Shoulder Boards for Luftwaffe Generals

Shoulder Boards for Luftwaffe Generals WWII

The Shoulder Boards for Luftwaffe Generals WWII reproduce the Schulterstücke worn by general officers of the German Luftwaffe during the Second World War. Unlike plain enlisted shoulder straps, general officer boards were made with an elaborate braided construction, using metallic cords to create a clearly recognizable high-rank insignia.

In the Luftwaffe uniform system, rank was shown through a combination of collar tabs and shoulder boards. General officer shoulder boards used a light backing and a braided pattern of gold and silver cords. Specialist references describe Luftwaffe general officer shoulder boards as beginning with intertwined gold and silver cording; for the highest ranks, such as Generalfeldmarschall or Reichsmarschall, the boards could instead be made from three gold-colored cords.  

The applied metal rank pips identified the exact grade. This allowed the same basic shoulder-board construction to be adapted for different general officer ranks by changing the number or arrangement of the stars. The board was therefore both decorative and functional, forming part of a regulated visual system of rank identification.

The light backing was especially associated with Luftwaffe general officer boards and helped distinguish them from equivalent Heer general boards, which were commonly linked with a red underlay. Modern collecting and reproduction references describe Luftwaffe general boards with gold and silver intertwined bullion cord on white or light-colored wool backing.  

A notable technical detail is the variation in the cord pattern. For ranks from Generalmajor to Generaloberst, the typical arrangement used one silver-colored cord between two gold-colored cords. For the highest Luftwaffe ranks, the braid could be entirely gold-colored. This difference made the shoulder boards a precise indicator not only of general-officer status, but also of seniority within the command structure.