History

In 1925, Adolf Hitler established the Schutzstaffel as a small bodyguard consisting of only 8 members. After Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in 1933, small armed SS detachments were formed across the country. These detachments were manned by members of the SS, which had grown to around 52,000 men by December of 1932. Each detachment consisted of around 100 members, who had proven their loyalty to Hitler and the NSDAP. The groups consolidated into battalions called Political Readiness Squads (Politische Bereitschaften), which acted as a paramilitary force against the NSDAP’s political enemies.

In September of 1934, the Political Readiness Squads were organized and consolidated into the SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT), a political and paramilitary force that was placed under the control of SS-Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler.

The SS-VT was organized into Standarten, the equivalent to an army infantry regiment, which consisted of three battalions, as well as motorcycle and mortar companies.

In 1935, three battalions in Munich were consolidated to form the SS Standarte “Deutschland”, and three battalions from Hamburg and Nuremberg merged to form the SS Standarte “Germania”. Following the annexation of Austria in 1938, the SS Standarte “Der Führer” was formed. These units are considered the nucleus of the future Waffen-SS.

The SS-Standarte 3 ”Der Führer" collar tab features the SS-runes and a small number 3 in the lower right corner of the tab.

The collar tab for Officers features silver piping and the collar tab for Non-Commissioned Officers and Enlisted Men (NCOs and EMs) features black and white piping.