This decoration was instituted on 20 December 1939 by the Commander-in-Chief (Oberbefehlshaber) of the German Army, Generalfeldmarschall Walther von Brauchitsch.

A bronze variant of the Infantry Assault Badge was created in June 1940, authorized for motorized and mechanized infantry units, using similar requirements for award as the original silver variant.

It is oval in shape, with four oak leaves on each side; on the top is a national eagle clutching a swastika and a rifle with a fixed bayonet across the badge.

[6] On 26 July 1957, the West German federal government passed the "Law of Titles, Orders and Honours" (German: Gesetz über Titel, Orden und Ehrenzeichen), which permitted World War II veterans serving in the Bundeswehr to wear certain earned decorations from the conflict, as long as they were denazified.

The Infantry Assault Badge was among the permitted decorations; The re-authorized version had the Reichsadler and swastika removed.