Tunic Removed SS Collar Tab

Product Description: This tunic removed SS Collar Tab is a choice example of a very desirable piece of insignia. This would have been worn on the right side of the collar of an SS member. It’s machine embroidered, and is a wartime pattern, circa 1940-45, that never had any piping. The body of this collar tab is made of a typical black wool badge cloth. It shows only light wear, and the surface retains the original nap. The embroidered runic emblem of the SS is nicely executed in silvery gray cotton thread, and stands in high relief, with an impressive look. This collar tab was hand stitched to a uniform collar, and remnants of this stitching can still be seen around the edges. On the reverse, this tunic removed SS Collar Tab shows a typical tan buckram stiffener. This collar tab remains complete and sound, with no stains, and no mothing or other damage. It’s an outstanding example of a collar tab that saw actual use. The condition rates as excellent plus.

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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