History

The SA (Sturmabteilung) was established in 1921 as the paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party. The members of the SA were tasked with protecting party leaders at political rallies and meetings from the paramilitary forces of the opposing political parties. The SA was first utilised on 4 November 1921 at a meeting held in Munich’s Hofbräuhaus beer hall. The organisation was banned after Hitler’s failed putsch in 1923 and was reactivated in February 1925.

The insignia used on the sports shirt differed over the years. The first pattern shows a black national eagle on a white disc with a black border.

The second version shows the SA rune in brown on a white field with a brown border superimposed over a band in the colour of the wearer’s SA Group. Insignia made after 1934 also show the Group initials.

The third version shows the SA rune in white on the wearer’s SA Group’s colour, with the Group’s abbreviation underneath.

The colours are:
Alpenland (A or AL): rose
Berlin-Brandenburg (B): black
Bayernwald (BW): light blue
Bayerische Ostmark (BO): light blue
Donau (DO): rose
Elbe (E): orange
Feldherrnhalle: carmine
Franken (FR): yellow
Hansa (HA): dark blue
Hessen (HE): dark blue
Hochland (HO): light blue
Kurpfalz (KP): dark green
Mittelrhein (M): brown
Mitte (MI): orange
Nordmark (NM): grass green
Nordsee (NO): dark green
Neckar (NR): orange
Niederrhein (NRH): black
Niedersachsen (NS): brown
Hilfswerk Nordwest (NW): rose
Österreich (Ö): dark green
Oder (O): red
Ostmark (OM): pink
Ostland (OST): dark red
Oberrhein (ORH): blue
Pommern (P): light green
Schlesien (S): yellow
Sachsen (SA): grass green
Südmark (SM): red
Sudetenland (SU): grey
Südwest (SW): orange
Tannenberg (T): dark wine red
Thüringen (TH): light green
Weichsel (W): grey
Warthe (WA): blue
Westfalen (WF): dark wine red
Westmark (WM): brown