Uniforms and insignia of the Sturmabteilung

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File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1982-014-35A, Oranienburg, Konzentrationslager.jpg

SA guards at Oranienburg concentration camp, 1933

The uniforms and insignia of the Sturmabteilung (SA) were Nazi Party paramilitary ranks and uniforms used by SA stormtroopers from 1921 until the fall of Nazi Germany in 1945. The titles and phrases used by the SA were the basis for paramilitary titles used by several other Nazi paramilitary groups, among them the Schutzstaffel (SS). Early SS ranks were identical to the SA, since the SS was originally considered a sub-organisation of the Sturmabteilung.

Origins of SA titles (1921–1923)Edit

File:SA Kragenabzeichen links Dienstränge 1920.jpg

The original pip system used by the SA in the 1920s

The brown shirted stormtroopers of the Sturmabteilung gradually come into being within the Nazi Party beginning in 1920. By this time, Adolf Hitler had assumed the title of Führer of the Nazi Party, replacing Anton Drexler who had been known as the more democratically elected Party Chairman. Hitler began to fashion the Nazi Party on fascist paramilitary lines and, to that end, the early Nazis of the 1920s would typically wear some sort of paramilitary uniform at party meetings and rallies. The most common of these were World War I uniforms with full medals. Also common were uniforms of the Freikorps as well as uniforms of veteran groups such as Der Stahlhelm. Nazi Party members would also mix components from all three types of uniforms with little to no standardisation except a swastika armband worn on the left arm.

By 1921, the Nazi Party had taken its "Sports Detachment", consisting mostly of bodyguards Hitler used for his own protection, and had formed the Nazi stormtroopers, or the "Storm Detachment", which was shortened to be known as the SA. It was at this point that the very first SA titles came into being, although there were no established uniforms or insignia except a swastika armband worn on a paramilitary uniform. At the start of the group's existence, the SA had four primary titles:

Oberster SA-Führer (Supreme SA-Leader)
SA-Oberführer (SA-Senior Leader)
SA-Führer (SA-Leader)
SA-Mann (SA-Trooper)

In 1923, the SA was disbanded after the failed Munich Beer Hall Putsch. The group was re-founded two years later in 1925.

Early SA rank insignia (1924–1929)Edit

From 1923 to 1925, the SA did not officially exist since Hitler had been imprisoned for his actions in the Munich Putsch and the Nazi Party banned in Germany. Underground cells of SA men did continue to meet in secret, including one run by an SA leader named Gerhard Roßbach. It was Roßbach who effectively invented the "Nazi brownshirt" uniform since, during Roßbach's Austrian exile in 1924, a large store of military surplus brown denim shirts intended for tropical uniforms in East Africa,<ref>Toland, John (1976). Adolf Hitler. New York: Doubleday & Company. Template:ISBN</ref> which were originally bought in 1921, was taken over by the Schill Youth in Germany.<ref>Gerhard Roßbach (1950). Mein Weg durch die Zeit. Erinnerungen und Bekenntnisse. Weilburg/Lahn : Vereinigte Weilburger Buchdruckereien.</ref> The "Schill Sportversand" then became the main supplier for the SA brown shirts.

In 1925, the SA was re-founded as part of the new Nazi Party which Hitler had put together following his release from prison. The reborn SA then received its first formal uniform regulations and also began using the first recognisable system of rank insignia.

Along with a brown shirt uniform, SA members would wear swastika armbands with a kepi cap. Originally, the SA used its pre-1923 rank titles, but this changed in 1926 when local SA units began to be grouped into larger regiment sized formations known as Standarten. Each SA regiment was commanded by a senior SA officer called a Standartenführer. At the same time, to differentiate from the SA rank and file, senior SA officers began to wear oak leaves on their collars to signify their authority. Under this system, a Standartenführer wore one oak leaf, an Oberführer two oak leaves, and the Supreme SA Commander wore three. The lower ranks of SA-Führer and SA-Mann still wore no insignia.

File:SA Kragenabzeichen rechts (Sturm 12, Standarte 93).jpg

An SA unit insignia patch; here: Sturm 12/Standarte 93

In 1927, the officer rank of SA-Führer became known by the title of Sturmführer and a higher officer rank known as Sturmbannführer was created to be held by battalion formation commanders directly subordinate to the Standartenführer. In 1928, an expansion of SA enlisted ranks was required in response to the growing rank and file membership of the SA troopers. These new titles and ranks were denoted by an insignia system which consisted of silver pips pinned to a wearer's collar. The pip system was adopted from the Stahlhelm veteran's group which was closely connected to the SA both in dual membership and ideological design.

