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The Wehrmacht Litzen collar tabs with red Waffenfarbe were standard uniform insignia worn by members of the German Army artillery branch during the Second World War.
These collar tabs were attached to the collar of the Feldbluse, the standard field tunic worn by German soldiers. They were worn by enlisted men and non-commissioned officers, while officers used different types of collar insignia.
The typical Wehrmacht Litzen design consisted of two parallel decorative bars mounted on a rectangular backing. The color of the backing represented the Waffenfarbe, a branch color system used by the German armed forces to identify different service branches.
For artillery personnel the assigned color was red, traditionally associated with artillery units within the German Army. Artillery formations played a crucial role in supporting ground forces and included several specialized units such as:
field artillery,
heavy artillery,
anti-tank artillery,
observation and fire-control units.
These units operated guns, howitzers and other artillery systems designed to provide long-range fire support for infantry and armored formations during combat operations.
Many of these collar tabs were produced using the BeVo weaving technique, named after Bandfabrik Ewald Vorsteher, a German manufacturer known for producing woven military insignia. This technique allowed the design to be woven directly into the fabric, creating durable and precisely manufactured insignia.
Typically the tabs consisted of a feldgrau cloth base with the Litzen pattern woven in light grey or silver thread, mounted on a backing displaying the red Waffenfarbe.
During the war numerous German textile and uniform manufacturers produced woven insignia for the Wehrmacht. Original examples often display distinctive weave structures and manufacturing characteristics that can help identify their production origin.
The red Litzen of the artillery branch therefore represent a typical element of the uniform worn by German Army artillery personnel during World War II, reflecting the structured branch identification system used within the Wehrmacht.
