Camicie Nere La Milizia Volontaria Per La Sicurezza Nazionale 1935 45

The Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale: A Working Guide to the Blackshirts

You will find very little useful information about the MVSN if you just read generic summaries. The unit was created on February 14, 1923 as the Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale — the Voluntary Militia for National Security — but the uniforms, badge, and period designation most collectors and researchers actually need reference the 1935–1945 era. That is the window where the organization was fully professionalized, heavily involved in the Spanish Civil War, and deployed across North Africa and the Balkans before its dissolution in 1943. If you are looking for a specific

Camicie Nere La Milizia Volontaria Per La Sicurezza Nazionale 1935 45

item or trying to authenticate one, you need to understand what changed during those ten years and how the variations show up in the field. The blackshirt itself was never just a costume. It started as a fashion choice adopted by the Fasci di Combattimento in 1919, borrowed from the Italian naval infantry. By 1935, under the reforms orchestrated by Roberto Farinacci and laterquested by Mussolini himself, the MVSN had become a parallel military structure answerable directly to the Duce rather than to the Royal Army. That structural quirk creates most of the confusion you will run into when researching or collecting pieces from the period.

What actually distinguishes a genuine 1935–1945 MVSH piece

Start with the collar badges. Early war period pieces carry the MVSN lightning bolt and fasces combo on square black metal collarettes. Post-1940 production shifts to simpler designs, and by 1943 you will see emergency substitutions — stamped tin, painted wood, sometimes even embroidered cloth patches on rushed uniforms. I spent three weeks trying to authenticate a set of collar badges that turned out to be a 1970s reproduction. The tell was the patina inside the rivet holes. Genuine pieces show oxidation that goes through the metal, not just surface toning. Reproductions always sit on top. The shirt fabric is another area where beginners get burned. The official specification called for a wool-cotton blend in a specific navy-black shade called nero MVSN. Actual battlefield pieces from the Ethiopian campaign and later North Africa often faded to a brownish charcoal because the dye stock was inconsistent and the African sun destroyed it fast. A perfectly black shirt from 1940 is actually more suspicious than one that has faded naturally. I found this out the hard way when a dealer convinced me that a razor-sharp black camicie was original. The stitching thread was too uniform and the button material was a postwar cellulose acetate, not the earlier vulcanized fiber or early bakelite versions.

Badges, buttons, and the paperwork trail

The standard MVSN breast badge features the fasces flanked by lightning bolts with the letters M.V.S.N. above. There are at least fourteen known production variants between 1935 and 1943. The key dates to check are the stamping on the reverse. Early pieces are individually numbered or marked with the manufacturer's code — cases, Pignone, and others. Later war pieces often have no marking at all because production was decentralized and desperate. If you find a badge with a clean, precise maker's mark and it is priced like a common item, verify the metal composition first. Lead-heavy base metal with a thin silver plate is a common reproduction technique. Buttons follow a similar pattern. The standard button bears the fasces and eagle motif with the inscription M.V.S.N. around the rim. Pre-1939 buttons tend to be larger and heavier, made from nickel silver or brass. Wartime buttons are smaller, lighter, and sometimes made from base metal with a that chips easily. I once tracked down the correct supplier for reproduction MVSN buttons by cross-referencing surviving uniforms in the Museo Storico delle Truppe Alpine with museum records from the Vittoriano. The key was matching the button diameter to the known size specifications for each year rather than relying on visual similarity alone.

Service records and unit affiliation

One thing most guides do not mention is how fragmented the archival record is. The MVSN kept detailed service books, but many were destroyed during the Allied bombing of Rome and the later retreat. Others were taken as souvenirs or ended up in private hands across Europe. The surviving documents are scattered between the Archivio Centrale dello Stato in Rome, local prefecture archives, and various military museums. If you are trying to trace a specific individual or unit, start with the regimental histories — each MVSN legion had a published history, often self-published, that lists officers and notable operations. The major legions you will encounter most often include the 1st Lombardia, 2nd Veneto, 3rd Emilia, and the specialized formation like the 1a CC.NN. Divisione Valchiarina which saw action in Yugoslavia. Each had distinct patch configurations and some wore unique unit insignia alongside the standard MVSN badges. The X Mas Blitzy Commando and other commando formations had their own emblems that differ from standard legion pieces.

Common mistakes that waste money

The biggest pitfall is assuming that any black shirt with fascist imagery is an MVSN piece. The regular army, the Balilla youth organization, and various party uniforms all used black. TheMVSN shirt has specific cuts and button arrangements. It uses eight front buttons with the standard MVSN button design on the upper portion and plain buttons on the lower section. Posters and reproduction catalogs blur these distinctions deliberately. Always check the button configuration and the cut of the collar before committing to a purchase. Another frequent error involves the garrison cap. The original MVSN garrison cap had a distinctive stiffener and the correct badge placement on the left side. Reproductions often get the angle wrong or use a badge that is too large. The correct size is approximately 65mm wide. Anything significantly larger is likely a modern interpretation.

Where to find reliable sources and documentation

The best single reference remains the official history compiled by the Stato Maggiore dell'Esercito, though it is out of print and expensive. More accessible are the regimental histories published by the Associazione Nazionale Alpini and various provincial MVSN veterans associations, though these tend to be self-publicized and sometimes lack critical distance. For authentication purposes, the catalog from the 2018 Firenze Militaria exhibition provides excellent high-resolution photographs of verified pieces across all major categories including uniforms, badges, weapons accessories, and documents. If you are starting a collection or doing research, focus on one category first. The market is flooded with mixed lots that combine genuine and fake pieces. I recommend beginning with buttons or badges rather than complete uniforms because they are easier to verify individually and less likely to be consigned from questionable sources. A well-documented button with known provenance is worth more than a complete outfit with no history attached to it. The MVSN existed for exactly twenty-two years and went through multiple organizational transformations. Any guide that treats it as a static entity is oversimplifying. The 1935–1945 period is the most complex because it spans peacetime buildup, colonial war, European conflict, and final collapse. Expect contradictions in the record. Accept that some questions will not have answers. The details that survive matter more than the narrative that fills the gaps.