The German military complex during WWII was very concerned about the quality of their equipment. From the weapons right down to the medals and awards. In the early days of the Third Reich many badges were designed, manufactured and issued without any standardize form of quality control.

As the years went by, the number of military and civilian organizations requiring badges and awards incremented dramatically. The need to develop a standard to bring production under control arose.

THE LDO NUMBER
In 1941 it was decided to create the Administration of German Orders Manufacturers ( deutschen Ordenhersteller), known as the LDO. Its main purpose was to control the production of medals and orders. The LDO was directed by the Fuhrer's Chancellery.

The LDO published regulations which controlled the following: The dimensions of the award The materials to be employed in its construction The manufacturing techniques The finished to be applied The RZM was also another organization with a similar mission to the LDO but presided over a different line of products. The photo on the left shows the LDO marking on the pin of a War Merit Cross first class badge.

Manufacturing companies that produced medals, badges, orders, etc. during WWII were licensed. At that point they were assigned a number (commonly known as the LDO number) and were asked to stamp it on the medal or award during production. In many cases the markings would also be applied to the box or envelope in which the award was issued.

Certain manufacturers had multiple LDO numbers. These firms were fully licensed to produce some items and partially licenced to produced others. Only a couple of companies were given multiple LDO numbers, they are C.E. Juncker and Godet. These two organizations shared the LDO code 12, along with the Frank & Reif company.

The LDO code was usually applied by having the letter "L" followed by a slash "/". The manufacurer's number would follow.


THE LIEFERANT NUMBER
A second quality control number was also developed. The Pr�sidialkanzlei des F�hrers Lieferant (F�hrer Chancellery Supplier) number. The purpose for this number was the same as the LDO. It is not clear why the manufacturer board created two methods for tracking.

Both organizations published a series of information booklets about the profession recording a wide variety of information which included topics such as awards of new developments and product construction techniques. These organizations were considered to be trade guilds. Companies that manufactured awards were licensed by the LDO. Every licensee was given a unique number identifier. In some instances, if the company withdrew membership and came back at a later date, the number given to them the second time may differ from that given the first time. Hence the reason for the existance of the "Variant LDO" column shown in the LDO definitions table below. The photo to the right shows the number found on the back of a silver wound badge

Example of maker logo of a Luftwaffe pilot's badge.	Example of a maker mark of a Kriegsmarine Destroyer badge.

MAKER'S ADDRESS
Some of the badges had the name and address of the manufacturer placed in the back of the badge or award. This mark may have been stamped or casted. This marking practice has been applied to items such as combat badges, tinnies, civilian awards and related items.

This example shows the manufacturer's name and address on the back of a Kriegsmarine high seas fleet badge.

REPRODUCTIONS
It is interesting to note that the absence of a manufacturer's marking on a medal or badge does not necessarily mean that the item is not authentic. There are various instances in which this could have happened:

1. The medal or badge was produced prior to the development of standard controls.
2. The manufacturer decided not to mark the items after production.
3. Private purchase. Companies were allowed to sell directly to individuals. These items may not have the typical manufacturing markings.

There are cases where just about every medal or badge was marked (The Hindenburg Cross). While some other items were almost never marked (The eastern Front medal). A word of advice when determining the authenticity of a German WWII medal or badge, the reproductions may also be marked as the real thing.