Corps colours (Waffen-SS)

Corps colours, or Troop-function colours (ge: "Waffenfarbe(n)") were traditional worn in the German Waffen-SS from 1938 until 1945 as discrimination criteria between several branches of service, corps, services, or troop functions. The corps colour was part of the piping, uniform gorget, shoulder strap. The scheme of colors to indicate troop types was similar to that of the German Army from 1935 to 1945. The colours appeared mainly on the piping around the shoulder boards showing a soldier’s rank.

Corps colours of the Waffen-SS

In the Waffen-SS there was strictly defined systematic of corps colours on uniform piping and coloured edging around the shoulder boards or shoulder straps. The corps colours of the German Army were similar to these of the Waffen-SS.

Synoptic table and examples to military persons in uniform

The table below contains some corps colours and examples used by the Waffen-SS from 1938–45.

Regiment or Battalion type	Colour		Example	Remarks
General Officers Personal staff of the RFSS	silver-grey			SS-Oberst-Gruppenführer and all generals of the Waffen-SS
Infantry * Motorized infantry * Panzergrenadiers	white			Flagge SS-PzGrenRegt 40
				SS-Oberführer SS-Standartenführer
Artillery * Assault guns (Sturmgeschütze) * Flak	scarlet			Artillery flag
				SS-Obersturmbannführer
Veterinary service	carmine red			SS-Sturmbannführer of the SS-Veterinary service
Legal service	bordeaux red			no example
Geologists	light pink			no example
Transport	salmon-pink			no example
Panzers Panzerjäger (Tank destroyers)	rose-pink			SS-Scharführer
Signals War correspondents	lemon yellow			SS-Untersturmführer identical corps colour to Heer (German Wehrmacht)
Cavalry Reconnaissance (1942–45) Armored reconnaissance	golden yellow			SS-Hauptscharführer
Feldgendarmerie (Field police) Special services	orange			SS-Unterscharführer SS-Standartenjunker (officer candidate OR-6)
Reconnaissance (1938–42)	copper-brown			Standartenführer Oberführer
Concentration camps	light brown			SS-Hauptscharführer
Security service (Sicherheitsdienst)	poison green			SS-Sturmscharführer of the "Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsführers-SS".
Gebirgsjäger (mountain troops)	Meadow green			SS-Untersturmführer
Recruitment service (de: Ersatzwesen) also: SS-Sonderführer and SS-Reserve officers	dark green			SS-Obersturmführer
Supply	light blue			SS-Hauptsturmführer
Administration	bright blue			Hauptsturmführer
Medical service	cornflower blue			Standartenführer of the Waffen-SS medical service Oberführer of the Waffen-SS medical service
SS-Engineers corps * Assault engineers * Construction engineers	black			SS-Oberscharführer
identical collar patches				example SS-Unterscharführer (all collar patches to enlisted men, NCO-ranks, officers and generals)
main color of the uniform	field-grey			equal uniform colour as to Waffen-SS, Heer, and Militärverwaltung

Remark

The colour of the Kragenspiegel is  black in SS and NSKK,  cinnabar-red in the staff headquarters of the so-called Motorobergruppen ("senior motor groups") and independent groups,  carmine-red in higher staff headquarters of the NSKK.

See also

• Ranks and insignia of the Waffen-SS
• Comparative ranks of Nazi Germany
• World War II German Army ranks and insignia
• Corps colours of the Wehrmacht
  • Corps colours of the German Army (1935–1945)
  • Corps colours of the Luftwaffe (1935–1945)
  • Corps colours of the Sturmabteilung

References

• Glossary of German military terms
• Adolf Schlicht, John R. Angolia: Die deutsche Wehrmacht, Uniformierung und Ausrüstung 1933-1945
  Vol. 1: Das Heer (ISBN 3613013908), Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1992
  Vol. 3: Die Luftwaffe (ISBN 3-613-02001-7), Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1999
  (very detailed information and discussion but no coloured images)

External links

• Waffenfarben of the Wehrmacht Heer
• German WWII Army & SS Rank & Insignia