Original Item: Only One Available. This is a lovely service used example of a desirable NSKK vehicle pennant (German: wimpel). The NSKK was the National Socialist Motorized Corps, they trained in the operation of military and civilian vehicles and assisted with transportation in the buildup to WWII.
The overall condition of this extremely attractive NSKK vehicle pennant is very good. It is constructed from two triangular pieces of red cotton cloth, which have cutout machine embroidered NSKK organizational insignia machine chain stitched on. These are stitched together at the edges, with some reinforcement at the tip. The hoist side has a black vinyl faux leather header with a halyard running through it for attachment to the vehicle. This has a loop at the top with a metal clip, and the bottom of the halyard has been tied around an eyelet loop. There is some staining of the fabric, and it does look like some items has previously been attached to the pennant for display. There is no major tearing, and it has a lovely "been there" look.
Pennant measures approximately 8" in hoist and 13 ½" in fly. Car pennants like these were used by high ranking NSKK officers. This NSKK pennant is impressive, loaded with eye appeal, and very hard to find.
During the Third Reich and WWII, a wide variety of flags and pennants were used on German cars and vehicles. In the military, vehicle flags and pennants were used to indicate branch or rank, or specific command roles. The various civilian organizations also had vehicle flags and pennants for members of their organization or to denote the vehicles of officers, leaders or people in specific roles. Even political leaders had their own flags which were often rank specific. Some of the flags, especially military ones, were simply printed, and some were machine woven or stitched, while the flags for political leaders and the highest ranking military personnel were more decorative and often elaborately hand embroidered in bullion wire. Some vehicle flags were mass produced, including simple national flag type swas emblem pennants that could have been bought by any patriotic supporter. Others were unique. These flags were attractive souvenirs for GI troops at the end of the war, and are eagerly collected today.
The development of the NSKK, National Sozialistisches Kraftfahr Korps, (National Socialist Motor Corps), can be traced back to 1923, when the SA introduced a Kraftfahr Abteilung, (Motor Section), to transport personnel as required. In 1928 the SA Motor section was expanded to Kraftfahrstaffeln, (Motor Squadrons). In an attempt to create a national motor corps the NSAK, National Sozialistisches Automobil Korps, (National Socialist Automobile Corps), was formed in April 1930 as an NSDAP auxiliary organization, which was subordinate to the SA.
In early 1931 Adolf Hühnlein was appointed as Chief of the NSAK and proposed a name change to NSKK, which was officially accepted in April 1931. Before the introduction of a standardized belt buckle the NSKK used the SA pattern rectangular buckle in a variety of styles usually nickel or chrome-plated over brass or steel.
The NSKK served as a training organization, mainly instructing members in the operation and maintenance of high-performance motorcycles and automobiles. The NSKK was further used to transport NSDAP and SA officials/members. The NSKK also served as a roadside assistance group in the mid-1930s, comparable to the modern-day American Automobile Association or the British Automobile Association. With the outbreak of World War II NSKK ranks were recruited to serve in the transport corps of various German military branches. There was also a French section of the NSKK which was organized after the German occupation of France began in 1940. The NSKK was the smallest of the NSDAP Party organizations.