A further change in 1928 was the creation of the rank of Gruppenführer. This rank used the three leaf collar insignia previously reserved for the Supreme SA Commander and the rank was held by the senior most SA commanders in Germany who led division sized formations of several SA-Standarten. By this time, the SA had also begun to use unit insignia for its junior members which consisted of a numbered collar patch, showing both battalion and regiment affiliation, worn opposite the badge of rank. This unit insignia patch was worn by those holding the rank of Sturmbannführer and below; the higher officer ranks wore oak leaf insignia on both collars.

File:SA Rangabzeichen links Dienstränge 1935.png

The original pip system used by the SA in 1935

By the end of the 1920s, the SA rank system had solidified into the following titles:

SA rank	Reichswehr equivalent	UK equivalent
Gruppenführer	lang}}	Lieutenant-general
Untergruppenführer	Generalmajor	Major general
Oberführer	No equivalent
Standartenführer	lang}}	Colonel
Sturmbannführer	Major	Major
Sturmhauptführer	lang}}	Captain
Sturmführer	lang}}	Lieutenant
Truppführer	Feldwebel	Sergeant
Scharführer	Unteroffizier Unterfeldwebel	Corporal
SA-Mann	Soldat	Private

SA uniforms under Ernst Röhm (1930–1933)Edit

File:Trib12101933001 SA und SS Aufbau Dienstgrade Abzeichen Chicago Sunday Tribune 1933-12-10 Nazi uniforms poster plate archive.lib.msu.edu (more contrast).jpg

A German poster showing uniforms and insignia of Sturmabteilung (to the left) and Schutzstaffel (SS, to the right), two paramilitary branches of the Nazi Party, published in English by the Chicago Sunday Tribune 1933. The caption reads: Putting masculine Germany into uniforms of types portrayed above is only one aspect of complete regimentation of the German people – a regimentation which includes reshaping of thought in the Nazi mold, suppression of rights, and control and censorship over newspapers.

The next major change in SA uniforms and insignia occurred in 1930 when Ernst Röhm was appointed as Chief of Staff of the SA. Röhm's appointment was as the result of Hitler personally assuming command of the SA as the Oberster SA-Führer. Hitler would hold this title until the fall of Nazi Germany in 1945 and, after 1930, it was the SA Chief of Staff who was the effective leader of the organisation.

Röhm undertook several changes to the SA uniform and insignia design, the first being to invent several new ranks in order for the SA rank system to mirror that of the professional military. The rank expansion took place gradually between 1930 and 1932, with the final addition being the creation of a rank of SA-Obergruppenführer, which Röhm appointed to himself as well as senior SA-generals of the SA command staff. The new ranks used the same collar pip and oak leaf system as before, but with the addition of corded shoulder boards worn on the right shoulder for the officers. Further, the officers wore right shoulder cord of either gold or silver. In contrast, the enlisted men wore piping cords shaped as shoulder straps on the right shoulder.Template:Sfn

File:SpecialSAinsignia.jpg

Ernst Röhm's special rank insignia as SA Chief of Staff, used between 1933 and 1934. It was abolished after the Night of the Long Knives.

In 1933, when Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, Röhm made his title of SA-Chief of Staff into an actual rank. The insignia for Röhm's new rank (known as Stabschef) consisted of a wreathed star which was designed after that of a Bolivian general, due to Röhm's previous military experience as a military adviser in Bolivia.

Ranks and insigniaEdit

This table contains the final ranks and insignia of the SA, which were in use from 1942 to 1945.

