A megkülönböztető jelek és jelzések régtől fogva fontos szerepet játszottak az emberiség történetében, hiszen általuk vált azonosíthatóvá barát, illetve ellenség. Természetes, hogy a jelvények, rangjelzők és egyéb díszítmények alkalmazása különös jelentőséggel bírt (és bír) a katonai szervezeteknél. A trianoni békeszerződés megkötése után lassan talpra álló, majd az 1930-1940-es években a fejlődés és kiteljesedés útjára lépő Magyar Királyi Honvédségnél az értekezés címében jelölt időszakban került előtérbe a katonai jelvények rendszerének felülvizsgálata és megújítása. Az 1938 és 1945 között a Magyar Királyi Honvédség tagjai számára bevezetett jelvények feladata az egyes csapatnemeknél szolgálók egymástól való megkülönböztetése és ezzel együtt a csapatszellem erősítése; a kiképzési, harctéri és sportteljesítmények kifejezése; illetve a szolgálati beosztások jelzése volt. A korszak magyar katonai jelvényeit az alábbi fő csoportokra lehet bontani: csapatnemjelvények; ügyességi- és teljesítményjelvények; sportjelvények; szolgálati jelvények; különféle megkülönböztető jelvények; nem-hivatalos alakulatjelvények. A korszak katonai jelképtárában szereplő hagyományos nemzeti szimbólumok a politikai rendszer ideológiai hátterét is kifejezték. A jelvények egyrészt az 1918 előtti és az 1920 (1922) utáni Magyar Királyi Honvédség jogfolytonosságát tükrözték, másrészt az új magyar nemzeti haderő önállóságának kifejezőeszközei voltak. A disszertációban fentiek mellett a leventemozgalom jelvényeinek bemutatására is sor kerül. A dolgozat három alapvető részből áll: a jelvények és a hadsereg-szervezés kapcsolódási pontjait, valamint a jelvényrendszer változásait bemutató tanulmányból, tárgykatalógusból és képmellékletből. Distinguishing signs and marks have been used throughout history to enable friend to be recognised from foe. Thus, in the course of history, military insignia (badges, rank insignia and other ornaments on the uniform) have developed. Concerning Austria-Hungary, the glorious days of military badges came at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, and especially during the First World War. After the chaotic historical period between 1918 and 1920, Admiral Miklós Horthy was elected as regent, whose rise to power also marked the beginning of a new era in the field of symbols. Traditional national symbols appeared in the imagery to express the ideological background of the new administration. The Hungarian military badges of the interwar period reflected both the legal continuity between the pre-1918 and the post-1920 Royal Hungarian Defence Forces and were symbols of the independence of the new national armed forces. On 5 March 1938, Prime Minister Kálmán Darányi announced the launching of a large-scale re-armament programme, with disregard to the limitations of the Trianon Peace Treaty (1920). By an agreement signed in Bled in August 1938, even the Little Entente recognised the equal military status of Hungary. As the legal restrictions of the Trianon Peace Treaty on the development of the Hungarian armed forces were lifted in 1938, several new (or previously hidden) branches of the Royal Hungarian Armed Forces were officially established. The structural changes necessitated the supervision and reorganisation of the system of Hungarian military insignia, too. An official position was taken that the various branches of the services had to be distinguished by the use of badges, which was also meant to strengthen the esprit de corps. The insignia instituted for the members of the Royal Hungarian Defence Forces between 1938 and 1945 may be grouped as follows: troop badges, qualification badges, service badges, sports badges, various distinguishing badges and non-official unit badges. Troop badges were worn by paratroopers, mountain troops, border guards, the motorized troops and the assault artillery. Some of those were officially instituted in the pages of the Defence Gazette, while others had not been officially established, but several soldiers did wear them during the war. Qualification badges were to reward the training achievements of the rank and file. Inherited from the armed forces of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, the qualification badges were used throughout the interwar period, and by the end of the 1930s, their scheme had been modified several times and their number had increased significantly. By order of the Minister of Defence, the number of the badges had to be decreased. The elaboration of the new structure of qualification badges had been completed by 1944 only. In 1944, another group of qualification badges were also introduced to reward battlefield accomplishments that could be expressed by numbers, for instance on the basis of the number of tanks destroyed, aircraft shot down, mines cleared, etc. Service badges included the border guard post commander’s badge, as well as the badges for the field gendarmerie and the troop gendarmerie. A separate group of military badges comprised the sports badges, which reflected the achievements of their owners in the field of sports. The Royal Hungarian Defence Forces’ distinguishing badges among others included the war correspondent’s badge, and the insignia instituted in the summer of 1944 for soldiers without a military uniform and forced labourers. Pilots and aircraft crew members of the Royal Hungarian Air Force wore the pilot’s badge and the observer’s badge. The non-official unit badges of the period were only authorised to be worn in plain clothes by soldiers, but they often fastened them on the military uniform, too. Beside the insignia of the Royal Hungarian Defence Forces, the badges of the Levente Youth Organisation are also being dealt with in the dissertation. The National Defence Act of 1939 defined the participation in the Levente Youth Organisation, a Hungarian pre-military organisation as an obligation for those aged 12 to 23. According to the Act, members of the Levente Youth were allowed to wear the badges of the organisation and special badges in case they stood the tests of their age groups. Inside the Levente Youth Organisation, various training activities started and in parallel with that different units were set up. After the special training courses, the members of the organisation took tests and in case they were successful, they received qualification badges. To honour various activities in favour of the Levente Youth Organisation, a three-grade badge of honour was instituted and awarded. Apart from the Austro-Hungarian traditions and the German influence, the Hungarian military badges of the period primarily reflected the national character in their design and ideology, as well as in the regulations of awarding and wearing.