Uniforms and insignia of the Schutzstaffel
The uniforms and insignia of the Schutzstaffel served to distinguish its Nazi paramilitary ranks between 1925 and 1945 from the ranks of the Wehrmacht, the German state, and the Nazi Party.
Uniform design and function
While different uniforms existed for the SS over time, the all-black SS uniform adopted in 1932 is the most well known. The black–white–red colour scheme was characteristic of the German Empire, and it was later adopted by the Nazi Party. Further, black was popular with fascist movements: a black uniform was introduced by the blackshirts in Italy before the creation of the SS. There was a traditional reason, too: just as the Prussian kings' and emperors' life-guard cavalry had worn black uniforms with skull-and-crossbones badges, so would the Führers bodyguard unit. These SS uniforms were tailored to project authority and foster fear. During the war, the German clothing factory that eventually became the international menswear powerhouse Hugo Boss produced thousands of SS and other uniforms.Once the war began, the black uniform was seldom worn. The combat units of the SS-Verfügungstruppe and the later Waffen-SS wore a variation of the field-grey army uniform with SS insignia. The majority of SS personnel wore a variation of the Waffen-SS uniform or the grey-green SS service tunic. Branches with personnel that normally would wear civilian attire in the Reich were issued grey-green SS uniforms in occupied territory to avoid being mistaken for civilians.
SS uniforms used a variety of insignia, the most standard of which were collar patches, to denote rank, and shoulder knots, to denote both rank and position, along with sleeve cuff titles and "sleeve diamond" patches, to indicate membership in specific branches of the SS.
Uniform designs and styles
Early SS uniforms (1925–1928)
The SS could trace its origins to several early Freikorps and Nazi Party formations, among them the Erhardt Naval Brigade, Der Stahlhelm, and most significantly the Sturmabteilung, of which the SS was originally a subordinate organisation.The very first SA uniforms and insignia were paramilitary uniforms fashioned by early Nazis which incorporated parts from World War I uniforms to include such features used by other Freikorps formation such as high boots, daggers, and the kepi hat. The 8-man Stabswache, Adolf Hitler's bodyguard, soon renamed the Stoßtrupp, also adopted in May 1923 the Totenkopf and oak leaf as a means of insignia, both of which were already deeply rooted in European military history.
In 1924, while the Nazi Party was legally banned following the Beer Hall Putsch, Frontbann leader Gerhard Roßbach located a large store of war-surplus brown denim shirts in Austria, originally intended for tropical uniforms. When the SA was re-founded in 1925 following Hitler's release from prison, these brown shirts were issued as part of the uniforms.
In 1925, Hitler ordered the formation of a new bodyguard unit, the Schutzkommando. It was formed by Julius Schreck and included old Stoßtrupp members, Emil Maurice and Erhard Heiden. The only insignia was the swastika armband, usually homemade, except for the handful of men constituting the Stoßtrupp successor, the Schutzkommando, who continued the use of the Totenkopf pinned to cap or collar. That same year, the Schutzkommando was expanded to a national level. It was renamed successively the Sturmstaffel, and finally the Schutzstaffel, abbreviated to SS. In the following year adopted its first recognisable rank insignia system, with the rank and file of the SS, like the rest of the SA, still wearing a variety of brown shirts or paramilitary uniforms.
Image:SA-Armband.svg|right|thumb|Early SA armband using the rank stripe system, here: Hundertschaftsführer of the SA
The early rank system of 1926 consisted of a swastika armband worn with yellow and white stripes, with the number of stripes determining the rank of the bearer. Thus, the early SS used a ranking system that could be derived from that of their superordinate SA. This is why the SS also used the system that represented the function of the SS leader with the help of stripes on the armband. All strips had a uniform height of 1 cm. What all armbands had in common was that they also had 1 black ribbed stripe on each edge.
- Reichsstaffelführer in der Obersten SA-Führung : three golden stripes
- Stellvertreter : three silver stripes
- Gau-SS-Führer : two golden stripes
- Stellvertreter : two silver stripes
- Örtlicher SS-Führer : one golden stripe
- Stellvertreter : one silver stripe
- Staffelmann : no stripes
By 1927, the Sturmabteilung had greatly increased its numbers and had standardised the "brown shirt" uniform, which would thereafter be permanently associated with that group: shirt, tie, breeches, boots, and cylindrical kepi, all brown. The SS was at this time a small unit within the SA and wore the same brown SA uniform, with the addition of a black tie and a black cap with a Totenkopf skull and bones symbol to distinguish themselves.
By this time, with influences from the Stahlhelm, the SA leadership adopted its first collar insignia and also added a new SA rank of Standartenführer in charge of regiment-sized Standarten ; the SS at this time adopted the same rank as well.
The 1927 ranks had no insignia for SA/SS troopers and the previous rank of Staffelführer had become shortened to simply Führer. The higher SS ranks of Standartenführer, Gauführer, and Reichsführer like their SA counterparts now used a system of oak leaves displayed on both collars of the brown SA shirt. One oak leaf signified a Standartenführer, two a Gauführer, and three oak leaves were worn by Reichsführer-SS Berchtold and his successor Erhard Heiden, who reported directly to the Oberste SA-Führer.
