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The Wehrmacht Litzen collar tabs with orange Waffenfarbe were uniform insignia worn by members of the Feldgendarmerie, the military police branch of the German Army 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 styles of collar insignia.
The typical Wehrmacht Litzen design consisted of two parallel decorative bars mounted on a rectangular cloth base. The background color represented the Waffenfarbe, the branch color system used to identify different service branches within the German armed forces.
For the Feldgendarmerie, the designated branch color was orange. This branch served as the military police force of the Wehrmacht, responsible for a variety of duties including:
traffic control for military convoys,
maintenance of discipline within the armed forces,
guarding and administration of prisoners of war,
security duties in rear areas and occupied territories.
Members of the Feldgendarmerie were also widely recognized by the distinctive metal gorget (Ringkragen) worn during duty.
Many of these collar tabs were produced using the BeVo weaving technique, named after Bandfabrik Ewald Vorsteher, a German manufacturer specializing in woven military insignia.
This technique allowed the pattern to be woven directly into the fabric, creating durable and precisely manufactured insignia suitable for field uniforms.
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 orange Waffenfarbe.
During the war numerous German textile and uniform manufacturers produced woven insignia for the Wehrmacht. Original examples often display distinctive weave patterns and manufacturing characteristics that can help identify different makers or production periods.
The orange Litzen therefore represent a recognizable feature of the uniform worn by members of the Feldgendarmerie, the military police units operating within the German Army during World War II.
