Cockades in the german imperial army 1914-1919

In this article we take a look at cockades as they were worn on field caps, pickelhauben and other headgear within the German Imperial Army. On the one hand, there were differences in the shapes and colours. Apart from the imperial cockade, the colours indicated the origin of the respective parts of the country, such as Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony and also smaller duchies. The following is primarily an overview of the colours of the cockades, as the cockades were worn on many types of headgear, such as the field cap, the pickelhaube, the Tschako and others. So in the first part, we will take a general look at the development of cockades. In the second part, we will take a closer look at the different forms worn on headgear during the First World War. In my video about the german field cap I got a part about the cockades:

The cockade in the 19th century

The Prussian national cockade was introduced on the 22nd February 1813. According to kriegsm. Verord. of 04.11.1842 the cockade was to be attached to the trim strip of the field cap. In the meantime, a black, red and gold cockade was introduced on the field cap from the 21st March 1848 to the 19th April 1850 and on the pickelhaube until 1851, but was quickly abolished again.

Until 1867, only the state cockades were used, such as the Prussian cockade in black and white. From then on, the cockade of the North German Confederation came into use, which was black and white. The imperial cockade was considered as early as 1871, until it was introduced by the corresponding decree on 22 March 1897. This was in the colours black, white and red and was introduced not only on field caps but also on other headgear.

The colours

The colours of the cockades depended on the origin of the units. Every regiment had the imperial cockade as a coherent element since 1897, not only those of the larger states, such as Prussia with the black and white cockade, Bavaria with the blue and white cockade and Saxony with the green and white cockade, but also many of the smaller states, duchies and city states. The Hanseatic cities such as Hamburg or Lübeck had a white cockade with a red cross, Brunswick yellow-blue, Schaumburg-Lippe blue-red-white, among many others. The chart attached to this article gives a wonderful overview of the different colours the cockades could have.

The reserve and Landsturm cockades were a further type of cockade, with a silver or gold cross to indicate that the wearer also belonged to these formations. However, this only applies to the cockades that were used on the field caps. It was often a question of availability, so that these formations often used the usual cockades.

The Shapes

These had different shapes. The national cockades were usually round, tapered towards the outer edge with spikes and were found on the left side of the headgear. The shape and design of the national cockades varied depending on the headgear and availability. The national cockades on the busbys, chakos, chapkas etc. were elongated ovals. These were attached to the respective headgear by means of a wire and a strap so that they stood out slightly at the top, as can be seen in the top picture of this article. These often consisted of a wooden core, which was either covered with felt or special cords.

On the field caps, on the other hand, there were cockades that were punched from sheet metal, had a serrated edge and were subsequently painted. These were found with two holes for sewing on, but there were also variations with two cotter pins on the back. These could simply be attached to the carrier fabric.

Cockades and the soldiers II. class

Soldiers of the second rank had received a conviction for previous offences and associated misconduct. Those who remained incorrigible delinquents or were deemed “unworthy” were transferred to the disciplinary troops. The convicts had thus lost their honour and were transferred to punishment companies.

These also included labour detachments, which had to perform various labour services under supervision. In addition to other distinguishing marks, they were forbidden to wear cockades on their caps. They were only allowed to wear the National. These are described in more detail in Knötel-Pietsch-Colla’s Uniformkunde.

Conclusion

The cockades are a small but fine detail that was very important for indicating the origin of the states. They were only no longer used on steel helmets, otherwise they can be found on all kinds of headgear in various forms. Cockades were worn on field caps until the end of the war and beyond, until they were replaced by others due to regulations.

Even if there were regulations, there was a sheer variety of different shapes that can hardly be specified. The colours were kept uniform, but the appearance of the cockades varied greatly.

Sources

Printed Sources:

Pietsch, Paul: Formations- und Uniformierungsgeschichte des preußischen Heeres 1808-1910, Berlin 1911, Band 1 und 2.

Kraus, Jürgen: Die Feldgraue Uniformierung des deutschen Heeres 1907-1918, 2. Auflage, Wien o.J., Band 1 und 2.

Knötel, Herbert/Pietsch, Paul/Collas, Werner von: Uniformenkunde. Das Deutsche Heer. Friedensuniformen bei Ausbruch des Weltkrieges, Hamburg 1937.