Luftwaffe Flying Eagle Pin - Small

Small Luftwaffe Flying Eagle Pin

This is a reproduction of the Small Luftwaffe Flying Eagle Pin.

It measures 1 inch long.

Hermann Göring personally chose an insignia for the Luftwaffe that differed from that of the other armed branches. The eagle, an old symbol of the German Empire, was used, but in a different posture. Since 1933, when Hitler's National Socialist Party came to power, the eagle held between his claws the symbol of the party—the swastika (an old symbol of sunrise)—which usually was enveloped by an oak wreath. Göring rejected the old heraldic eagle because he felt it was too stylized, too static, and too massive; instead he chose a younger, more natural and lighter eagle with wings spread as if in flight, as he considered this a more suitable symbol for an air force. While the Wehrmacht eagle held the symbol of the Nazi Party firmly in its claws, the Luftwaffe eagle held the swastika with only one claw while the other was bent in a threatening gesture.