German WWII
Army & SS
Rank & Insignia

German military insignia were intended to establish clear differentiation between ranks and types of service, and at the same time to encourage individual combat efficiency and proficiency in military arts. Direct appeal was made to vanity and to the human tendency to show off military prowess with insignia and decorations.

 

WAFFENFARBE

The Waffenfarbe was a color code system to identify branch of service i.e. WHITE was the color of the Infantry.   The Waffenfarbe was used on head gear either as Soutache or piping, or on the uniform of collar patches, epaulets and on certain uniforms piping on the collar.
Color Description Heer Branch Waffen-SS Branch
  Bright Red Generals, Artillery, Heavy AntiAircraft Artillery
  Crimson General Staff Corps, Veterinary Veterinary Corps
  Pink Armor, Armor Reconnaissance Armor, Anti-Tank
  Orange Red Military Police Replacement Services, Engineer Officers
  Wine Red Specialist Service NA
  Orange Ordnance NA
  Gold Yellow Reconnaissance, Cavalry Cavalry & Motorized Reconnaissance
  Lemon Yellow Signal Signal & Propaganda Troops
  Light Green Mountain & Light Infantry Mountain Infantry
  Grass Green Armored Infantry Rifle Regiments of SS Police Divisions
  White Infantry Infantry
  Light Blue Transport & Supply Supply & Technical Services
  Dark Blue Medical Medical
  Black Combat & Construction Engineer Engineers
  Gray Blue Specialist Officers NA
  Light Grey Propaganda Troops General Officers
  Brown NA Concentration Camp Guards
 
RANK INSIGNIA

HEER		 US Equivalent
Heer
Waffen-SS
WAFFEN SS
Collar Epaulet Left Sleeve Collar Epaulet Left Sleeve
      NA
NA
Reichsfuhrer-SS

 

General Officers (Generale)           

General of the Army
Generalfeldmarshall
NA		      
General
General
SS-Oberstgruppenfuhrer


Lieutenant-General
General der (arm)
SS-Obergruppenfuhrer

Major-General
Generalleutnant
SS-Gruppenfuhrer

Brigadier-General
Generalmajor
SS-Brigadefuhrer

Field Grade Officers(Stabsoffiziere)       
NA (Considered a Senior Colonel)
NA
SS-Oberfuhrer

Colonel
Oberst
SS-Standartenfuhrer

Lieutenant Colonel
Oberstleutnant
SS-Obersturmbannfuhrer

Major
Major
SS-Sturmbannfuhrer

Company Grade Officers           

Captain
Hauptmann
SS-Hauptsturmfuhrer

1st Lieutenant
Oberleutnant
SS-Obersturmfuhrer

2nd Lieutenant
Leutnant
SS-Untersturmfuhrer

Non-Commissioned Officers (Unteroffiziere)

 Sergeant Major
Stabsfeldwebel
SS-Sturmscharfuhrer

Master Sergeant
Oberfeldwebel
SS-Hauptscharfuhrer

Sergeant First Class
Feldwebel
SS-Oberscharfuhrer

Staff Sergeant
Unterfeldwebel
SS-Scharfuhrer

Sergeant
Unteroffizier
SS-Unterscharfuhrer

Enlisted Men (Mannschaften)        

 

 Administrative Corporal
Stabsgefreiter
NA		      
  Senior Corporal
Obergefreiter (>6 years)
NA

 

    
Corporal
Obergefreiter (<6 years)
SS-Rottenfuhrer

 

Lance Corporal
Gefreiter
SS-Sturmann

 

  Private First Class
Obergrenadier,Oberfusilier
SS-Oberschutze

 

   Private
Grenadier, Fusilier
SS-Schutze

 
Examples of Collar Insignia Placement
Heer
Officers: Some officers had quality hand-embroidered silver bullion made for their tailored uniforms.  The Waffenfarbe was embroidered into the collar patch.  The red Waffenfarbe indicates an artillery officer.  Occasionally, officers would outline the collar patch with piping of their Waffenfarbe.  This example depicts an officer who has been awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.
NCOs: The Non-Commissioned Officers were distinguished by a wide piping of collars & epaulets, this is called Tresse.   The Continental Army collar patch is the same as enlisted men.  Typically the Waffenfarbe was not worn but in this example we show an artillery NCO.  Rarely, senior NCOs will have their Tresse and collar patches hand-embroidered.
Enlisted Men: The enlisted men had the simplest markings of the Continental Army collar patch.  The junior enlisted rarely wore the Waffenfarbe.   The collar was later made of the same material as the uniform due to material shortages and simplifying manufacturing.
Waffen-SS
The SS followed the tradition of their civilian "SA" counterparts by using the collar patch to distinguish rank.  The example depicts a SS-Schutze or Private.
NCOs & Enlisted Men wore the famous SS runes on the right collar and their rank on the left collar.  Certain units were identified by replacing the SS runes with unique insignias i.e. the Wiking Division had a Nordic long-boat with dragon's head.  The NCOs also were marked by the Tresse.
Officers in the rank of Colonel or greater wore the same rank patch on both collars (the right was a mirror of the left patch) and silver piping along the outline of the collar patch.  Lt Colonel and below wore the SS runes or division patch.