InsigniaTemplate:Sfn		Title	Approximate equivalents during World War II
Collar	Shoulder	Title	German ArmyTemplate:Sfn	UKTemplate:Sfn
General officer ranks
N/A		Oberster Führer der SA Template:Small	{{#invoke:Lang\|lang}}
File:SA-Stabschef.svg	File:SA OF10 ChdSt Schulterstück h 1945.jpg	Chef des Stabes der SA Template:Small	lang}}	Field Marshal
N/A			lang}}	General
File:SA-Obergruppenführer Collar tab.svg	File:SA General Shoulder Board.jpg	SA-Obergruppenführer Template:Small	lang}}	Lieutenant-general
File:SA-Gruppenführer Collar tab.svg		SA-Gruppenführer Template:Small	lang}}	Major general
File:SA-Brigadeführer Collar tab.svg		SA-Brigadeführer Template:Small	Generalmajor	Brigadier
Officer ranks
File:SA-Oberführer Collar tab.svg	File:SA General Shoulder Board.jpg	SA-Oberführer Template:Small	Template:N/A	Colonel
File:SA-Standartenführer Collar tab.svg	File:DRK-Feldführer h.svg	SA-Standartenführer Template:Small	lang}}	Colonel
File:SA-Obersturmbannführer.svg		SA-Obersturmbannführer Template:Small	Oberstleutnant	Lieutenant colonel
File:SA-Sturmbannführer.svg		SA-Sturmbannführer Template:Small	Major	Major
File:SA-Hauptsturmführer.svg	File:WSS Pi OF1b Ustuf h 1945.svg	SA-Hauptsturmführer Template:Small	Hauptmann/Rittmeister	Captain
File:SA-Obersturmführer.svg		SA-Obersturmführer Template:Small	Oberleutnant	Lieutenant
File:SA-Sturmführer.svg		SA-Sturmführer Template:Small	lang}}	Second lieutenant
Non-Commissioned officer ranks
File:SA-Haupttruppführer.svg		SA-Haupttruppführer Template:Small	Stabsfeldwebel	Sergeant major
File:SA-Obertruppführer.svg		SA-Obertruppführer Template:Small	Oberfeldwebel	Sergeant major
File:SA-Truppführer.svg		SA-Truppführer Template:Small	Feldwebel	Staff sergeant
File:SA-Oberscharführer.svg		SA-Oberscharführer Template:Small	Unterfeldwebel	Sergeant
File:SA-Scharführer.svg		SA-Scharführer Template:Small	Unteroffizier	Corporal
Enlisted ranks
N/A			Stabsgefreiter	Lance corporal
File:SA-Rottenführer.svg		SA-Rottenführer Template:Small	Obergefreiter	Lance corporal
File:SA-Sturmmann.svg		SA-Sturmmann Template:Small	Gefreiter	Senior private
File:SA-Mann.svg		SA-Mann Template:Small	Soldat	Private
SA-{{#invoke:Lang\|lang}} Template:Small			Conscript or military volunteer	Template:N/A

Notable Collar Tabs

SA-Sturmführer Adjutant to SA Chief of Staff.svg

SA Sturmführer of the SA Staff Office
SA-Sturmführer Oberst SA Fuhrung Hauptamt Staff.svg

SA Sturmführer, Oberst SA Führungshauptamt Staff
SA-Obersturmbannführer SA Leadership School Instructor.svg

SA Obersturmbannführer, SA Leadership School Instructor
SA Leadership School Student.svg

SA Leadership School Student
SA-Sturmbannführer SA Sanitats School Instructor.svg

SA Sturmbannführer of the Medical Command
SA-Obersturmführer Standarte Feldherrnhalle.svg

SA Obersturmführer of the "SA Feldherrnhalle Regiment"
SA-Standarte Feldherrnhalle Enlisted.svg

SA Mann from the "SA Feldherrnhalle Regiment"

Remarks

Right collar patch contains the number and type of unit (ascending up to "Obersturmbannführer" in the SA and SS, and "Oberstaffelfuehrer" in NSMC): ... Left collar patch contain the rank insignias (from ascending "Standartenführer" both sides).

WaffenfarbenEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Prior to 1932, when the Schutzstaffel wore the same uniform as the SA, black uniform colours also indicated membership in the SS; however, SS men wore all-black kepis and neckties, and (from 1929) black breeches and boots.

It was also during the 1930s that the SA began using uniform colours to denote an SA member's Gruppe (Division) to which the SA member belonged. The unit colour was worn on the front of the kepi cap as well as rank and unit collar patches. The marking system - patches/kepi colour combined with gold or silver buttons/pips - would eventually expand to cover these SA divisions; as of 1937:<ref>Robert Ley, Organisationshandbuch der NSDAP (3rd ed.), 1937, p. 388/389</ref>

File:SATrooperinRed.jpg

Drawing of an SA trooper wearing red unit colours, indicating assignment to an SA Group Staff

