The Gestapo never used a single logo. Instead, its officers were identified by three overlapping sets of markers: a small metal warrant disc that plainclothes agents carried to prove their authority, the Nazi state eagle-and-swastika stamped on every official document and mounted outside every office, and, after 1939, the SS insignia worn by officers who held dual membership once the secret police was absorbed into the Reich Security Main Office. These are the Gestapo symbols most often encountered in photographs, archives, and museum collections today, and each did a different job.
The Warrant Disc
Because agents typically worked in civilian clothes, their working identifier was a Dienstmarke, or warrant disc. It was die-struck from nickel-silver, oval, roughly two inches wide by an inch and a half tall, with a small hole punched through one side for a chain.1United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. German State Criminal Police and a Gestapo Warrant Badge
The front carried a raised eagle with outspread wings clutching an oak-leaf wreath around a swastika. The reverse read “GEHEIME STAATSPOLIZEI” above a stamped identification number unique to the agent.1United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. German State Criminal Police and a Gestapo Warrant Badge Producing the disc during an arrest or search was meant to compel immediate compliance from civilians and from other police branches. The number let superiors track the agent’s activity without exposing a real name.
For most field officers who never wore a uniform, the warrant disc was the only physical proof they belonged to the secret police. Authenticated originals are rare, and reproductions dominate the collector market, so genuine examples are usually found in museum holdings.
The State Eagle and Swastika
The Reichsadler appeared on every piece of Gestapo paperwork, from internal memos to arrest warrants and interrogation reports. In the version the Nazi state adopted, the eagle’s wings extend in a broad horizontal line and its talons grip a circular oak-leaf wreath enclosing a swastika. On Gestapo documents and on the warrant disc, the eagle faces the viewer’s right — the state version of the emblem, distinct from the Nazi Party version, which faces the opposite direction.1United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. German State Criminal Police and a Gestapo Warrant Badge
The same eagle marked signage outside regional headquarters and local offices, identifying the building as a state police facility. Officers who wore uniforms at ceremonial events or high-profile posts carried the eagle on sleeve patches and headgear. The consistent message was that the Gestapo acted as an arm of the national government, and any document bearing the eagle carried state authority behind it.
SS Insignia After 1939
In September 1939, Heinrich Himmler created the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA), which folded the Gestapo into the SS structure.2United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Reich Security Main Office (RSHA) From that point on, many Gestapo officers held simultaneous SS membership and wore SS insignia alongside their police identifiers.
Two SS symbols are the ones readers encounter most often in Gestapo contexts. The Sig runes, twin lightning-bolt characters, appeared on collar tabs and other uniform elements and were the most recognizable SS emblem. The Totenkopf, a skull-and-crossbones, appeared on SS caps; it originated with the SS-Totenkopfverbände, the units that guarded concentration camps, and came to stand for the broader SS.
Senior officers could also receive the SS-Ehrenring, a silver ring bestowed personally by Himmler rather than issued through any formal state decoration system. Each ring was inscribed with the recipient’s name, a date, and Himmler’s signature.2United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Reich Security Main Office (RSHA)
Are Gestapo Symbols Legal to Display Today?
Germany
Section 86a of the German Criminal Code bans the public display, distribution, or production of symbols tied to unconstitutional organizations, including the Gestapo and SS. The prohibition covers flags, insignia, uniforms and uniform components, slogans, and salutes, and it extends to symbols close enough to be confused with the originals. Violations carry up to three years in prison or a fine.3German Federal Ministry of Justice. German Criminal Code An exception applies to historical research, education, art, and similar purposes, which is what allows museums and academic publications to reproduce them.4Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. Right-Wing Extremism: Symbols, Signs and Banned Organisations
Other Countries
Germany is not alone. Austria, France, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Lithuania, and other European nations have enacted laws criminalizing the public display of Nazi symbols or the promotion of Nazi ideology.5Yad Vashem. Holocaust Denial Laws and Other Legislation Criminalizing Promotion of Nazism Switzerland enacted its own ban in 2024. Penalties and scope vary: some countries fold the prohibition into broader hate-speech or anti-extremism statutes, while others have standalone legislation targeting totalitarian symbols.
Collecting and Online Sales
Major online platforms routinely remove listings for Gestapo-related artifacts to comply with these laws and their own content policies. Authentic warrant discs and documents bearing the state eagle surface occasionally at specialized militaria auctions, but sellers and buyers face legal risk that depends on where they live and where the item is shipped. Museums and historical archives remain the primary legal venues for viewing original Gestapo objects.