Original Item: One-of-a-kind. Brown was to become the official color of the N.S.D.A.P. and S.A. by circumstance rather than design. A large stockpile of discounted, surplus WWI tropical brown shirts and fabric, intended for wear in East Africa, were located in Austria in 1924 and purchased by the NSDAP as a temporary measure to bring uniformity of dress to their party members. In November of 1926 the brown shirt was officially introduced, and retained, as the basic uniform item for the N.S.D.A.P. and S.A., and was eventually adopted by other political organizations such as the H.J., D.A.F., and the N.S.K.K..

This is a very nice example of a German WWII SA "Brown Shirt" uniform tunic, complete with an original armband. The tunic shows some great period wear, and is outfitted with some lovely insignia, which are totally correct. There are no markings we can see anywhere on the inside of the tunic except for some handwritten numbers and letters, however there looks to be a very faded tag at the rear of the waist. The tunic features a 5 button front closure, with three silver buttons in the middle, and plastic waist and collar buttons. It has two pleated chest pockets with scalloped flaps, also retained by silver buttons. The interior is unlined except for the rear shoulder area, which has some white cotton lining.

The shirt has all the correct insignia for the period, including a multi-piece NSDAP / SA armelbinde (armband) on the left sleeve, which is pinned in place. The kragenpatten (collar tabs) both have Marineblau (Navy Blue) backgrounds, which with the silver buttons and "pips" indicates they were a member of SA Gruppe Hessen (SA Group Hesse), a district in the west of Germany. with the principal city being Frankfurt. This was made up of Hesse-Nassau and parts of Hesse, with the principal city being Frankfurt.

The right collar tab is the unit tab, and 5 indicates the 5th Standarte (Regiment), so this is a very early issued tunic. The left collar tab has a single rank "pip" with no other devices, indicating the rank of SA-Scharführer (SA-Squad leader), who would lead small units. This rank is equivalent to a Heer Army Unteroffizier or U.S. Army Corporal.

The right shoulder has a very nice EM/NCO Schulterstück (shoulderboard), which has the correct two rows of brown / copper double piping with silver bullion chevrons in a loop around the button. This was the typeThe bottom shows a clear Marin-blau (Navy Blue) color matching the collar tabs. There is definitely some confusion over these shoulder boards, with some indicating that they were for NCO Ranks of SA-Scharführer (Corporal) to SA-Haupttruppführer (Sgt. Major). Others indicate they were only for all EM/NCO ranks, Mann up to SA-Haupttruppführer. We have seen these with pips installed, and without, and it is possible that the purpose changed over time.

The other confusion is over the meaning of the color on the base of the shoulderboard, basically regarding whether it is also for the Gruppe identifier, or the SA Waffenfarbe (corps color), which would indicate which branch / function of the organization they worked with. If this is the case, it indicates they were a member of the Marine-SA, the Naval branch. Definitely some nice potential for future research here.

Overall condition of the tunic is very nice, showing light wear from service, especially around the collar area of the shirt. There are also some water and/or salt stains from use as well.

A very nice example of an SA "Brown Shirt" NCO uniform tunic with some lovely insignia and an original armband. Ready to research and display!

The S.A.-
TheSturmabteilung, literally Storm Detachment, was the NSDAP Party's original paramilitary. It played a significant role in Adolf 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.