Original Item: Only One Available. The Reich Labor Service Reichsarbeitsdienst; RAD) was a major organization established in NSDAP Germany as an agency to help mitigate the effects of unemployment on the German economy, militarize the workforce and indoctrinate it with NSDAP ideology. It was the official state labor service, divided into separate sections for men and women.

This RAD Trumpet Banner Flag is a very rare relic of RAD regalia. It features gorgeous hand embroidery with one side depicting a large Swas on a red background with four small RAD shovel and wheat organizational emblems, one in each corner, and the other side depicting a large RAD shovel and wheat organizational emblem on a white silk background with four small Swas’, one in each corner, with the RAD unit information above and below. The banner measures 17 x 17” and is surrounded by a substantial bullion wire fringe.

The banner originally had four attached spring clips for attachment to the trumpet, but only three remain, with the fourth having torn away long ago. The chain-stitched unit information is very difficult to read, but our best transcription is:

Arbeitsdienstlager 140/4

Zovsnov(?)

Arbeitsdienstlager translates to Labor Service Camp. This obviously requires a lot more research and transcription. A significant amount of work went into the creation of this flag. There is heavy staining across the flag especially on the red side, and there is some minor tearing in the silk on the background of the swas and the white side.

A beautifully made WWII German RAD trumpet banner with some excellent research potential. Ready to display!

The basis of the RAD, Reichsarbeitsdienst, (National Labor Service), dates back, at least, to 1929 with the formation of the AAD (Anhalt Arbeitsdienst) and the FAD-B (Freiwillingen Arbeitsdienst-Bayern).  Shortly after AH’s appointment as Chancellor in Jan 1933, the NSDAP consolidated all labor organizations into the NSAD (Nationalsozialist Arbeitsdienst), a national labor service, under the control of Reichsarbeitsführer Konstatin Hierl. It served as an agency to help mitigate the effects of unemployment on the German economy, militarize the workforce and indoctrinate it with NSDAP ideology. It was the official state labor service, divided into separate sections for men and women.

On June 26 1935 the NSAD was officially re-designated RAD, and from then onward, men aged between 18 and 25 may have served six months before their military service. During World War II compulsory service also included young women and the RAD developed to an auxiliary formation which provided support for the Wehrmacht armed forces.

In April 1934 Hierl had developed a uniform, including the distinctive "Robin Hood" style service cap. The design of the cap was based on a cross between a traditional style peasant cap and the traditional hunters cap. Originally the caps were issued with rank distinction piping with black piping for the EM/NCO ranks of Arbeitsmann to Truppführer, silver piping for company and field grade Officer’s ranks of Obertruppführer to Oberstarbeitsführer and gold piping for General Officer’s ranks of Generalarbeitsführer to Reichsarbeitsführer. In 1940 the use of the black piping for the EM/NCO ranks was discontinued but the silver and gold Officer’s piping remained in use until the end of the war.