History

In February of 1945, SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Brigade ‘Nederland’ was upgraded to a division and was renamed the 23. SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division ‘Nederland’. The formation was composed of Dutch volunteers.

‘Nederland’ was the second division to have the number 23, the first being the defunct 'Kama' division.

Foreign SS volunteers were not permitted to wear SS runes and instead, they were issued collar tabs that were unique to their division. The 'Nederland' division’s collar tab featured a so-called "Wolfsangel" (wolf trap). The collar tab was first worn vertically, later horizontally.

The collar tabs were produced by covering parallelogram shaped pieces of buckram with black cloth. Enlisted rank collar tabs were then machine-embroidered with white/silver thread, while Officer rank collar tabs were either machine or hand-embroidered using aluminium wire.