Question about "BEVO"

[ZigZag]

In looking at various patches and cloth items I notice a lot of "BEVO" items. Can anyone tell me what are the characteritics or construction methods,materials of a "BEVO" item. Also, certain items especially the SS collar tabs are described as being made w/ "Bullion" thread. Is that literally "Bullion" ie a true, silver bullion, metal thread?

[Jerry B]

BeVo weave is a machine weaving process developed in 1801 by a Frenchman called Jacquard and it was a roll of material fed into a weaving machine the germans using rayon or artificial silk for this material at the same time a card strip was fed in with a series of holes in the strip the machine extracts the information from the card and weaves a design into the base material this was commonly used for cap eagles, breast eagles, cockades etc. The name BeVo weave comes from the combination of Be which stands for beteiligung (patrnership) and the Vo stands for vorsteher which is the merging of two firms Lucas Vorsteher and Ewald Vorsteher, from the german city of Wuppertal-Barmen which made up the firms logo of BeVo-Wuppertal which is sometimes found on the end of rolls of BeVo insignia.

Bullion is used to describe metallic thread and very early items were probably made from precious metals, but not by the TR period as far as I am aware.

[Adrian]

Possibly the most extensive collection of BeVo insignia can be seen here which should give you some idea of the characteristics of this type of insignia.

Jerry has also described the technique very well.

Regarding the bullion, it is metal thread but not precious metal to my knowledge, at least, not for mass produced pieces. I don't know if any of the high ranking officers, Nazi hierarchy had custom made bullion insignia made from such metals.

[ZigZag]

OK...So some of the descriptive terms for patches ie BeVo and Wuppertal are not necessarily a specific type of fabric but more the Firm/company that produced it and the specific characteristics of the manufacturing.


I figured the "Bullion" was a metallic thread but didnt know if it was "precious metal" as the word Bullion is known as. I dont think the normal German soldier would have expensive patches, but I would probably guarantee that Goring, had "True Bullion" thread in his patches and uniforms.

Thanks for the Info guys...appreciated.

[Fred Green]

Hello ZigZag,

BeVo is a style of manufacture utilizing a rayon or cotton thread weaving a pattern on a rayon or cotton base thread. The rayon thread is often referred to as fake silk or ersatz silk.

Some bullion insignia was made of precious metal. Most is just a thicker metal thread.

Adrian posted one of the best collection of BeVo eagle that I have ever seen. Thanks Adrian.

Fred