Template:Colour box Template:Colour box Crimson and Gold: SA Chief of Staff
Template:Colour box Template:Colour box Carmine and Silver: SA Supreme Command and Standarte Feldherrnhalle
Template:Colour box Template:Colour box Crimson and Silver: SA Group Staff
Template:Colour box Template:Colour box Dark Maroon and Gold: Ostland Group (East Prussia and Free City of Danzig)
Template:Colour box Template:Colour box Dark Maroon and Silver: Westfalen Group (Westphalia and Lippe)
Template:Colour box Template:Colour box Black and Gold: Niederrhein Group (northern part of Rhine Province)
Template:Colour box Template:Colour box Black and Silver: Berlin-Brandenburg Group (Berlin and western part of Brandenburg)
Template:Colour box Template:Colour box Pink and Gold: Ostmark Group (Eastern part of Brandenburg)
Template:Colour box Template:Colour box Apple Green and Gold: Pommern Group
Template:Colour box Template:Colour box Apple Green and Silver: Thüringen Group
Template:Colour box Template:Colour box Dark Brown and Gold: Westmark Group (parts of Rhine Province and Saar territory)
Template:Colour box Template:Colour box Dark Brown and Silver: Niedersachsen Group (eastern part of Province of Hanover and Brunswick)
Template:Colour box Template:Colour box Emerald and Gold: Sachsen Group
Template:Colour box Template:Colour box Emerald and Silver: Nordmark Group (greater part of Schleswig-Holstein)
Template:Colour box Template:Colour box Yellow Orange and Gold: Mitte Group (Province of Saxony and Anhalt)
Template:Colour box Template:Colour box Yellow Orange and Silver: Südwest Group (Württemberg and greater part of Baden)
Template:Colour box Template:Colour box Sulphur Yellow and Gold: Franken Group (parts of Northern and Western Bavaria)
Template:Colour box Template:Colour box Sulphur Yellow and Silver: Schlesien Group
Template:Colour box Template:Colour box Light Blue and Gold: Bayerische Ostmark Group (parts of Eastern and Northern Bavaria)
Template:Colour box Template:Colour box Light Blue and Silver: Hochland Group (parts of Southern and Western Bavaria)
Template:Colour box Template:Colour box Steel Green and Gold: Nordsee Group (Western part of Province of Hanover, Oldenburg, and Bremen)
Template:Colour box Template:Colour box Steel Green and Silver: Kurpfalz Group (including parts of Hesse and Baden)
Template:Colour box Template:Colour box Navy Blue and Gold: Hansa Group (Hamburg, Mecklenburg, southern part of Schleswig-Holstein)
Template:Colour box Template:Colour box Navy Blue and Silver: Hessen Group (Hesse-Nassau and parts of Hesse)

Final pattern SA uniforms (1934–1945)Edit

File:SA Kragenabzeichen und Schulterstücke Dienstränge 1944.jpg

Final SA rank insignia pattern (1934–1945)

A slight alteration to the rank and insignia system of the SA occurred in July 1934 after the Night of the Long Knives. Viktor Lutze did away with Röhm's special insignia for the rank of Stabschef and instead adopted a collar patch in much the same design as that of Reichsführer-SS, a rank which Heinrich Himmler now held.

Special uniformsEdit

Even before the fall of Röhm, the SA had adopted a more formal appearance to its uniforms in an effort to make the group appear as an actual military formation rather than a group of street fighters. To this end, the SA had created a formal "office" type uniform which consisted of a brown coat worn over the basic brown shirt uniform.

Special uniforms also existed for corps of the SA, such as the motorised SA, the SA Alpine troops, and the SA-Marine, considered an auxiliary of the Kriegsmarine. It was the SA-Marine that expanded its uniforms almost to a level unto themselves, with special nautical insignia which no other unit of the SA displayed.

SleevesEdit

The SA used several sleeve insignias to indicate party affiliation.

File:SA-Alten Kämpfer Chevron.svg

Early SA Veteran Medal of Honor

The SA Veteran Badge, introduced in February 1934, consisted of a brown cotton base with an inverted triangle and a gold braid of aluminum wire sewn onto it, with two thin red cords spaced approximately one centimetre apart.<ref>David Littlejohn: The SA 1921—45: Hitlers Stormtroopers. Osprey Publishing 1990, S. 15.</ref><ref>Brian L. Davis und Ian Westwell: Deutsche Uniformen und Abzeichen 1933–1945. Motor Buch Verlag 2006, S. 95, 97 und 113</ref> It was awarded to all SA members with membership numbers below 300,000 who had belonged to the Nazi Party before January 30, 1933, when the Nazi Party came to power,<ref>Zentner und Bedürftig: Das große Lexikon des Dritten Reiches, S. 23.</ref> and was worn by soldiers and officers alike, regardless of rank.

However, as early as September 1934, the insignia was changed to a tape-type sash, and several sashes of different widths were worn on both cuffs of the uniform jacket depending on the year of enlistment.<ref>Brian L. Davis und Ian Westwell: Deutsche Uniformen und Abzeichen 1933–1945. Motor Buch Verlag 2006, S. 95, 97 und 113</ref>

There were also cuff titles bearing the names of specific organizations or units, which were worn by each member of that unit.

