History

Honorary SS ranks were conferred by Heinrich Himmler upon important aristocrats, industrialists, and financiers, in an attempt to infiltrate the influential groups in Germany’s hierarchy.

Honorary SS leaders had the right to wear an SS uniform and rank insignia that corresponded with their civilian status. For a time, honorary leaders were issued special collar tabs and cuff titles, although they were eventually abolished in 1934 following the division of the SS and the SA. After 1934, honorary leaders no longer wore insignia that distinguished them from active SS Officers.

There were two types of honorary leaders, Ehrenführer and Rangführer. The rank of Rangführer was attributed to individuals with the honorary rank of SS-Sturmführer up to and including SS-Obersturmbannführer. The rank of Ehrenführer was attributed to individuals with the honorary rank of Standartenführer and above.

The cuff titles were white in colour and featured aluminium borders and embroidery.

The honorary leaders attached to an SS-District (Oberabschnitt) were issued cuff titles embroidered with “Ehrenführer” or “Rangführer” and the name of the district.

Honorary leaders attached to an SS Sub-District (Abschnitt) were issued cuff titles with the inscription “Ehrenführer” or “Rangführer” and the sub-district number in Roman numerals.

The honorary leader attached to a Standarte (regiment) received cuff titles that were embroidered with “Ehrenführer” or “Rangführer” and the Standarte number in Arabic numerals.

The Allgemeine SS used cuff titles produced in several different ways.

Machine-embroidered cuff titles were manufactured by machine-embroidering wording or numbers onto a strip of blank cuff title material. The embroidery was usually done in white/silver/grey thread and the thickness varies. The average length of this style of cuff title is 49cm, with the shortest being 41cm and the longest at 50cm.

These cuff titles are generally found with an RZM paper or woven label attached to the reverse, although it is not uncommon for the label to be missing. At times, a cuff title would have two labels attached as two different manufacturers were responsible for the production of the items (one firm produced the band, the other did the embroidery work).

The ‘chain-stitch’ style of machine embroidery is occasionally encountered. The name is in reference to the chain-like appearance of the embroidery.

Hand-embroidered cuff titles were produced by hand-embroidering wording/numbers onto a blank cuff title. Fine aluminium wires were generally used in the production of these cuff titles, although silver and gold thread, as well as yellow or white synthetic thread, were also used. These cuff titles are generally found with RZM paper or woven labels. This style of manufacture was popular until 1939/1940 and fell out of favour due to the cost.

Another type of cuff title is the machine-woven one, which was produced by feeding coloured threads into a machine where they are woven into a design.

Woven flatwire cuff titles were produced using aluminium, silver, white celleon, or gold/yellow celleon to create wording/numbering. The term ‘flatwire’ refers to the fact that the fine threads lay flat, unlike hand-embroidery which is raised. There are two types of flat wire weave cuff titles, form 1 and form 2.

Form 1 flat wire weave cuff titles feature a salt-and-pepper reverse and form 2 flat wire weave cuff titles feature an all black reverse with a protective cloth backing sewn over the wording. The inscription on form 2 was produced using much finer aluminium thread than form 1.

The RZM/SS paper labels feature a rating letter (example: A) in the upper left corner, an RZM symbol to the right of the rating letter, then a manufacturer’s code number, and then an SS symbol in the upper right corner. The lower left corner features a sequence letter (example: D) and to the right the sequence number of the manufactured cuff title.

RZM/SS woven labels are black in colour, feature an RZM logo on the left side, then the manufacturer's code above the last two digits of the production year, and finally, an SS symbol on the right side.

RZM/SS ‘St’ woven labels, which were attached by the firm that embroidered the cuff titles are identical to the standard woven label, except ‘St’ is added before the manufacturer's code and year or production.

The cuff titles were first produced in Gothic script but in December of 1939, cuff titles with Latin script were introduced.