History

Foreigners in the Wehrmacht either wore their own national uniforms with German rank insignia, or German uniforms with sleeve insignia identifying their country of origin. These sleeve insignia were supposed to be worn on the right upper sleeve, although they were also often worn on the left side. The shield usually shows the national colours, and often comes with a country name in Latin capitals at the top.

Of most of the foreigners sleeve insignia one or more additional (slightly) altered variants may exist.

The Turkistan Legion insignia has three main versions.

The first version was introduced in 1942. It is a dark grey-green oval with a light grey border, showing a white mosque, with “Turkistan” at the bottom and “Biz Alla Bilen” (“We believe in God”) at the top.
The second version was introduced in September 1943. It shows a shield with horizontal stripes in red/blue with a superimposed white bow and arrow, inside a black border, with “Turkistan” in blue letters on black.
The third version is very similar to the first version: a dark grey-green oval with a light grey border, showing a white/blue/yellow mosque, with “Turkistan” at the bottom and “Tenri Biz Meneni” (“We believe in God”) at the top.