Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very good condition early war high quality SA wool Ärmelbinde (Armband) with multi-piece construction. It looks to be made entirely from wool, and features a white circle with a single piece cutout black Swas (Hook Cross) patch sewn to it, which is stitched onto the red backing. The edges of the armband are finely stitched indicating a very high quality production. Measures approximately 17 1/2" x 4 1/8", and is stitched together in the back. This longer length of armband was often used on the overcoats worn by the SA.

This example is in very good condition, showing only light use during the WWII period. It shows little to no age toning or staining, and there is just a bit of mothing in areas, including one small hole. This would make a very nice addition to your German WWII armband collection!

The Sturmabteilung, literally Storm Detachment, was the NSDAP Party's original paramilitary. It played a significant role in AH's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s. Its primary purposes were providing protection for NSDAP rallies and assemblies, disrupting the meetings of opposing parties, fighting against the paramilitary units of the opposing parties, especially the Red Front Fighters League (Rotfrontkämpferbund) of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD), and intimidating Romani, trade unionists, and, especially, Jews – for instance, during the NSDAP boycott of Jewish businesses.

The SA were also called the "Brownshirts" (Braunhemden) from the color of their uniform shirts, similar to Benito Mussolini's blackshirts. The SA developed pseudo-military titles for its members, with ranks that were later adopted by several other NSDAP Party groups, chief amongst them the Schutzstaffel (SS), which originated as a branch of the SA before being separated. Brown-colored shirts were chosen as the SA uniform because a large number of them were cheaply available after World War I, having originally been ordered during the war for colonial troops posted to Germany's former African colonies.

The SA became disempowered after Adolf AH ordered the "blood purge" of 1934. This event became known as the Night of the Long Knives (die Nacht der langen Messer). The SA continued to exist, but was effectively superseded by the SS, although it was not formally dissolved until after NSDAP Germany's final capitulation to the Allies in 1945.