SA armband

[philly]

Recently picked up this armband at a local gun show. What do you think real/fake. Opinions would be great. Thanks again

[Rossi]

Here is the link to mine with an RZM Tag - Code Marked B. SA Sports Armband I have only seen this marked with B on RZM tag and usually SS Armbands have the D. I know it has to do with material types but Bob can elaborate more than I. I would see what Bob Coleman says in regards to both of ours as I trust his judgment.

[BOB COLEMAN]

Genuine SA Wehrmannschaft armband. Since the begining of collecting, these were mistakenly labeled as :SA Sports Armband." These were intended to be worn by members of the SA Wehrmannschaft while working in civilian clothing. As the need for manpower accelerated, the use of these became obsolete so the vast majority of these are found in unissued condition.

[Wilhelm Saris]

Every "so now and then" this so-called SA sports armband is showing up. A while ago there was an in-depth discussion about it at WAF.

This armband was, as far as I know, worn by SA-Wehrabzeichen-Gemeinschaften, which were trainig for the SA-Wehrabzeichen, related
to SA-Wehrmannschaften and SA-Jungwehrmannschaften. As far as known they acted mainly in civil clothings (see photo from my
friend Laurens Hessels from a magazine).



With the regular uniform for the SA-Wehrmannschaft the usual SA armband had to be worn acoording to orders from December 6, 1939.
The use of the armband, standardized with the woven SA sports emblem, was not allowed to be worn with the SA-Wehrmannschaft service-
dress (Dienstanzug). As such it was noted in the Verordnungsblatt der Obersten SA-Führung from July 1, 1942 (see last lines from the publication).



In general this means to be worn by persons, reserved for the SA-Wehrmannschaft, but in civil!
With the service-dress for the SA-Wehrmannschaft no other insignia or symbols were allowed to be worn as ordered with the introduction
in late December 1939 (Verordnungsblatt der Obersten SA-Führung, number 123, order FO 2b Nr. 13704)

[philly]

Thank you Gentleman for the great responses. It means a lot and I'm learning a lot. So is the letter D an odd thing or did they all have different letters according to the amount of them made.

[BOB COLEMAN]

The letter designates material and workmanship upon which the correct amount of tax would be charged. Cotton armbands usually have a "B" designation but the tax was increased to "D" on these due to the embroidered roundel. Thanks to Wim for showing one of the few known pictures of this armband in wear.

[avenger]

The letter designates material and workmanship upon which the correct amount of tax would be charged. Cotton armbands usually have a "B" designation but the tax was increased to "D" on these due to the embroidered roundel. Thanks to Wim for showing one of the few known pictures of this armband in wear.

Bob, does that mean we would expect to find these armbands with both the D and B designations depending on when the armband was produced in relation to the point in time that the tax was increased, or was this always the tax level they applied and B marked tags are incorrect?

[BOB COLEMAN]

The "D" designation is based upon the construction. All of these are fabricated identical so all would have the same designation. When something was made has no bearing on the tax level.

[avenger]

Oddly, like Rossi, I too have one of these with a "B" designation that I picked up on this sites classifieds a while back:

[philly]

Thanks Bob. This is very interesting and good to know. Thanks to Rossi, Avenger and Wil for posting those pics. Awesome stuff