SS divisional "shield insignia"

[Ivan Ž.]

The following is a corrected version of a thread that was badly-started in another forum section, but the topic itself is way too interesting to be wasted, so I suggest that we make a fresh start here. The topic initiator was member Sauerkraut.

The story so far:

Hello!

Looking at the SS divisional insignia, it can be noticed that the shape of the shield can be of several sorts: with a "half circle" taken off in the top right (LSSAH, Das Reich, Totenkopf, Hitlerjugend...)/left (Polizei, Nordland, Götz von Berlichingen...) corner, in top center (Nord, Prinz Eugen, Florian Geyer..), or the shield can be "full" (non-germanic division?).

Does the form of the shield have a meaning?

* The insignia member Sauerkraut refers to are these (source: "Waffen-SS in Action", Norman Harms):

Yes! It´s marking wich kind of division it is. Ex, Panzer, Panzergrenadier,Kav, Geb and ordinary infanterie.

Note that, as far as I know, the SS shield insignia designs were made after the war.

During the war, most SS divisions didn't have their insignia placed in a shield or didn't have an insignia at all.

Cheers,
Ivan

I am being curious: which division signs are genuine and which ones were created and/or started being represented in a shield shape only after the war?

I suggest everyone interested to start posting all wartime documents (always properly sourced) that show various SS divisional insignia, so that we could establish what they actually looked like during the war. By wartime documents, I mean photographs of vehicles with divisional insignia, or other paper documents, such as posters, newspapers and so on, that display SS divisional insignia. Please avoid double posting and posting post-war and fantasy pieces (there are a lot of posters with the above-shown SS shield insignia; they are all modern fakes; do not post those).

Ivan

[Ivan Ž.]

The real insignia of the 7th SS Division: an Odal rune in a circle.

7SS.jpg (96.64 KiB) Viewed 3646 times

[/size](Source: "7. SS-Gebirgs-Division 'Prinz Eugen' im Bild", Otto Kumm)

[Ivan Ž.]

A real insignia of the 13th SS Division (as printed on the cover of one of its "Handžar" magazines in late 1943): a hand swinging a khanjar with SS runes in the background. It is still not known how official the design was. Another drawing of the same motif can be found in the NARA files. There are no known (at least to me) examples of any unit's insignia on vehicles.

13SS.jpg (96.29 KiB) Viewed 3613 times

[/size](Source: "Muslime in der Waffen-SS", Zvonimir Bernwald)

[Ivan Ž.]

The real insignia of the SS Karstjäger Brigade: a lizard on an Edelweiss.

The brigade was supposed to become the 24th SS Division, but (as far as I've been able to find out) it never actually reached divisional size.

SSKJ.jpg (84.12 KiB) Viewed 3624 times

[/size](Source: eBay, auction 252080501217, seller 030schafimwolfspelz)

[Ivan Ž.]

The real insignia of the 6th SS Division: a Hagal rune (without a shield).

6SS.jpg (86.75 KiB) Viewed 3620 times

[/size](Source: Die Deutsche Wochenschau Nr. 567)

[Ivan Ž.]

The real insignia of the 2nd SS Division: a Wolfsangel (without a shield).

2SS.jpg (105.62 KiB) Viewed 3608 times

[/size](Source: Nationaal Archief)

[Ivan Ž.]

The real insignia of the 3rd SS Division: a Totenkopf (without a shield). The style of the drawing changed depending on the artist.

3SS.jpg (101.22 KiB) Viewed 3606 times

[/size](Source: Beeldbank WO2)

[Ivan Ž.]

I've just found this old Feldgrau topic: https://www.feldgrau.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=270

[...] these full shields are a postwar development, probably by the HIAG.

HIAG was rather liberal in its early research days within "Wiking Ruf" and "Der Freiwillige", such as with imagined SS badges that then appeared in medal books and some non-existing units. [...] From older issues of DF and VR in the 50s and 60s, many emblems were probably created to represent the individual unit associations that existed at the time.

As Mark indicated, many unit insignia were postwar creations, used to represent the various veterans' groups. Only some were authentic wartime insignia, and few of those ever appeared on a shield during the war (though I have seen photos of LAH and Wiking insignia within shields).

[Ivan Ž.]

The real insignia of the 5th SS Division: a Sonnenrad - usually without a shield and rarely within (an unbroken) shield.

5SS.jpg (80.45 KiB) Viewed 3599 times

5SS2.jpg (78.79 KiB) Viewed 3599 times

[/size](Source: "Waffen-SS in Action", Norman Harms)

[Ivan Ž.]

The real insignia of the 9th SS Division: a letter H and a sword in (an unbroken) shield. (Not counting those couple of tiny breaks of course.)

9SS.jpg (80.9 KiB) Viewed 3592 times

[/size](Source: "9. SS-Panzer-Division 'Hohenstaufen'", Herbert Fürbringer)

[Ivan Ž.]

The real insignia of the 16th SS Division: Himmler's collar rank insignia (without a shield); previously, they used SS runes (also without a shield).

16SS.jpg (74.57 KiB) Viewed 3510 times

[/size](Source: colleurs-de-plastique.com)

16SS2.jpg (55.04 KiB) Viewed 3510 times

[/size](Source: Bundesarchiv)

[Sauerkraut]

The real insignia of the 3rd SS Division: a Totenkopf (without a shield). The style of the drawing changed depending on the artist.

3SS.jpg(Source: Beeldbank WO2)

Here are more examples of Totenkopf drawings- the design changed indeed!
(Source: Batailles&Blindés HS 31

20180105_131113.jpg (119.96 KiB) Viewed 3479 times

( Source: Charles Trang "Dictionnaire de la Waffen SS" volume1)

[Sauerkraut]

LSSAH. The form of the shield varies (perhaps it was not fixed by a rule at first?)
(source Charles Trang "Dictionnaire de la Waffen SS" vol.1:)

(source Charles Trang "Barbarossa, la Waffen SS au combat":)

(source Stephan Cazenave "Panzers Normandie 44 : SS-Panzer-Regiment 1 LAH":)

[Ivan Ž.]

Hello again, Sauerkraut, and thanks for the additions.

Is there a full version of this image? The insignia looks really unusual for the "Totenkopf" Division.

20180105_130142.jpg (36.53 KiB) Viewed 3468 times

[/size]
Cheers,
Ivan

[Sauerkraut]

(source: Batailles&Blindés HS35)

A shield, unbroken.