Original Item: Only One Available. This is an excellent mid-war, enlisted man or NCO, BeVo woven construction Allgemeine SS Trapezoid Mützenabzeichen (cap badge), as used on the M43 field cap. This example does have stitching holes through it, so this is a "uniform cut off version", removed from a cap during or after the war.

The insignia features an SS style Reichsadler (national eagle) with outstretched wings, clutching an encircled, canted, swas (hook cross) in its talons. This is positioned above a Totenkopf (Death's Head or skull and cross bones) with a bottom jaw and double row of teeth. This is all machine embroidered in matte silver/grey threads on a woven, green rayon trapezoid base.

The badge does show some light wear, and the stitch holes mentioned before. Usually we only see these unissued, never installed, so seeing one that was actually used is a real treat.

The Allgemeine-SS, (General-SS), was originally formed in May 1923 as the Stosstrupp Adolf AH, (Shock Troops Adolf AH), and was redesignated Schutzstaffel, (Protection Squad), in April 1925 with the official acceptance of the name verified on the second anniversary of the failed Munich "Beer-Hall" Putsch on November 9TH 1925. On January 6TH 1929 Heinrich Himmler was appointed as Reichsführer-SS, (National Leader {of the} SS), and on July 20TH 1934 shortly after the, June 30TH 1934, purge of the SA, Sturm Abteilung, (Storm Troopers) on the "Night of the Long Knives", the SS was rewarded by AH by being granted the status of an independent organization under direct control of the NSDAP, Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, (National Socialist German Worker’s Party). The SS developed the distinctive SS style cap skull and cross bones on October 6TH 1934 and introduced the SS pattern national cap eagle in February 1936. After their introductions the skull and eagle were to be worn on all forms of SS headgear.

In 1944 the SS developed a single piece of cap insignia which incorporated both the skull and eagle on a one piece trapezoid base for wear on the M43 field cap. Originally these trapezoidal pieces of insignia were produced in a machine woven version until a final, embroidered version was introduced in late 1944. The first versions of the trapezoidal cap insignia featured dual rows of teeth in the skull while later versions only had a single row of teeth. Panzer personnel’s cap trapezoids were produced with a black base to match the color of the cap it was to be worn on.