The war brought several variations to the breast eagle, although it should be kept in mind that none of them was replaced or de-authorized, and all were being worn side-by-side at war's end. The backing was "badge-cloth" ( Abzeichentuch), a close-woven velvetish fabric this was originally Reichsheer grey, but in late 1935 the renamed Wehrmacht Heer changed its Abzeichentuch color to a dark blue-green called flaschengrün (bottle-green). For enlisted uniforms it was jacquard-woven ("BeVo") or sometimes machine-embroidered in silver-grey rayon, for officers machine- or hand-embroidered in white silk or bright aluminum wire, and for generals hand-embroidered in gold bullion.
LONG WAR OFFICERS PATCH
On tunics this took the form of a cloth patch about 9 cm (3⅝") wide worn on the right breast, above the pocket. The design adopted, in silver for the Reichsheer (Army) and in gold for the Reichsmarine (Navy), was a stylized eagle with outstretched, beveled wings clutching a wreathed mobile Hakenkreuz, later to be called the Wehrmachtsadler ("Armed Forces eagle"). Ordered the Nazi Party eagle-and-swastika, now Germany's National Emblem, to be worn on uniform blouses and headgear effective 1 May.
The Reichswehr's visual acknowledgement of the new National Socialist reality came on 17 February 1934, when the Defense Ministry Insignia National Emblem (breast eagle): Hoheitszeichen or Wehrmachtsadler 3.1.3 Military Supreme Court Officials (Wehrmachtbeamte beim Reichskriegsgericht).3.1 Armed Forces Officials (Wehrmachtbeamte).3 Armed Forces Officials and Sonderführer.2.3 Ranks at the Private/Senior Private levels.2.1.6 General Officers and Marshals ( Generäle).2.1.3 Senior non-commissioned specialist officers.2.1.1 Mannschaften (Enlisted personnel).1.4.5 Mountain, tropical, and M43 field caps ( Gebirgs-, Tropen- und Einheitsfeldmützen).
1.4.2 Officers' old-style field cap or "crusher" ( Feldmütze älterer Art).1.3 Shoulder-straps ( Schulterklappen) and shoulderboards ( Schulterstücke).1.2.3 Infanterie Regiment "Großdeutschland".1.1 National Emblem (breast eagle): Hoheitszeichen or Wehrmachtsadler.