Uniform Removed Flatwire SS Collar Tab

Product Description: This uniform removed flatwire SS Collar Tab is an amazingly nice and rare piece of Waffen-SS insignia, with outstanding character and exceptional eye appeal. This Bevo style machine woven flat wire collar tab was heavily worn on a combat tunic, and then subsequently removed, most likely by either the SS man at the end of the war, or a US veteran. Remnants of the original black thread hand stitching used to affix the tab to the collar can be still be seen on the edges. The obverse of the tab is soiled, and the fabric worn smooth, from daily hard use. The black background shows light sun fading from extensive field use, and the flat wire of the SS runic emblem shows some surface wear. The protected reverse of the tab shows the original dark black color, and retains its original SS RZM tag, with signs of having been wet at some time- probably while being worn on a tunic in the field. The RZM tag is printed in black ink and bears the stamped maker code A4/134 indicating manufacture by Bevo in Wuppertal. This Flatwire SS Collar Tab was found with 13 other SS tabs in a veteran footlocker inside a gas mask bag along with some other German World War 2 items, and has never been in a collection before. It’s a great combat tab, with a unique and charming look. The condition rates as excellent.

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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