Police Saddle Blanket Eagle

[W.Unland]

Hello,

A rarely, but often misidentified police eagle is that intended for use on the police parade saddle blanket.

As shown here the eagle is considerably larger than the standard sleeve eagle. Although the head is a bit oddly shaped the embroidery is quite thick and well executed. It is of typical pre-war quality. It exhibits some interesting characteristics not seen on sleeve eagles. This example has evidence of having had zig-zag stitching around the edge pointing towards it's having been removed from an actual blanket. Most blanket eagles have been seen in this triangular "lozenge" shape, although the last photo in this post clearly shows an eagle embroidered on a round background cloth.

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All of the known examples of this eagle have been in Schutzpolizei green BUT as there were mounted Gendarmerie it is not unreasonable to expect to find this type of eagle in orange as well. The regulations do not specify color, and the Kotel color plates show a mounted Gendarm with a green eagle, but as the police issued everything else in branch specific colors it is reasonable to assume they did the same in this case.

This saddle blanket was to be utilized in "special" circumstances, which is assumed to mean for parades and when guarding dignitaries etc. It is assumed that all were produced pre-war.

Here is a photo of a mounted Gendarm showing the placement of this eagle at the rear lower corner of the blanket. This blanket is the "second" model without a false decorative "pocket flap" mounted above the eagle. The light colored boots and cap band suggest the brown worn by Gendarmerie officers, as opposed to the black and darker brown cap band of the Schutzpolizei. The "lighter" blanket eagle may in fact be orange, but in a B&W photo that is speculation on my part.

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This photo shows the earlier model blanket with pocket flap. Notice the "darker" less "contrasty" eagle when compared to the above photo.

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Regards,

William Unland

Edited October 24, 2006 by W.Unland