Shoulder Boards - Heer Panzer Troops, Junior NCO

Shoulder Boards – Heer Panzer Troops, Junior NCO

This pair of tunic shoulder boards is associated with the Panzer arm of the German Heer and corresponds to the pattern worn by a junior non-commissioned officer. The combination of black wool backing, rose-pink branch piping, and silver aluminum NCO tresse matches well-documented Panzer examples from the period.  

In the German uniform system, branch identification was shown through the Waffenfarbe. For Panzer troops, that color was rose-pink, carried as piping around the shoulder board. The black cloth body corresponds to the well-known Panzer uniform, developed for armored crews and intended to suit service inside combat vehicles.  

The most distinctive feature of this type is the silver aluminum tresse applied around the edge, marking the piece as an NCO shoulder board rather than a plain enlisted example. Specialist references and original surviving examples show this trim as a standard characteristic of Panzer Unteroffizier-grade boards.  

Comparable originals also retain the usual rear tongue with reinforced buttonhole, used to attach the board to the tunic. Where no pips or cyphers are present, the safest and most accurate identification remains Heer Panzer junior NCO / Unteroffizier.  

Because of their materials, branch color and metallic edging, these shoulder boards are among the most visually distinctive insignia associated with the German armored arm of the Second World War.