountered piece of Reichsarbeitsdienst regalia. This pattern of insignia is vastly less common than the standard-issue RAD sports shirt emblem. The Arbeitsdank was initially set up in 1933 as a welfare organization for national labor service members who had suffered illness or injuries from their work, and for impoverished labor service members in need of assistance or employment. All members of the RAD were required to contribute to the Arbeitsdank. This small Arbeits Dank Sport Shirt Emblem is textbook Bevo machine woven, with the spade, wheat and swastika emblem of the Arbeitsdank executed in black thread, surrounded by a red border with “Arbeitsdienst” wording. The reverse of the patch shows the details of the machine woven construction. This small Arbeits Dank Sport Shirt Emblem is in unissued, unused condition, as has never been sewn on to anything. It is complete, with a full size original backing, just as it would have been when cut from a roll at the factory. The white fabric shows typical and expected age toning, and there is a tiny stain on one corner, but there are no holes or other damage. Overall, this is an excellent example of a very rare pattern of sports patch.

Historical Description: Physical fitness and competition were two concepts that were highly valued in the ideology of the Third Reich. All kinds of sports clubs and organizations flourished in the years before WWII, with larger Reich level organizations supervising athletics, promoting events and issuing awards for sport achievement. The various Nazi era civil, political, military and paramilitary organizations also promoted or even mandated exercise and sports for their members. To facilitate this, these organizations instituted sport uniforms, which typically included sport shoes, and for warm weather, shorts and a knit tank top with a woven emblem specific to that organization. In cold weather, the sport uniform generally included dark colored knit trousers and a sweatshirt, usually also with the sports-specific organizational emblem. The woven organizational emblem patch used on the sports patch was often a rather large patch, making these appealing souvenirs for Allied troops as they swept into Germany. Some types of the sports patches are very common today, though intact sports clothing is more rare, and some sports emblems for smaller organizations, made in limited numbers, are very rare.

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