On May 31, 1940, a divisional order was issued to mark all vehicles with their own identification mark. The distinction had become necessary because several divisions used the same marching routes, for example.
The „Hoernle“ was chosen as the divisional emblem, a variation of the stag’s antlers that had been chosen as the emblem of the former Kingdom of Wuerttemberg.
It had a curved shape with four upward-pointing horns on its curvature. The tips were all inclined to the left. It had a length of 19 cm and was 2.5 cm wide at the base of the horn.
It had to be attached to the right front mudguard and in the middle of the rear wall of all vehicles, to the left fuel tank of motorcycles, to the right front and rear sidecar of motorcycle sidecars and to the left side wall of harnessed vehicles.
The circumstances are described in the report „The birth of the Hoernle“.
Nowadays, the „Hoernle“ is often confused with the moose shovel, which is depicted on the emblem of the Association of East Prussians.
On 19.12.1942, the High Command of the XII. Army Corps ordered the change of the insignia. This meant that the popular Hoernle disappeared as the symbol of the 260th Infantry Division.
The new insignia was an „R“!
