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Schutzstaffel / SS (NSDAP, Germany)

Protection Guard

Introduction
SS Regimental Standard (SchutzStaffel-Standarte)
Adolf Hitler's SS Bodyguard Regimental Standard (Standarte der Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler)
SS Battalion Colour (SS-Sturmbannfahne)
SS Command and other Car Flags (Kommandostander, Kraftwagen- und Fahrradwimpeln)
House Flag of the SS (Hausfahne SS)

See also:

Other sites:

SchutzStaffel in the Axis History Factbook by Marcus Wendel

Introduction

The Schutzstaffel (SS) was founded as Adolf Hitler's bodyguard and was [initially] a part of the SturmAbteilung (SA). When Heinrich Himmler was made Reichsführer-SS in 1929 the SS began to grow in numbers and in power. The SS remained loyal and played an important part when [SA Chief] Ernst Röhm and other leaders of the SA were executed during the night of the long knives in 1934. As a reward for its loyalty the SS was made an independent organization and in 1936 [1937?] the SS was made responsible for all police activity in the Third Reich.

Allgemeine-SS [General SS]: The non-armed part of the SS. This included for example the Geheime Staatspolizei [Secret State Police] (Gestapo), the Sicherheitsdienst (SD), the Ordnungspolizei (OrPo), the Kriminalpolizei (KriPo) and the guards of the concentration camps.
Waffen-SS [Armed-SS]: The armed forces of the SS. They were founded as SS-Verfügungstruppen [SS-Readily Available Troops] (SS-VT) in 1934 and were renamed Waffen-SS in 1940 when Hitler decided that it, during the war, should be under the command of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW), i.e. the the supreme command of the regular armed forces. In 1944 the number of soldiers in the Waf