Badges and Medals

Símbolos de mérito durante la guerra

          Between 1923 and 1939, the Nazi regime created its first decorations within the party, many of them worn by veterans of the First World War. Once in power, it also began awarding distinctions for civilian loyalty and athletic achievements, always with the swastika as the central symbol.

          From 1939 onward, with the outbreak of the Second World War, the decoration system expanded massively and strategically. The Iron Cross—in its different grades—reappeared as the principal symbol of bravery in combat. It was joined by the War Merit Cross, wound badges, tank destruction awards, and campaign medals for specific theaters such as Poland, France, Russia, Africa, and even the German intervention in the Spanish Civil War.

          Decorations were also issued for length of service in certain units, membership in so-called elite divisions such as the Waffen-SS, or for years of service in the Wehrmacht. Some medals were designed for specific categories: submariners, paratroopers, tank crews, or members of the Luftwaffe. Their creation and regulation were centralized in the Führer’s Chancellery, which ensured symbolic consistency and reinforced Hitler’s personality cult.

          These distinctions—whether military, civilian, or political—could be worn simultaneously on the uniform, producing an abundant and strictly ordered iconography. Beyond individual recognition, they formed an integral part of the regime’s visual language, projecting discipline, merit, sacrifice, and ideological loyalty.

          After the fall of the regime in 1945, all Third Reich decorations were banned. In the years that followed, both the Federal Republic of Germany and the GDR developed new systems of recognition, detached from National Socialist symbolism and adapted to their respective political contexts.