Insignia Construction Techniques of the SA

Some of the finest hand and machine embroidered uniform insignia ever produced was made in Germany between 1930 and 1945. A great deal of this very attractive and functional insignia was produced for the SA.

The SA grew rapidly in both size and power. Between the time of the first standardization of SA insignia in 1923 and the first insignia regulations in 1929, it was very difficult to readily determine the difference between the numerous SA units. This was due primarily to the lack of uniformity between units and to the loose control of the organization itself.

There is a tendency among collectors who view Nazi era insignia as unique. In reality the only unique part was the proliferation of insignia and the wide use of relatively few symbols in many forms (Swastica, national eagle, wreath, oak leaves, etc.) . All SA insignia was initially strictly handmade. As the membership of organization grew it rapidly became difficult to hand produce enough insignia for all the units. The following is a brief description of the development and techniques used in insignia construction.
Hand Embroidery, the oldest form of embroidery produced beautiful cloth insignia. Materials used to hand embroider SA insignia were, for the most part, already available at the time the insignia was introduced. These materials consisted of: Tresse (woven metalic tape), Bullion (Coils of fine wire or celofane which were cut to size and sewn to the fabric by a needle and thread passing through them), Spinst (metallic and celofane wrapped thread called wire) Cotton, Silk, and Rayon (artificial silk). It should be noted, as some unfortunate collectors have found, that some of these materials are still in use today. In the past few years there has been panic among collectors over copy insignia which may have been made in Austria, Germany, or India. Copied insignia is a problem, but the best way to overcome this is to examine all the original insignia which one can examine and become knowledgeable of material types, construction techniques, and insignia designs which were used. Collectors often give reproductions too much credit. Materials which are produced today are exactly that. Current bullion is usually coated with a plastic film where it was not in the Third Reich. Most copy insignia is produced with thread that has a different twist and size than that of the Third Reich threads. These are just a few of the things which can help a collector make a decision on a piece of insignia which he wants to purchase.

Some insignia was made, in whole or part, with layered pieces of cloth sewn together, for example, some Tyrrune, collar tabs, and party brassards.

The first machine-made SA insignia were produced on individual Chain stitch sewing machines. This method goes back to Imperial Germany.Common chain stitch machines were produced by Singer and Cornelly for the purpose of decorative sewing. These machines are still in use today. The chain stitch was the most common method for sewing unit numbers and designations on collar tabs, sleeve bands, and some flag designs. These machines were relatively cheap and ideal for short run production. operators were easily trained.

A single head "vibrating needle" sewing machine was used to produce satin stitches. These machines, however, required a good deal of operator skill and were not readily available.
A machine which was peculiar to Germany's pre-war insignia development was the multi-headed "Wurker sewing machine" which was invented in 1927. The Wurker combined four single sewing machines connected together by a punch card reader. The reader followed the punch card patterns and produced four different insignia at one time. The workers were widely produced until the end of the war and are still in use all over the world. The worker was more expensive to operate than chain stitch machines but was more flexible and did not require a large amount of operator skill.

The oldest embroidery machine is the "Schiffli" which was invented in Switzerland to make lace. This machine had a series of sewing needles spaced along the length of the machine with each doing the same stitch pattern. In the production of collar tabs, for example, the needles might be spaced 3" apart, about 12 per yard. This equaled 120 collar tabs per 1 0 yard machine. Driven by punched cards the needles stitched through stretched cloth and made their movements according to the punch card. The machine could make faily large movements and longer stitches, thus it was more flexible than the worker. Another advantage was that the Schiffli did not require stretching hoops as did the worker. A large quantity of SS insignia was produced on Schiffli machines.

A certain amount of SA insignia was machine woven. There are two similar methods. One is complete weaving of the basic threads to produce a continuous ribbon or fabric. Sleevebands and some sleeve insignia were produced this way. The second method is weaving selected threads into a previously woven plain ribbon or fabric. Brassards, sleeve badges, sports shirt emblems, etc. were made this way. Both methods were controlled by Jacquard cards punched with a certain pattern. 'Bevo' was a well known company which used both methods. Woven insignia could be quickly produced, well detailed, and was economical in mass production. A good deal of SS insignia was produced by this method.

Like the SS there was some insignia which was silk screened but this was done primarily in the early days.

SA Unit Identifiers 1934-1942

12 mm cyphers represented Sturm and Sturmbann numbers.

18 mm cyphers represented Standarten numbers.

22 mm cyphers represented Brigade staff numbers.

22 mm cyphers were also used as symbols for specialized units and honor units.

A gothic L represented the Honor unit in Berlin 'LIST'. A script L represented the SA Liebstandarte in Munich. A script J represented fusilier (Jager) units and a script S represented security (Sicherheit) units. 80th Jager and Sicherheit (Security) units designation's were embroidered in light or dark green thread depending upon the unit cloth color. Dark green for light colored fabrics and light green for dark colored fabrics. Theses special designation letters existed in stamped metal as did some unit numbers both of which were attached to the collar tabs by prongs.

Information on Construction techniques prepared by William Renner
David Fuller: "Collectors Guide to Sturmabteilung Insignia" Matthaus Publishers, 1985