David A. Suter for Wehrmacht-Awards.com
GOTHIC LETTERS
Up until 1935, almost all letters used were Latin
characters. The Gothic-type devices were introduced on 10 September
1935. The previous day, an order was issued that abolished a number of
previous (WWI - Weimar period) unit designations. Since we are concerned
here with only the Third Reich period, I have not included those in the
list. In most cases, the letters were side-by-side, although there are a
few instances (such as the 'BL' for Artillery Instruction) where they
overlap or are intertwined (i). There were two distinct sizes of letters
used, and upper and lower case letters were both used. Probably the best
example of this is the two very different 'A's' used to indicate Medical
and Reconnaissance.
|
Letter |
Branch Color |
Designation |
|
A |
crimson |
Army Veterinary Academy, Senior Veterinary Officer Candidate Instituted 1 July 1940 for the Academy, 6 February 1942 for Officer Candidates. |
|
A |
lemon yellow |
Signal Intelligence Unit, Signal Long Distance Intelligence Platoon, Permanent Signal Intelligence Installation Instituted 22 Jul 1942. Replaced the Latin 'A' and 'D'. |
|
A |
cornflower blue |
Medical Academy
|
|
A |
cornflower blue |
Senior Medical Officer Candidate
|
|
A + caduceus |
cornflower blue |
Medical Officer of Medical Academy (This board on page 368, Uniforms & Traditions, Volume 1.)
|
|
A (+ no.) |
white |
Headquarters of Army |
|
A (+ no.) |
pink |
Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion Introduced 24 March 1943. Included with the introduction was the renaming of Motorcycle Battalions of Panzer, Light, and Motorized Infantry Divisions, and the Reconnaissance Battalion of the 22nd Infantry Division.
|
|
A (+ no.) |
golden yellow |
Reconnaissance Battalion Introduced 31 August 1938.
|
|
A + 24 |
golden yellow |
24th Armored Reconnaissance Battalion Instituted 28 February 1941 for units of the 24th Panzer Division. Done to honor the division's origin, the 1st Cavalry Division. |
|
A + no. |
lemon yellow |
Commander of Signal Intelligence Unit, Signal Long Distance Intelligence Company, Radio Surveillance Company Instituted 24 July 1942. |
|
AL |
pink |
Panzer Recon Instruction Battalion Introduced 10 November 1943. |
|
B + no. |
red |
Observation Battalion, Balloon Battery, Flash Ranging Battery Introduced for Balloon Batteries 9 May 1940, Flash Ranging Batteries 19 July 1940.
|
|
B + no. |
pink |
Headquarters of Light Brigade
|
|
B + no. |
golden yellow |
Headquarters of Cavalry Brigade |
|
B + no. |
black |
Bridge Construction Battalion |
|
BL (i)(+ no.) |
red |
Artillery Observation Instruction Battalion
|
|
D + no. |
various |
Division Headquarters
|
|
D + no. |
light blue |
Commander of Division Supply Troops |
|
E |
pink, black |
Armored Train Color changed from black to pink on 30 October 1941
|
|
E | dark green + black secondary |
Technical Official of Railway Unit |
|
E + no. |
pink |
Armored Trains Created 20 October 1941. On 12 May 1943 the use of the number was eliminated. |
|
E + no. |
black |
Railroad Engineer Unit Effective 13 July 1938.
|
|
E + no. |
various |
Supplementary Unit. Number can be Arabic or Roman |
|
EB (+ no.) |
black |
Railroad Operation Troops
|
|
EBK |
black |
Railroad Operation Company |
|
EL |
black |
Railroad Engineer Instruction Battalion Instituted 13 July 1938. Used the Gothic 'L' before that date. |
|
F + no. |
white |
Fortress Regiment, Battalion Created 30 March 1940. |
|
F + no. |
black |
Fortress Engineer Regiment |
|
F + R. num. |
black |
Fortress Engineer Commander |
|
FAB + no. |
black |
Field Railway Command Field Training Battalion |
|
Fb |
black |
Fortress Construction Material Column (Note - Uniforms & Traditions of the German Army lists this device as 'FB," however, a WWII era F.W. Assmann & Söhne Sales Catalog pictures the device as 'Fb,' as shown in the example below.)
|
|
FEB + no. |
black |
Field Railway Operating Detachment |
|
FEK + no. |
black |
Field Railway Command |
|
FEM + no. |
black |
Field Railway Machine Detachment |
|
FEW + no. |
black |
Field Railway Repair Shop Detachment |
|
FG + no. |
black |
Rock Drilling Company |
|
FI (i) |
white |
Parachute Infantry |
|
Fl (+ no.) |
white, green |
Antiaircraft and Mountain Antiaircraft) Company, Battalion Insignia for infantry units created 30 March 1940. Added for mountain units on 11 June 1943.
|
|
Fl + R. num. |
green |
Panzergrenadier Antiaircraft Training Unit |
|
FN + no. |
black |
Fortress Supply Staff |
|
Fp |
black |
Corps of Fortress Engineers Headquarters |
|
Fp |
black (orange & silver Russia braid) |
Fortress Shop Foreman
|
|
Fp |
black, red, lemon yellow |
Supplementary Officers of Corps of Fortress Engineers
|
|
Fp + no. |
black, red, yellow |
Fortress Engineer Staff The white border for use with the black waffenfarbe was instituted 21 August 1937. Gothic letters indicate a unit that existed prior to mobilization.
