Hitler Youth Uniforms: Insignia and Patches

Figure 1.-- While the HJ arm band is instantly recognizable, it does not seem to have been commonly worn. The boys in most individual portraits and even in group photos usually do not wear the arm band. It does not seem that all boys were issued the arm band or for some reason did not commonly wear it. We do note boys wearing the arm bands on some occassions. Here we see all the boys wearing them (figure 1). We are not sure if this is because they are headed to the annual NAZI Party Rlly in Nuremberg or because they are being photographed for the propaganda film "Der Mascht zun Führer" (1940).

Hitler Youth boys did not wear nearly as many patches and insignias as American Cubs and Scouts. There does not appar to have been, for example, anything like merit badges or camp attendance patches. We have noted, however, a variety of insignia and patches on both HJ and BDM uniforms. We are collecting images of these patches. The most common was the triangular patch which indicated where the individual was from--the HJ-Gebiete. We also notice lighting bolt and eagle patches. There were other insignias and pathches that we are just beginning to identify.

Arm Band

The most recognizable Hitler Youth insignia is probbly the NAZI red, white, and black swastica arm band. The HJ arm band differed from the NAZi arm band worn by the SS and SA. The HJ arm band had a white stripe through the middle. While this arm band is instantly recognizable, it does not seem to have been commonly worn. The boys in most individual portraits and even in group photos usually do not wear the arm band. It does not seem that all boys were issued the arm band or for some reason did not commonly wear it. We do note boys wearing the arm bands on some occassions. Here we see all the boys wearing them (figure 1). We are not sure if this is because they are headed to the annual NAZI Party Rlly in Nuremberg or because they are being photographed for the propaganda film "Der Mascht zun Führer" (1940).

Triangular Patch

For the purpose of a command structure, Germany was divided up into a number of Hitler Youth Districts or HJ-Gebiete. Arm badges in the shape of a triangle were worn on the left upper arm of their shirts or tunics which showed the name of the wearer's HJ District. This was worn by both the HJ and DJ boys as well as the BDM girls. We notice this on most the uniforms of most DJ and HJ boys. Some of the younger boys somerimes do not have it. We are unsure if you had to earn this patch in some way or if the younger boys have not yet gotten their mothers to sew it on. A HBC reader reports, "In the area of Hannover where I lived, it was "Gau Suedhannover-Braunschweig", "Gau" in the upper row, the rest in the lower. "Gau" is also a Germanic term meaning something like district (at least in Nazi Germany). "Gau Suedhannover-Braunschweig" was the area of southern Lower Saxony." [Wellershaus]

Lighting Bolt Patch

We also notice boys wearing an oval runic lighting bolt patch. I'm not sure what this patch was officially called by the Hitler Youth. Notice the boy at the left has one on his sleeve (figure 1). The single lighting bolt was the emblem of the HJ. It is in the style of the runic old Germanic character, S for "Sieg" meaning victory. The badge has the "S" or ligthing bolt in white on a black ground. It was also used on belt buckles and banners. It was course similar to the double lighting bolt symbol of the dreaded Schutz Staffel (SS--Protection Squadron). Only the HJ and DJ boys wore it. I do not know if the BDM girls had this badge. We are unsure what the DJ boys had to do to earn their lighting bolt patch. We think it might be an insignia of rank, rather like a patrol leader. Hitler and many Nazis were very fond of old Germanic symbols and terms, such as the swastika. The swatika or Hakenkreuz was supposed to represent the rune of the sun.

Eagle Patch

We notice some older HJ boys wearing shield-shaped patches with a rampant eagle on a black field. The eagle of course was employed on many NAZI emblems. There appears to be some writing under the eagle, but we can not make it out. It was worn on the right sleeve. This was not a very common patch. We see very few boys wearing it. We do not yet know what this match signiied.

Epaulettes

We have noted some DJ and HJ boys wearing epaulettes or shoulder devices (Schulterklappen). Not all the boys had them. We are not yet sure what these devices were used to signify. Note that none of the DJ boys pictured here had them (figure 1).

Pins

In addition to patches, HJ boys also wore a variety of pins. Our information is limited, but we believe there were two kinds of pins: 1) membership pins and 2) proficiency pins. There may have been others, but these are the ones we know of at this time. The membership pins were worn on caps. There were diamond-shaped ordinary menbership pins done in different colors. These were worn by both DJ and HJ boys. We note red and blue, but there may have been other other colors. I'm not sure what the different colors meant. There were also youth leader membership pins. They were like the ordnary membership pins, but with a gold border. There were also a variety of proficiency pins. We don't have a complete list, but there were quite arange of these pins. They seemed to have been done in bronze, silver, and gold, indicating a level of proficency. We're not sure that all badges were made in these three grades. I'm also not sure where the proficency pins were worn. Some reports suggest that young Wehrmact soldiers wore their HJ profiency pins on their uniforms. There were HJ leadership proficency baddges. We also note ski and marksmen badges.

Other Insignia

There were other insignias and pathches that we are just beginning to identify. A HBC reader reports, "In those days we wore a lot of badges, for examples when we had donated to the Winterhilfswerk (winter help collection) on the street, as a token we got some kind of an image. I remember one year we had images of German farmhouses, beautiful small plywood images, but towards the end of the war, this habit was reduced and finally vanished although the collecting went on." [Wellershaus]