SS Unterscharführer Rank Tab

Product Description: This SS Unterscharführer Rank Tab is a nice example of a scarce and desirable piece of SS insignia. The tab itself is made of typical black SS badge cloth, with light wear that exposes the weave of the fabric. The center of the front of this collar tab is adorned with a single rank pip, indicating the NCO rank of SS-Unterscharführer. The pip is made of a brass alloy (Tombak), with a silver finish. The finish is mostly intact, with wear to the high points that exposes the golden color of the base metal. The reverse of this SS Unterscharführer Rank Tab shows the folded edges of the nice badge cloth fabric, as well as a white lattice stiffener. Both of the attachment prongs for the rank pip are visible, with wear to the silvering. There are no moth holes to the wool fabric, and no other damage to note. This rank tab has a great look, and remains in excellent condition.

Historical Description: Regulations for the SS Collar Tab went through quite an evolution in just a short 16-year period. The first SS Collar Tabs were introduced in 1929 by Heinrich Himmler as part of the newly introduced SS uniform code. Initially, tabs were worn by both lower rank SS men and their senior leaders. Lower ranks would wear a rank tab as well as a numbered unit identification tab, with senior leaders wearing their rank tabs on both collars. In 1933 the well-known “SS” runic tab was adopted by Hitler’s personal bodyguard detachment, the “Leibstandarte” or “LAH”. The LAH used this runic tab in lieu of the numerical unit identification tab to identify them as members of the elite unit protecting the “Führer”. In 1934 the runic “SS” tabs were again adopted for use by the early “SS-VT” units. This adoption eventually led to the widespread use of SS runic tabs by German Divisions; the later non-German volunteer units would not be permitted to wear the runes, and bore their own unit designed patch instead. SS Collar tabs can be found in an extraordinary variety of numbers, designs, and pipings depending on unit and rank, from hand-embroidered tabs worn by officers to mass produced embroidered and machine woven types that were used on combat uniforms.

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