|
|
Fp + S |
black |
Fortress Engineer and Fortification Maintenance School Created 3 November 1942. The 'S' was to be of the same height as the "F'. |
|
FP + R. num. |
pink |
Fortress Antitank Unit |
|
FS (+ no.) |
red, orange |
Artificer Personnel School |
|
FV + no. |
black |
Coastal Defense Staff |
|
FW + no. |
black |
Geological Agencies |
|
Fz |
orange |
Supplementary Officer of Ordnance Agency
|
G + 1 - 6 |
white |
HQ of Army Group
|
|
GW + no. |
white |
Mortar Battalion Created 15 March 1943. |
|
GS (+ 1, 2) |
carmine |
Army Chemical Defense School 1 = Calle, 2 = Bromberg. Institued 18 September 1941. |
|
H |
white |
Army High Command |
|
H |
lemon yellow |
OKH Signal Battalion |
|
I (+ no.) |
pink |
Motor Park, Vehicle Maintenance Troops Created as a separate branch from the Motor Maintenance units in October 1942. Insignia introduced 27 November 1942.
|
|
I + HK |
pink |
Motor Park Troops Senior Command |
|
IS (i) |
white |
Infantry School Replaced the 'S' on 20 June 1944. |
|
K |
white |
Fortress Headquarters |
|
K + no. |
white, pink, golden yellow, green |
Motorcycle Rifle Battalion (The K 8 strap is on page 368, Uniforms & Traditions, Volume 1.)
|
|
KS + letter |
white |
Officer Candidate School P = Potsdam '35, D = Dresden '35, H = Hannover '35, M = Munich '35, W = Wiener Neustadt '38
|
|
KT + no. |
black |
Technical School Commander |
|
L (+ no.) |
all |
Instruction Regiment, Battalion Insignia introduced 26 May 1939. Some specific branch's instruction units were created later. The white border for the black waffenfarbe was instituted 21 August 1937
|
|
L (+ caduceus) |
cornflower blue |
Medical Instruction and Testing Company Medical Officer |
|
LD + no. |
white |
Headquarters of Light or Secondary Reserve Division |
|
L + Fl |
white |
Antiaircraft Instruction Company Insignia introduced 24 June 1940. |
|
LS |
carmine |
Army Air Defense School Instituted 18 September 1941. |
|
M |
pink |
Motor Instruction Battalion |
|
M + no. |
white |
Machine Gun Battalion
|
|
MS |
pink |
Army Motorizing School (Testing Battalion)
|
|
N + no. |
red |
Smoke Battalion |
|
P + no. |
pink |
Antitank, Tank Destroyer Battalion, Fast Detachment
|
|
PL (i) |
pink |
Antitank Instruction Battalion |
|
Pz |
orange |
Supplementary Officer of Armor Unit |
|
Pz |
pink |
Staff of a Panzer Corps
|
|
PZ + no. |
pink |
Armored Train |
|
R + no. |
white, golden yellow, copper brown |
Bicycle Battalion
|
|
R + no. |
red |
Mounted (Horse) Artillery Battalion
Wade Krawczyk |
|
RS |
golden yellow |
Army Military Area Equestrian School In effect 1 May 1939. Formerly called Military Area Remounting School. |
|
S (+ no.) |
all |
Branch Schools There were a number of institution dates. depending on the specific branch.
|
|
S + no. |
pink |
Rifle Regiment, Cavalry Rifle Regiment
|
|
S + no. |
golden yellow |
Cavalry Rifle Regiment In effect 3 November 1938.
|
|
S + I, II |
black |
Engineer School |
|
SS |
white |
Army Sports School |
|
SL (i) |
pink |
Rifle Instruction Battalion Abolished 26 May 1939. |
|
S + Fl |
white |
Air Defense School (called the Infantry Aircraft Defense School after 6 June 1943) Insignia created 24 June 1940. The school was at Greifswald.
|
|
S + HB |
lemon yellow |
School for Dog and Pigeoneering Service Created 7 May 1941. |
|
S + HR |
golden yellow |
Hispanian Court Riding Institute Vienna All letters were to be of the same height. |
|
T + no. |
black |
Technical Battalion |
|
TM + no. |
black |
Technical Machine Unit |
|
US |
various |
US Army NCO Candidate School There are a number of institution dates, depending on the branch.
|
|
US + no. or letter |
white, pink, red |
Army NCO Candidate School There were more than 65 garrisons that had NCO schools. The letter under the 'US' indicated the location. (The US M strap is on page 335, Uniforms & Traditions, Volume 1.)
|
|
UV + R. num. |
white |
Army NCO Preparatory School
|
|
V |
pink |
Armor Testing Battalion, Motorizing Testing Battalion
|
|
V + no. |
red |
Surveying Battalion Effective 15 January 1940 |
|
V + no. |
light blue |
Unit of Administrative Service |
|
VK + no. |
red |
Map Agency |
|
VL + (no.) |
red |
Surveying Instruction Battalion |
|
VM + no. |
red |
Magnetic Survey Detachment |
|
W |
white, green |
Guard Regiment, Battalion Berlin
|
|
WM |
light brown |
POW Construction and Labor Battalion |
|
WS (+ no.) |
red, orange |
Armorer School
|
All
pictures from the David A. Suter collection unless otherwise noted.
Text and Content David A. Suter, Layout Sebastian Bianchi.
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