History

During the Third Reich, an effort was made to unite all of Germany’s disparate provincial police forces and agencies into a single cohesive national unit. To attain this goal, Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler was named Chief of the German Police in the Ministry of the Interior in June 1936. That same month, Himmler implemented new standardized uniforms, headgear, and insignia. The uniforms worn prior to Himmler’s appointment were often navy blue, particularly in what had been Prussia. The new uniforms were green, in a shade that was then dubbed “Police green”.

The German Police were divided into two main units, the Ordnungspolizei (Orps or Regular Police) and the Sicherheitspolizei (Secret Police); the Ordnungspolizei were unofficially called the green police (Grüne Polizei) as a result of their uniform colour. The Sicherheitspolizei were made up of two main organizations, the Gestapo and the Kriminalpolizei (Criminal Investigation Police). At the beginning of the Second World War, the Sicherheitspolizei were brought under the auspices of the Reich Main Security Office.

The Police cap eagle insignia featured on the Field Cap and the Visored Field Cap is embroidered or woven.

The eagle insignia featured on the Field Cap is composed of the same silver coloured thread for all ranks. There are rare instances in which the insignia on the Field Caps of Officers or Generals was produced from silver-coloured bullion.

The eagle insignia on the Visored Field Cap is machine-embroidered, with gold-coloured thread for Generals, and silver-coloured thread for Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs), and Enlisted Men (EMs).