List of military decorations of the Third Reich

Military decorations of the Third Reich were awards and medals bestowed by the Wehrmacht between 1935 and 1945 during the reign of Nazi Germany and the years of World War II.

Military Decorations[]

Senior military leadership decorations[]

Star of the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross
File:Stargrandcross.jpg

Grand Cross of the Iron Cross

Military valor decorations[]

Knights Cross of the Iron Cross with Golden Oakleaves Swords, and Diamonds	Knights Cross of the Iron Cross with Oakleaves, Swords, and Diamonds	Knights Cross of the Iron Cross with Oakleaves and Swords	Knights Cross of the Iron Cross with Oakleaves	Knights Cross of the Iron Cross
			File:RK EK mit einchenlaub.png	File:RK EK.png

Meritorious military decorations[]

German Cross (Awarded in Gold and Silver)	Iron Cross First Class	Iron Cross Second Class	1939 Clasp to the Iron Cross	Military Honor Roll Clasp (Awarded for Army, Navy, and Air Force)
				File:Honour role clasp.jpg

Golden Knights Cross of the War Merit Cross (Awarded with and without Swords)	Knights Cross of the War Merit Cross (Awarded with and without Swords)	War Merit Cross (First and Second Class) (Awarded with and without Swords)	War Merit Medal	Spanish Cross in Gold, Silver, and Bronze Awarded with and without Swords Special grade awarded in Gold with Diamonds Posthumous grade known as "Spanish Cross for Next of Kin of Fallen"

Military service decorations[]

Cross of Honor (1914–1918)	Eastern Front Medal	West Wall Medal^[1] Upgradeable to include 1944 Bar	Anschluss Medal	Memel Medal	Sudetenland Medal Upgradeable to include Prague Castle Bar

Military service medals[]

Wehrmacht Long Service Award Awarded for Army, Navy, and Air Force Awarded in grades of 4, 12, 18, 25, and 40 Years of Service	Waffen-SS Long Service Award Awarded in grades of 4, 12, 18, and 25 Years of Service
	File:Waffen-SS Long Service Award 12year.jpg

Wound badges[]

1939 Wound Badge (Awarded in Gold, Silver, and Black)	Wound Badge of 20 July 1944

Spanish Wound Badge (Awarded in Gold, Silver, and Black)

Arm Shields and Cuffbands[]

Arm Shields[]

Narvik Shield	Crimea Shield	Demyansk Shield	Kuban Shield

Cholm Shield	Lappland Shield

Cuffbands[]

General Cuffbands[]

Campaign Cuffbands[]

Condor Legion Cuffband
Crete Cuffband
Afrika Cuffband
Kurland Cuffband

Military Service Badges[]

Army/Waffen-SS War Badges[]

Infantry Assault Badge (Silver and Bronze)	General Assault Badge	Close Combat Clasp (Gold, Silver, and Bronze)	Tank Battle Badge (Silver and Bronze)^[2]	Tank Destruction Badge (Gold and Silver)

Anti-Partisan Guerrilla Warfare Badge	Balloon Observer's Badge	Sniper's Badge

Army Paratrooper Badge
Front Line Driver's Badge (Gold, Silver, and Bronze)
Army Anti-Aircraft Badge
Condor Legion Tank Badge
Commemorative Tank Badge of the Great War

Naval War Badges[]

Main article: Awards and decorations of the Kriegsmarine

High Seas Fleet Badge	Destroyer War Badge	Minesweeper War Badge	Blockade Runner Badge

E-Boat War Badge	U-Boat War Badge	Auxiliary Cruiser Badge	Naval Artillery War Badge
		File:Auxiliary Cruiser Badge.jpg

U-Boat Combat Clasp (Gold and Silver)
File:U-boat Front Clasp.jpg

Naval Combat Clasp	Small Battle Unit Combat Clasp

Luftwaffe War Badges[]

Combined Pilots-Observation Badge	Pilot's Badge	Luftwaffe Paratrooper Badge

Anti-Aircraft Flak Battle Badge	Tank Combat Badge of the Luftwaffe	Ground Assault Badge of the Luftwaffe
	File:Panzerkampfabzeichen der Luftwaffe in Schwarz.jpg
Observer Badge

Luftwaffe flying clasps[]

Luftwaffe Flying Clasps

Luftwaffe Flying Clasps were awarded in Bronze, Silver, and Gold with upgrade possible to include diamonds. Pennants suspended from the clasp indicated the number of missions obtained in a given type of aircraft. Flying Clasps were issued for missions completed in the following Luftwaffe aircraft

Day Fighters
Night Fighters
Long Range Day Fighters
Air to Ground Support Fighters
Bombers
Reconnaissance
Transport and Glider

Foreign Division Awards[]

Foreign division awards were specially intended for non-German volunteers serving in specially formed divisions serving under the German military. The two primary foreign division awards were as follows:

Blue Division Medal

Ostvolk Medal

External links[]

References[]

↑ The West Wall Medal was issued twice, once in 1939 and again in 1944. The 1944 version was commonly referred to as the "German Defense Medal". For those personnel who had already received the 1939 West Wall Medal, a "1944 Bar" was authorized to the decoration.
↑ Tank Battle Badges were also issued with engagement numbers affixed beneath the main badge. These "Numbered Tank Badges" were issued in degrees of 25, 50, 75, and 100 engagements.

All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at List of military decorations of the Third Reich and the edit history here.

Dietrich Maerz/Bernd Hartmann, "The Awards of the Heer, Vol. I", 2012, ISBN 978-0-9797969-7-5

[1] The West Wall Medal was issued twice, once in 1939 and again in 1944. The 1944 version was commonly referred to as the "German Defense Medal". For those personnel who had already received the 1939 West Wall Medal, a "1944 Bar" was authorized to the decoration.

[2] Tank Battle Badges were also issued with engagement numbers affixed beneath the main badge. These "Numbered Tank Badges" were issued in degrees of 25, 50, 75, and 100 engagements.

[1]

[2]