Campaign shields (), also known as campaign arm shields, were badges of differing design awarded to members of the German Wehrmacht for participation in specific battles or campaigns during World War II. Each shield was worn on the left upper arm of the uniform jacket. If a recipient received more than one shield, the earlier was worn above any later awards.
Official awards Image Name(German) Institution date Awarded for Number of awards Service branch Narvik Shield() 19 August 1940 Landing in Narvik or participation in military actions of the Narvik battle group between 9 April and 9 June 1940 8,527 Army, Air Force, Navy Cholm Shield() 1 July 1942 Defence of the Kholm Pocket between 21 January and 5 May 1942ca. 5,500 Army, Air Force Crimea Shield() 25 July 1942 The Crimean campaign, 21 September 1941 to 4 July 1942, including the Siege of Sevastopol ca. 250,000 Army, Air Force, Navy Demyansk Shield() 25 April 1943 Defence of the Demyansk Pocket, February to May 1942 ca. 96,000 Army, Air Force, Waffen-SS Kuban Shield() 20 September 1943 The military actions around the Kuban bridgehead from 1 February to 9 October 1943 ca. 145,000 Army, Air Force, Navy Warsaw Shield () 10 December 1944 Suppression of the Warsaw Uprising between 1 August to 2 October 1944. While award criteria and design were approved, none were produced by the end of the war. None Army, Air Force, Waffen-SS Lapland Shield() Between February and May 1945 Service in North Finland with the 20th Mountain Army, September 1944 to May 1945. Unknown Army, Air Force, Navy
Post-war versions After an initial ban, the Federal Republic of Germany re-authorised the wearing of many World War II military decorations in 1957. This included all official campaign shields except for the Warsaw and Lapland Shields. Re-designed to remove the swastika emblem, members of the Bundeswehr could wear the shields on their ribbon bar, represented by a small replica of the award on a field grey ribbon.
Unofficial or discontinued prior to award Several shields were either unofficial or had approval withdrawn during the design phase, and were therefore never manufactured and awarded:
Image Name(German) Institution date Awarded for Number of awards Service branch () Not proceeded with Battle of Stalingrad, 1942–43 None Army, Air Force Balkans Shield() Not proceeded with Battles in the Balkans 1944–1945 None Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS Budapest Shield () Not proceeded with Siege of Budapest, December 1944 to February 1945 None Army, Air Force, Waffen-SS Picture onde.wikipedia () Unofficial locally produced award Siege of Dunkirk (1944–45). This shield was worn on the left side of the forage cap ca. 12,000 to 15,000 Army, Air Force, Navy () Unofficial locally produced awardSiege of Lorient, 1944–45 ca. 10,000 to 12,000 Army, Air Force, Navy Memel and Neman Front Shield() Not proceeded with Battle in the area of the city of Memel and the river Neman, 1944–45 None Army, Air Force, Navy
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