[hihotte]

Larry,
you ask for the background of the MM, fact is, Galland brought the emblem back from his duty with Legion Condor in Spanish Civil War. It was the emblem of 3/J88, a strafing and ground attack squadron equipped with Heinkel He 51. The Inventor was the former StKp Douglas Pitcairn. Galland upon return had to go back to Ground Attack Units in the Luftwaffe, simply because of his experience gained in Spain in this "trade", although he wanted to be a fighter pilot (see The First and The Last), authored by him after the war. I am not surprised that he did not mention Pitcairn in the pilot symposium. He was not only an able fighter pilot and leader (Fighter General) but also a show star and he liked and lived this role to the last minute of the Third Reich. I own lots of images with him in the center, dressed in furred white leather batlle dress or white leather jacket with all the brass, while the men in the east in winter stood there in their thin overalls, freezing to stone. Of course he improved the original emblem to fit into his personality, but the idea of the emblem came from Pitcairn.
See attached image scan
Cheers
Horst