Condition: Excellent
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Product Description: This scarce SA Sport Shirt Emblem is a great display piece. This pattern of insignia was worn on sports clothing by members of the Sturmabteilung, Hitler’s paramilitary force in the 1920s-30s and into WWII. It’s made with “Bevo” machine embroidery, as is typical for these. The front features a large version of the runic emblem of the SA, with the lettering “WA” indicating SA Group Wartheland. Unlike most organizations, which used one pattern of sports insignia for all units and branches, the SA sports patches indicated the specific SA group with the group name abbreviation and also colors, in this case sky blue for Wartheland. The reverse of this SA Sport Shirt Emblem shows the emblem in reverse, and the backing has been neatly folded around the patch’s edges, as it would have been if sewn on a shirt. There is no indication this patch was ever issued or worn. The condition is outstanding, very clean, with only extremely minimal age toning. There are some adhesive remnants on the reverse, presumably where an RZM paper tag was once affixed. There are no holes, stains, or damage. Overall, the condition is excellent.
Historical Description: Physical fitness and competition were two concepts that were highly valued in the ideology of the Third Reich. All kinds of sports clubs and organizations flourished in the years before WWII, with larger Reich level organizations supervising athletics, promoting events and issuing awards for sport achievement. The various Nazi era civil, political, military and paramilitary organizations also promoted or even mandated exercise and sports for their members. To facilitate this, these organizations instituted sport uniforms, which typically included sport shoes, and for warm weather, shorts and a knit tank top with a woven emblem specific to that organization. In cold weather, the sport uniform generally included dark colored knit trousers and a sweatshirt, usually also with the sports-specific organizational emblem. The woven organizational emblem patch used on the sports patch was often a rather large patch, making these appealing souvenirs for Allied troops as they swept into Germany. Some types of the sports patches are very common today, though intact sports clothing is rarer, and some sports emblems for smaller organizations, made in limited numbers, are very rare.
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