Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very nice WWII German Reichsarbeitsdienst (RAD - National Labor Service) Wool Wimpel (Pennant Flag), measuring a large 48" x 90", or 4ft x 7 1/2ft. It is of single piece printed construction, mostly red in color, with a circle bearing the RAD logo: a shovelhead, which has a canted Swas (Hook Cross) in the middle, with two sheaves of wheat extending from the bottom at 45 degree angles.

Condition is good, with small holes from wear, or possibly moth, and overall age toning. There are some small holes and gears, but no major damage. It has a white canvas header, with a white rope halyard inside that terminates in loops on either end. A very nice example, ready to add to your collection!

The basis of the RAD, Reichsarbeitsdienst, (National Labor Service), dates back, at least, to 1929 with the formation of the AAD (Anhalt Arbeitsdienst) and the FAD-B (Freiwillingen Arbeitsdienst-Bayern).  Shortly after AH’s appointment as Chancellor in Jan 1933, the NSDAP consolidated all labor organizations into the NSAD (Nationalsozialist Arbeitsdienst), a national labor service. It served as an agency to help mitigate the effects of unemployment on the German economy, militarize the workforce and indoctrinate it with NSDAP ideology. It was the official state labor service, divided into separate sections for men and women.

On June 26 1935 the NSAD was officially re-designated RAD, and from then onward, men aged between 18 and 25 may have served six months before their military service. During World War II compulsory service also included young women and the RAD developed to an auxiliary formation which provided support for the Wehrmacht armed forces. The RAD was divided into two major sections, one for men (Reichsarbeitsdienst Männer - RAD/M) and the voluntary, from 1939 compulsory, section for young women (Reichsarbeitsdienst der weiblichen Jugend - RAD/wJ).