Uniforms and insignia of the Sturmabteilung

components from all three types of uniforms with little

to no standardization except a swastika armband worn on
the left arm.
By 1921, the Nazi Party had taken its Sports Detachment, consisting mostly of burly 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 rst 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 groups existence, the SA had four primary titles:
Oberster SA-Fhrer (Supreme SA-Leader)
SA-Oberfhrer (SA-Senior Leader)
SA-Fhrer (SA-Leader)
SA-Mann (SA-Trooper)
An SA Stormtrooper wearing the standard brown shirt uniform
and kepi cap

In 1923, the SA was disbanded after the failed Munich

Beer Hall Putsch. The group was refounded two years
later in 1925.

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 2 Early SA rank insignia (1924
Germany in 1945. The titles and phrases used by the SA
1929)
were the basis for paramilitary titles used by several other
Nazi paramilitary groups, among them the Schutzstael
(SS). Early SS ranks were identical to the SA, since the From 1923 to 1925, the SA did not ocially exist since
SS was originally considered a sub-organization of the Adolf Hitler had been imprisoned for his actions in the
Munich Putsch and the Nazi Party banned in Germany.
Sturmabteilung.
Underground cells of SA men did continue to meet in secret, including one run by an SA leader named Gerhard
It was Robach who eectively invented the
1 Origins of SA titles (19211923) Robach.
Nazi brownshirt uniform since, in 1924, Robach located a large store of war-surplus brown denim shirts in
The brown shirted stormtroopers of the Sturmabteilung Austria originally intended for tropical uniforms.[1]
gradually come into being within the Nazi Party beginning in 1920. By this time, Adolf Hitler had assumed In 1925, the SA was re-founded as part of the new Nazi
the title of Fhrer of the Nazi Party, replacing Anton Party which Hitler had put together following his release
Drexler who had been known as the more democrati- from prison. The reborn SA then received its rst formal
cally elected Party Chairman. Hitler began to fashion the uniform regulations and also began using the rst recogNazi Party on fascist paramilitary lines and, to that end, nizable system of rank insignia.
the early Nazis of the 1920s would typically wear some Along with a brown shirt uniform, SA members would
sort of paramilitary uniform at party meetings and ral- wear swastika armbands with a kepi cap. Originally,
lies. The most common of these were World War I uni- the SA used its pre-1923 rank titles, but this changed in
forms with full medals. Also common were uniforms of 1926 when local SA units began to be grouped into larger
the Freikorps as well as uniforms of veteran groups such regiment sized formations known as Standarten. Each SA
as the Stahlhelm. Nazi Party members would also mix regiment was commanded by a senior SA ocer called a
1

3 SA UNIFORMS UNDER ERNST RHM (19301933)

An SA unit insignia patch

consisted of a numbered collar patch, showing both battalion and regiment aliation, worn opposite the badge
of rank. This unit insignia patch was worn by those holding the rank of Sturmbannfhrer and below; the higher
ocer ranks wore oak leaf insignia on both collars.
By the close of the 1920s, the SA rank system had solidied into the following titles:

Early SA rank insignia

Standartenfhrer. At the same time, to dierentiate from

the SA rank and le, senior SA ocers began to wear
oak leaves on their collars to signify their authority. Under this system, a Standartenfhrer wore one oak leaf, an
Oberfhrer two, and the Supreme SA Commander wore
three. The lower ranks of SA-Fhrer and SA-Mann still The original pip system used by the SA in the 1920s.
wore no insignia.
In 1927, the ocer rank of SA-Fhrer became known
by the title of "Sturmfhrer" and a higher ocer rank
known as "Sturmbannfhrer" was created to be held by
battalion formation commanders directly subordinate to
the Standartenfhrer. In 1928, an expansion of SA enlisted ranks was required in response to the growing rank
and le membership of the SA troopers. These new titles
and ranks were denoted by an insignia system which consisted of silver pips pinned to a wearers collar. The pip
system was adopted from the Stahlhelm veterans group
which was closely connected to the SA both in dual membership and ideological design.