Oberste SA-Führung Cuff title.svg

Cuff title of the SA Supreme Leader
Ärmelstreifen Feldherrnhalle.jpg

Cuff title of the SA Guards Regiment "Feldherrnhalle"
SA-Stabswache Cuff title.png

Cuff title of SA 1st Guards Battalion "Berlin"
Organisationsbuc00nati orig 0074 ORGANISATIONSBUCH DER NSDAP 1936 Parteigenosse Politische Leiter Symbole Uniformen Seite 45 Sonstige Orden und Ehrenzeichen Stosstrupp 1923 SA-Treffen 1931 Coburger Reichsparteitag 1929 etc No known cop.jpg

Cuff title of the "Honorary Member of the 'Adolf Hitler Special Attack Unit' Medal" (center)
Wilhelm Walther, Junge, EF, 2-139-140-6948.tif

SA group leader from the Thuringian SA collective leadership, wearing the veteran medal on his right arm
Landesarchiv Baden-Wuerttemberg Staatsarchiv Sigmaringen N 1-68 Nr. 2066 Bild 1 (6-113111-1) NSDAP Mann in SA-Uniform mit Dolch (Truppführer) CC BY-SA (cropped).jpg

SA platoon leader with a tape-type veterans' sleeve insignia on the cuff

The SA had a specialization badge on the left sleeve, similar to the military. These usually had runic insignia. The SA instructor school graduates had their sleeve insignia attached higher up on the arm than the swastika armband on the left sleeve.

File:Organisationsbuc00nati 0 orig 0585 ORGANISATIONSBUCH DER NSDAP 1943 Tafel 39 Sturmabteilung SA Uniform Dienstmütze Lagermütze (caps), Ringkragen, Brustschild, Adjutantenschnur, Dolch, Abzeichen, etc. (public domain) EDITED.jpg

Early SA Veteran Medal of Honor

Tyr-Rune.jpg

SA Leadership School graduation badge featuring the Tyr rune
SA-Obergruppenführer Horst Raecke (1906-1941).jpg

Example of SA Instructor School graduation sleeve badge

GalleryEdit

1933 Unser der Sieg! Heil Hitler! Sturmabteilung SA Braunhemden SA-Mann Plakat Postkarte Nazi Germany propaganda poster postcard Color drawing of brownshirts uniforms 1918-33 Swastika flag salute Unidentified artist No known copyright.jpg

Propaganda poster showing SA uniforms from the Freikorps movements after World War I, through the party ban 1923–25, the uniform ban 1930–1931 up to 1933 when Adolf Hitler became Chancellor
Viktor Lutze (1890-1943) NSDAP Stabschef der SA Sturmabteilung Uniform kepi dagger etc Nazi Germany 1934 National Archives NARA (US seized WW2 enemy property) 242-HF-0218-A 001 Unrestricted No known copyright.jpg

SA leader Viktor Lutze in uniform, 1934
Organisationsbuc00nati 0 orig 0580 ORGANISATIONSBUCH DER NSDAP 1943 Tafel 34 Sturmabteilung SA Uniform Grosser SA.-Dienstanzug, Kleiner SA.-Dienstanzug (public domain) CROPPED.jpg

SA uniforms in 1943 (Organisationsbuch der NSDAP)
Organisationsbuc00nati 0 orig 0581 ORGANISATIONSBUCH DER NSDAP 1943 Tafel 35 Sturmabteilung SA Uniform Kleiner SA.-Marine-Dienstanzug (naval service dress), Weisser SA.-Dienstrock (white tunic) (public domain) CROPPED.jpg

SA uniforms in 1943 (Organisationsbuch der NSDAP)
Organisationsbuc00nati 0 orig 0582 ORGANISATIONSBUCH DER NSDAP 1943 Tafel 36 Sturmabteilung SA Uniform SA.-Dienstmantel (greatcoat overcoat), SA.-Sportanzug (sportswear) (public domain) CROPPED.jpg

SA uniforms in 1943 (Organisationsbuch der NSDAP)
Organisationsbuc00nati 0 orig 0583 ORGANISATIONSBUCH DER NSDAP 1943 Tafel 37 Sturmabteilung SA Uniform SA.-Wehrmannschafts-Dienstanzug (SA.-Sturmführer, SA.-Wehrmann) (public domain) CROPPED.jpg

SA uniforms in 1943 (Organisationsbuch der NSDAP)