Collar Tabs for RSI Tank Crewmen 1944

The three-point blue flame collar badges, bearing the Republican gladius, reflect a mid-war redesign of tank-crew insignia during the Republican period. Conceived as a replacement for the older red flames with blue backing, the new pattern was formalized in Army staff documentation in February 1944 and was part of a broader attempt to standardize RSI uniforms and branch insignia.  

In practice, adoption was patchy. Logistical shortages, workshop closures and the fragmented nature of RSI forces meant that only certain centres with repair capacity and experienced crews managed to wear the new badges. Notably, elements from the Verona Mixed Depot and the Leoncello Armoured Group — one of the few full armoured specialist formations of the RSI — are documented users of the badge in late 1944 and early 1945. The Leoncello fielded M13/40s and repaired vehicles under difficult conditions, so insignia surviving from these units are historically significant.  

For collectors, small details (material, stitch, backing shape) can indicate whether a piece is factory-made, workshop-produced or retrofitted in the field — and those variants tell the story of scarcity and improvisation in the RSI’s armoured forces.