History

The SA (Sturmabteilung, storm detachment) was established in 1921 as a paramilitary protection squad of the NSDAP. The members of the SA were tasked with protecting party leaders at political rallies and meetings from the paramilitary forces of the opposing political factions. The SA was first utilised on November 4, 1921 at a meeting held in Munich’s "Hofbräuhaus" beer hall. The organisation was banned after the failed putsch in 1923 and was reactivated in February 1925.

The Wehrmannschaften cap is the second form of the visorless field cap, introduced in late 1939. It is made of brownish olive-green material. It has a front turn up and side flaps. The flaps extend over the cap top, the right one over the left, and could be folded down over the ears.

On the left side is a national eagle emblem insignia in the same form as on the field cap: an eagle on a cloth backing in the shape of a downward pointing triangle. The cloth backing is in the colour of the wearer’s region. In the centre on the front of the cap, an SA cockade was placed.

Region colours are as follows:

Pink-red: Ostmark and Südmark
Crimson: Wachstandarte
Dark wine-red: Ostland and Westfalen
Red-brown: Österreich and Donau
Dark brown: Westmark and Niedersachsen
Orange-yellow: Mitte and Südwest
Yellow: Schlesien and Franken
Apple-green: Pommern and Thüringen
Emerald-green: Sachsen and Nordmark
Steel-green: Nordsee and Kurpfalz
Light blue: Hochland and Bayerische Ostmark
Blue-grey: Sudetenland and Weichsel
Cornflower blue: Warthe and Oberrhein
Navy blue: Hansa and Hessen
Black: Niederrhein and Berlin-Brandenburg
Grey: Generalgouvernment

The Wehrmannschaften cap was worn during (pre-)military training of SA members. The ranks of Sturmführer and above had silver piping along the crown seam.