Banners of the German Police

A little over a year after being placed under the control of the SS, the German Police was finally considered ideologically pure enough to fully participate in the Reichsparteitag (Reichs Party Day) 1937. Only a year before, a small contingent of police marched in the parade at Nurnberg and even those men were only Blood Order and Golden Party Badge recipients. But at the Reichs Party Day 1937 festivities, the German Police were honored with a special ceremony during the Tag der Politischen Leiters on Friday, September 10, 1937 at which they received new Party-style flags for their troops, with a Deutschland Erwache Standarte to be consecrated and presented to them the following Sunday.

During the Friday event, speeches by Himmler and Hitler noted that the awarding of flags and the Standarte symbolized the philosophical union, a living connection, of the national police with the NSDAP, which had occurred since the merger of the police into the SS in June 1936. After the speeches, twenty-three Fahnen (flags) for Police garrisons across Germany were presented after consecration with the Blood Flag. To receive these flags, all the Inspectors of the Ordnungspolizei (senior SS/Police commanders within the Wehrkreis) were present at the ceremony. These flags were called Standartfahen and described as being identical to the Allegemeine-SS Sturmbannfahnen (General SS battalion flags) with the exception of the police insignia on the corner black square instead of the SS identification. Each flag was finished with a spike-type finial as used by the SS. In the months following the Reichs Party Day, these twenty-three flags were distributed to police garrisons across Germany in elaborate ceremonies for use in future parades and events such as the swearing-in of police recruits.

The Polizei Deutschland Erwache Standarte was discussed in Ulric of England's superlative work "Deutschland Elwache." The Polizei Standarte was consecrated and presented to the Police on Sunday, September 12 1937 along with Standarten for other Party formations. The construction was identical to those Standarten of the Allgemeine-SS, except for the placement of the police insignia and swastikas on the black front panel of the Standarte box. The rear was identical: the letters NSDAP in silver color, contrasting the black.The German Police were an integral part of the Reichs Party Day in 1938, though they were not honored with a special ceremony. The Ordnungspolizei received an additional thirty-eight more flags consecrated with the Blood Flag by Hitler on September 11, 1938. The September 20, 1938 edition of the magazine "Die Deutsche Polizei" described the ceremony and enumerated the flags as "...35 neue Standortfahnen und drei Stander der Motorisierte Gendarmerie..." (35 new garrison flags and three Stander of the motorized Rural Police). The term Stander is an unusual term and translates literally as a pennant. As used in the "Organizationsbuch d. NSDAP," the NSKK Sturm-Stander was a pennant flag awarded to NSKK companies. The pictures with the article in the police magazine were nothing other than the garrison flags.

The presentation of these three banners was recognized in an article on the Police Standarte and flags in a 1970 dated collector's magazine "Militaria," which noted that "Units of the NSKK and Motorized Police had a like banner (SA-Standarte) but with a different pole and hanging arrangement." The authors evidently had both written and photographic references but confused the design of the Stander with that of the Standarten of mounted and motorized units. Brian Davis in his book "Flags of the Third Reich: Party & Police Flags," notes that besides the DE Standarte, the police were presented fifty-eight different colors and three cavalry standards for the Motorized Gendarmerie. Davis evidently used only textual references in his book, as his description of the police banners evidences a mistranslation of the German text. He has no pictorial references to substantiate the description of "cavalry standards." In "Deutschland Erwache," Ulric describes an "Intermediate-Standard" of the police which was presented at the 1938 Reichsparteitag. A photo of this standard during presentation and a photo of one known in a private collection were included in the book.

From additional information found in issues of the police magazine, "Die Deutsche Polizei" and from private photographs of the Reichsparteitag parade of the police DE and flags and a Munich celebration, an explanation of this Police Stander can be made. Shown in the accompanying photo of the 1938 Reichsparteitag parade are three horizontally affixed flags leading the block of Police flag-bearers, but behind at some distance from the Police DE Standard. These must be the three Stander (Pennants) of the Motorized Gendarmerie mentioned in the article. They were equivalent to the Standortfahnen as they are paraded in the same group. While the configuration is similar to the standards of the motorized/cavalry SS, SA and NSKK units, the pennants can in no way be considered standards, Intermediate or otherwise as written by other authors. The Police Stander do not contain the magic words "Deutschland Erwache" as do the standards of motorized/cavalry units of the SS, SA and NSKK. The Stander was not surmounted with the Party eagle and was not paraded with the same seniority of the Police DE standard.

In the months following the Reichsparteitag 1938, the police magazine reported the consecration and transfer of two of these Standers to the Motorized Gendarmerie commands in Austria and Potsdam. On November 9, 1938, the Inspector of the Order Police for the Province of Brandenburg officiated the transfer ceremony of one of the Standers of the Reichsparteitag 1938 to the Motorized Gendarmerie Detachment Potsdam. A photo included in the article shows the Stander being carried in one of the unit's cars. In a February 1939 issue of "Die Deutsche Polizei," a photo and summary described the transfer of another of the Stander from the 1938 Reichsparteitag to the Motorized Gendarmerie of Ostmark. The Stander was received by the detachment in Purkersdorf. From an album in a private collection, the following photo of Freiherr v. Eberstein, Police President of Munich was taken in Munich in late 1938 and shows the presentation ceremony of the third 1938 Reichsparteitag Police Stander to the Motorized Gendarmerie detachment in Munich. The Standers were transferred to Motorized Gendarmerie garrisons responsible for the counties surrounding three major population centers: Berlin, Vienna and Munich. It is not known if any more of the Standers were created for other Motorized Gendarmerie units. No evidence has been found in subsequent issues of "Die Deutsche Polizei."

But according to Ulric's book, a similar Stander was made and presented in 1935, three years before the police version. Ulric also describes this flag as an Intermediate-Standard for the Signals Battalion of the SS- VT. Andrew Mollo published a drawing of the flag in his Vol. III of the "Uniforms of the SS" series some thirty years ago. The pictured flag was described as a standard of the SS Signals Sturmbann (Battalion) of the SS- Velfiigungstruppe. Now it is obvious that the construction of the Police Stander is identical to the earlier SS "Intermediate-Standard." Numerous collectors refer to it as the SS-Signals Standarte. But like the later Polizei Stander, it does not have the magic words "Deutschland Erwache". Nor is it surmounted with the Party eagle. Even the NSFK Standartes that were awarded in 1938, but lacked the words "Deutschland Erwache," were surmounted by the Party eagle. So why consider either the Police Stander or the identical SS flag the equivalent of a Deutschland Erwache Standarte?

From what we know of the Signals detachment of the SS- Verfiigungstruppe, it was established on March I, 1935 from SS trainees who had completed a two-month course in communication skills. In addition, the trainees learned military equestrian techniques in February 1935 at an old Police barracks in Berlin as was required at that time by signals troops. The battalion established in 1935 contained two companies of both motorized and horse-drawn platoons. The SS signals unit was intended to be mobile, as were military communications troops at the time. Thus, the banner given to the Signals Battalion would have been appropriate for mounted units and the Stander was created for that unit, suitable for carry on horse or in a vehicle. The cloth was fixed to a horizontal pole to prevent excessive movement and the entire arrangment was smaller in size than the normal Sturmbann Fahne to facilitate handling on horse or in a vehicle. Thus, a Stander instead of a Polizei Standortfahne was presented to a motorized Police unit of battalion size, like the Mot. Gendarmerie Abteilung.

Joseph Wotka, "Flags and Banners of the German Police 1933-1945 (The Banner of the SS-Signals Batallion of the SS-VT)", The Military Advisor, 2003

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