Veterans’ badge of the German Armed Forces

The Bundeswehr veterans’ badge is a small, silver-colored Iron Cross with the German eagle in the middle. The badge may not be worn on the uniform, but only on civilian clothing. This is due to its intention to symbolize an expression of solidarity with the Bundeswehr among the civilian public. Its official introduction in 2018 was preceded by several years of debate, which primarily revolved around the definition of the term “veteran”. It determined who was allowed to receive the badge.

As early as 2013, 10,000 badges were procured under the then Minister of Defense Thomas de Maizière. However, they could not be awarded without a valid veteran definition. Although only a few had previously been issued as proof copies, numerous pieces had already appeared on the online market. It has not been clarified where the badges offered for sale came from.

In 2012, De Maizière only defined those soldiers as veterans who had received a service medal from the Bundeswehr. However, this excludes members of the armed forces who took part in the first mission in Somalia in 1993, as there was no service medal at that time. De Maizière expanded his definition in 2013 to include anyone who had taken part in a Bundeswehr mission, but no agreement could be reached during his time in office. While the Bund Deutscher EinsatzVeteranen e.V. only wanted to see those soldiers who had taken part in Bundeswehr missions abroad referred to as “veterans”, the Bundeswehr Association and Reservists Association advocated a broader definition.

De Maizière’s successor Ursula von der Leyen initially attempted a compromise with a two-tier definition of “veterans” and “service veterans”, but some Bundeswehr interest groups rejected this as a “two-tier model”.

The daily order on the term veteran from 26.11.2018 now states: “A veteran of the Bundeswehr is a person who is in active service as a soldier in the Bundeswehr or has retired from this service with honor, i.e. has not lost their rank.” This is the first time the term veteran has been defined in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany. The Minister of Defense deliberately defined the term as broadly as possible to include all persons who have served in the Bundeswehr. The first award ceremony took place on June 15, 2019 on Armed Forces Day in Faßberg.

Any soldier who has served in the Bundeswehr can apply for the Veterans’ Badge. There is no minimum period of service, but the person must not have been dishonorably discharged, which means that around 10 million people are entitled to wear the badge. By January 2020, almost 40,000 applications for the badge had been received.

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(short) stories from the depot

Unfortunately, many objects cannot currently be shown in the exhibition for conservation reasons. Here you will find unusual objects and exciting stories of special pieces from the depot