Over the course of the next year, the burgeoning SA saw the emergence of new units and ranks, and for the first time a comprehensive system of rank insignia. A basic squad unit, the 10-man Schar, was grouped into platoon-sized Truppen, and these into company-sized Stürme which in turn made up battalion-sized Sturmbanne. New ranks went with the new formations: Scharführer, with one pip worn on the left collar patch, Truppführer, two pips, Sturmführer, three pips, and Sturmbannführer, four pips. On the right collar of SA uniforms was worn a patch with two numbers indicating Standarte and Sturmbann affiliation. As the SS numbered fewer than a thousand men, it did not adopt the Sturmbann unit at this time, and right-hand SS collar patches displayed the number of the Standarte only.
At the higher end of the organisation, in 1928 the SA Gau-Stürme were restructured into regional Gruppen, each commanded by a leader with a new general-officer rank, Gruppenführer; its insignia was the three oak leaf collar patch. At this time the former rank of Gauführer was renamed Oberführer.
The collar patches of the SA were color-coded: each Gruppe had its own distinctive color. The SS was considered to be a Gruppe unto itself; its color, naturally, was black, and Reichsführer-SS Heiden held the rank of Gruppenfuhrer and wore its three oak leaf insignia.
SS Brownshirts (1929–1932)
In 1929, under new Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, the SS codified its first uniform regulations: the signature black color was extended to breeches, boots, armband edges, and belt and crossbelt; the shirt collar was edged in black-and-white twist cord except for those of senior leaders, which were trimmed in silver.The ability to produce and issue complete uniforms came about due both to the centralisation of the Reichszeugmeisterei under NSDAP Treasurer Franz Xaver Schwarz, and to Himmler's expansion and reorganisation of the fast-growing SS into several brigade-sized Brigaden throughout Germany, each comprising three to five regiment-sized Standarten. Within the Standarten now existed two to three battalion-sized Sturmbanne, and beneath this level were the Stürme, Truppen, and Scharen.
For the lower ranks, the SS also specified that a patch showing the wearer's regiment would be worn opposite the badge of rank while the higher SS leaders would continue to wear oak leaf insignia on both collars. Collar tabs below the rank of Sturmführer were edged in black-and-white twist cord; those of Sturm and Sturmbann leaders used black-and-silver while those of senior leaders were edged in solid silver cord.
In addition to the collar unit insignia, the SS now created a cuffband system which was worn on the lower left sleeve. These cuffbands were black and displayed the bearer's Sturm number together with color-coded edges indicating the Sturmbann, which in conjunction with the collar insignia showed regiment, battalion, and company affiliation. Leaders above the company level did not at this time use the cuffband system.
The holder of the title of Reichsführer was still considered an SA-Gruppenführer, with Reichsführer itself not yet an actual rank. In addition, for a brief period in 1929, the rank of Standartenführer was divided into two separate grades, known as Standartenführer and Standartenführer ; the insignia of one oak leaf was used for both positions. This situation was another reflection of the SS' rapid expansion: Oberführers now commanded the three newly created SS-Oberführerbereiche, east, west and south; and so a senior Standartenführer was promoted to command each SS-Brigade.
Hitler's personal guard, known at this stage by the original SS name of Stabswache, was also expressing its independence and increasing its size under the leadership of Sepp Dietrich.
The Stennes revolt of August 1930, in which members of the SA attacked the Berlin party Gau headquarters which was defended by the SS, had profound consequences for the SA and its relationship to its subordinate organisation. In an open letter to Berlin SS leader Kurt Daluege, Hitler proclaimed SS Mann, deine Ehre heißt Treue!. Subsequently, Meine Ehre heißt Treue was adopted by the SS as its motto. More significantly, Hitler cashiered SA head Franz Pfeffer von Salomon and assumed the position of Oberste SA-Führer personally, and simultaneously promoted both Himmler and Daluege to the new rank of SS-Obergruppenführer. Daluege was the SS leader of Northern Germany while Himmler controlled southern SS units out of Munich while serving as the National Leader for the SS; this move had the effect of rendering the loyal SS practically independent of the suspect SA, since Himmler and Daluege now outranked all SA commanders.
Another result of the Stennes revolt was Hitler's recall of his old Putsch comrade Ernst Röhm from South America to take over the day-to-day running of the SA with the title of SA-Stabschef. While Hitler thought that this would bind the SA more firmly to him, Röhm had other ambitions, including the conversion of the paramilitary Sturmabteilung into an army. With his expansions, promotions, and changes to the SA, a revision of the SA rank system was required although the uniforms and titles essentially stayed the same. The first major change was the addition of new ranks modeled on the original titles created in 1928 but with the addition of "senior" and "head" designators : these were Oberscharführer, Obertruppführer, and Sturmhauptführer. The new rank insignia were created by adding a silver stripe to the collar pips of the next-lower rank.
A 1930 change to the SS uniform was the addition of a single narrow shoulder strap worn on the right side. There were four grades of shoulder strap: until 1933 a black-and-white pattern was worn by SS troopers, an epaulette of parallel silver cords by Sturm and Sturmbann leaders, a twisted pattern in silver cord by standarten-, ober-, and Gruppenführers, and a braided silver shoulderboard by the two Obergruppenführers.
By 1931, Himmler was secure enough to reorganise the SS, formerly one SA-Gruppe, into five SS-Gruppen divided into several Brigaden led by officers with the new rank of Brigadeführer; its insignia was the two oak leaves of an Oberführer with a pip.