Standartenführer

Standartenführer was a Nazi Party rank that was used in both the S.A. and the S.S..  First started as a rank in 1925, in 1928 the rank became one of the first commissioned Nazi ranks and was given to S.A. and S.S. officers who commanded units known as Standarten which were between three hundred and five hundred men.

In 1929 the rank of Standartenführer was split into two ranks known as Standartenführer (I) and Standartenführer (II).  This idea was given up in 1930 when both the S.A. and S.S. grew their rank systems to allow for more ranks.

By the start of World War II, Standartenführer was widely used as both an SS rank and a rank of the S.A..  In the Waffen-SS, the rank was considered the equivalent of an Oberst (colonel).  

The insignia for Standartenführer was of a single oak leaf worn on both collars and was the first of the S.S. and S.A. ranks to be worn on both collars. From 1938, newer SS uniforms featured the shoulder boards of a German Oberst as well as the oak leaf collar patches.

Related pages
Standartenführer Stirlitz, alias Colonel Isayev - a hero of a popular Russian book series and one of the most famous characters of Russian jokes

Junior RankObersturmbannführerSS rank and SA rankStandartenführerSenior RankOberführer

Category:Sturmabteilung
Category:SS