SA SS Volunteer Collar Tab

Product Description: This is an original example of a rare SA SS Volunteer Collar Tab. This pattern of collar insignia was intended for wear by members of the 18. SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division “Horst Wessel,” formed in 1944 mainly of ethnic Germans from  Hungary. The tab is made of typical late war black woven wool fabric, with a machine embroidered SA runic emblem that evoked the SA martyr Horst Wessel, the author of the lyrics to the Nazi Party anthem, for whom the Division was named. The SA emblem is embroidered in gray thread. The reverse of this tab shows textbook tan buckram reinforcement. The black wool was originally folded and stitched around this buckram stiffener. Some of this stitching has come undone, and the tab is no longer neatly folded. This tab shows wear, with some discoloration and staining to the SA embroidery. It’s not clear if this piece was worn on a uniform, or simply handled a lot. This SA SS volunteer collar tab remains complete, and is in good condition.

Historical Description: Regulations for the SS Collar Tab went through quite an evolution in just a short 16-year period. The first SS Collar Tabs were introduced in 1929 by Heinrich Himmler as part of the newly introduced SS uniform code. Initially, tabs were worn by both lower rank SS men and their senior leaders. Lower ranks would wear a rank tab as well as a numbered unit identification tab, with senior leaders wearing their rank tabs on both collars. In 1933 the well-known “SS” runic tab was adopted by Hitler’s personal bodyguard detachment, the “Leibstandarte” or “LAH”. The LAH used this runic tab in lieu of the numerical unit identification tab to identify them as members of the elite unit protecting the “Führer”. In 1934 the runic “SS” tabs were again adopted for use by the early “SS-VT” units. This adoption eventually led to the widespread use of SS runic tabs by German Divisions; the later non-German volunteer units would not be permitted to wear the runes, and bore their own unit designed patch instead. SS Collar tabs can be found in an extraordinary variety of numbers, designs, and pipings depending on unit and rank, from hand-embroidered tabs worn by officers to mass produced embroidered and machine woven types that were used on combat uniforms.

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