Oak cluster lapel pin with Reichsadler for a Nazi Party meeting

Commemorative pin from a 1934 local meeting of the Nazi Party in the German city of Gera, in the district of Thüringen. The design features the Parteiadler (Party’s Eagle) and a shield, with a striped lion holding up a swastika. The Parteiadler, an eagle looking over its left shoulder and holding a wreath with a swastika in its talons, is similar to the Hoheitsabzeichen (National Emblem) of Nazi Germany, which features the eagle looking over its right shoulder. Both of these are variations of the Reichsadler (Imperial Eagle), which has been used as a symbol for German nationhood as far back as the Holy Roman Empire, although the term is often associated with the Nazi regime. The lion shield is drawn from the 13th-century coat of arms for Thürgingen, which was redesigned with the swastika after the Nazi party took control of Germany in 1933. The emblem and coat of arms are overlaid on a trio of oak leaves, an important symbol in Nazi iconography for the connection between German people and the land.