- In 1940, German paratroopers made significant contributions to the successful campaign in Western Europe by seizing Danish and Norwegian airfields in April and the great Belgian fortress of Eben Emael in May. Savage fighting during the invasion of Crete in May 1941 so decimated the paratroopers that they would never again be deployed in a mass drop, but fought as elite infantry.
German parachute badges of World War II are generally cast and anodized aluminum. They feature a tall, oval wreath and in the center, a stooping eagle. Usually the stooping eagle is gold and grasps a swastika, while the wreath is silver. In other cases, the wreath is gold and surmounted by a small eagle with a swastika in its talons, while the stooping eagle is silver. - In the aftermath of World War II, Germany was divided into two countries. Soviet-allied East Germany, the Deutsche Democratic Republic (DDR), had its own army, the Volksarmee, including its own paratroopers. Collar tabs were orange and embroidered with a silver parachute, the risers, or lines, terminating in wings. Officers' collar tabs were edged with silver piping. Paratroopers wore orange berets. Beret insignia for enlisted men and sergeants featured a hammer imposed upon a compass, over the German black-red-gold tricolor, wreathed with gold laurel and edged in black. Officers' insignia wreathed this center crest in silver laurel, and general officers' with gold laurel.
- As part of German reunification after the collapse of communism in 1990, the West German Army, or Bundeswehr, became the single German army. Like many other countries, Germany regards paratrooper training as an entree into special operations forces, and selection criteria for participating in longer, more demanding and expensive training.
The Bundeswehr paratrooper badge worn on the left chest has a tall oval laurel wreath in silver surrounding a stooping silver eagle. The design is very similar to that of Nazi Germany. However, at the center bottom of the badge is the enameled German tricolor flag of black, red and gold. The right breast badge, which indicates that the wearer is personally qualified as a parachutist, is an open parachute, wreathed in laurel with extended wings on either side, cast in bronze metal. - The German Sport Parachuting Association, or Deutscher Fallschirmsport Verbande, is the professional trade association for civilian parachutists. While many of its members may be ex-military, the association's logo is decidedly nonmilitary in appearance: a DFV, with the F in the parabolic shape of an open parachute, and a jumper hanging from the risers.
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