3 SA uniforms under Ernst Rhm

(19301933)

The next major change in SA uniforms and insignia occurred in 1930 when Ernst Rhm was appointed as Chief
of Sta of the SA. Rhms appointment was as the result
of Adolf Hitler personally assuming command of the SA
as the Oberster SA-Fhrer. Hitler would hold this title
until the fall of Nazi Germany in 1945 and, after 1930,
it was the SA Chief of Sta who was the eective leader
A further change in 1928 was the creation of the rank of of the organization.
Gruppenfhrer. This rank used the three leaf collar in- Rhm undertook several changes to the SA uniform and
signia previously reserved for the Supreme SA Comman- insignia design, the rst being to invent several new ranks
der and the rank was held by the senior most SA com- in order for the SA rank system to mirror that of the promanders in Germany who led division sized formations fessional military. The rank expansion took place graduof several SA-Standarten. By this time, the SA had also ally between 1930 and 1932, with the nal addition being
begun to use unit insignia for its junior members which the creation of a rank of SA-Obergruppenfhrer which

3
For nal ranks and insignia see
Main article Ranks
Sturmabteilung

and

insignia

of

the

It was also during the 1930s that the SA began using uniform colors to denote an SA members Gruppen (Division) to which the SA member belonged. The unit color
was worn on the front of the kepi cap as well as rank and
unit collar patches. The color system would eventually
expand to cover these SA divisions:

SA guards at Oranienburg concentration camp, 1933

Rhm appointed to himself as well as senior SA-generals

of the SA command sta. 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 ocers. Further, the ocers wore right shoulder
cord of either gold or silver. In contrast, the enlisted men
wore piping cords shaped as shoulder straps on the right
Drawing of an SA trooper wearing red unit colors, indicating
shoulder.[2]
assignment to an SA Group Sta

Red and Gold: SA Chief of Sta

Red and White: SA Supreme Command
Red: SA Group Sta
Yellow: Schlesien Group
Green: Thringen Group
Blue: Hesse Group
Brown: Westmark Group
Ernst Rhms special insignia as SA Chief of Sta, used between
1933 and 1934. The insignia was abolished after the Night of
the Long Knives.

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

Light Blue: Hochland Group

Orange: Sdwest Group
Pink: Alpenland Group
Light Blue (Gold Pip): Sudeten Group
Black: Berlin-Brandenburg Group
Prior to 1932, when the Schutzstael wore the same uniform as the SA, black uniform colors also indicated membership in the SS; however, SS men wore all-black kepis
and neckties, and (from 1929) black breeches and boots.

8 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Final Pattern
(19341945)

SA

Uniforms

Ranks and insignia of the Nazi Party

Ranks and insignia of the Schutzstael
Ranks and insignia of the National Socialist Motor
Corps
Ranks and insignia of the Reichsluftschutzbund
Ranks and Insignia of the German Army in World
War II
Comparative military ranks of World War II
Corps colours of the Sturmabteilung

7 References
[1] Toland, John (1976). Adolf Hitler. New York: Doubleday
& Company. ISBN 0-385-03724-4.
[2] Angolia, John R. Cloth Insignia of the NSDAP and SA, pp
136, 137, 148, 149.

8 Bibliography
Final SA rank insignia pattern (19341945)

A slight alteration to the rank and insignia system of the

SA occurred in July 1934 after the Night of the Long
Knives. Victor Lutze did away with Rhms special insignia for the rank of Stabschef and instead adopted a collar patch in much the same design as that of ReichsfhrerSS, a rank which Heinrich Himmler now held.

Special uniforms

Even before the fall of Ernst Rhm, the SA had adopted

a more formal appearance to its uniforms in an eort to
make the group appear as an actual military formation
rather than a group of street ghters. To this end, the SA
had created a formal oce type uniform which consisted of a brown coat worn over the basic brown shirt
uniform. The SA had also adopted a winter blue uniform
which was worn only rarely.
Special uniforms also existed for corps of the SA, such
as the motorized SA, the SA Alpine troops, and the SAMarine, 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.

See also
Nazi party paramilitary ranks

Bedurftig, Friedemann, and Christian Zenter. The

Encyclopedia of the Third Reich. 1985.
Angolia, John R. Cloth Insignia of the NSDAP and
SA, R. James Bender Publishing, (1985), ISBN 0912138-33-5.

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

9.1

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Uniforms and insignia of the Sturmabteilung Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniforms_and_insignia_of_the_Sturmabteilung?

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