BACKGROUND: As with most military and civilian awards of the Third Reich period miniature version lapel pins were permitted for wear on civilian clothing. Most commonly these miniatures were privately purchased items and could only be purchased by individuals with the proper ownership documentation, although some miniatures were bestowed with the full sized award. The miniatures were exact replicas of their full sized counterparts and were produced in two official sizes of nine and sixteen millimeters, (3/8" and 5/8" respectively). General regulations, with a few minor exceptions, permitted wear of three miniature awards at one time but prohibited the mixing of military and civilian awards on one lapel pin. With the restructuring of the German Armed Forces in the early 1950's the German government decided to reinstate many of the Third Reich awards to maintain morale of the soldiers who had been decorated during WWII. Regulations of July 1957 officially reinstated many of the awards in a de-nazified version by removing the swastika. The pilot’s qualification badge was originally introduced on January 19^TH 1935 for award to personnel of the DLV, Deutscher Luftsportsverband Fliegerschaft, (German Air Sports Association, Pilot Base), the clandestine, civilian forerunner of the Luftwaffe, who achieved their pilot’s licence. The badge was officially adopted by the Luftwaffe on March 26^TH 1936, by order of Hermann Göring. The pilot’s badge was awarded on an individual basis to personnel who had successfully completed the appropriate theory and flight training and had achieved their military pilot’s licence.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Nice quality, silver washed, die struck alloy construction, single piece, miniature, exact replica, 1957 version, Pilot’s badge lapel pin is in the form of a roughly, 3/8" tall, 1/4" wide, vertically oval, wreath with a cut-out, stylized, spread winged eagle in flight, mounted on the wreath. The vertically oval wreath features embossed laurel leaves to the right side and oak-leaves to the left side. The eagle’s wings extend beyond both sides of the wreath. The smooth reverse has a soldered vertical, stickpin intact. The pin is in overall very good condition and retains about 85% of its silver wash with minimal age tarnish. The pin has no visible manufacturer’s markings.

GRADE ***1/2                             PRICE $60.00