History

The Order Shield was first introduced in January of 1919 as the insignia of the Danzig Student Company Lienau. On June 5, 1919 the commanding General of the 17th Army Corps, Otto von Below, chose it as the official badge of the reserve of the Eastern Border Protection units.
Later that year, probably in October, the commander of the former 17th Army Corps, General of the Artillery J. v. Malachowski, introduced the badge for many of the voluntary town militias.

The badge was worn on the left breast. It is in the form of a white shield with silvered edges. It features a black cross over the entire width and height of the shield. The cross also features silvered edges. The white and black colour are made of enamel.

Due to the comperatively high number of badges manufactured (compared to other Freikorps badges), there are many variants that differ in slight design details or in materials used, including brass, bronze, aluminum, or copper. Some shields lack the white enamelled parts and instead feature silvered and pebbled fields. Some shields are lacquered rather than enamelled.

Some shields were worn on the upper left arm, which was against regulations.