Hitler Youth Accessories and Insignia: Arm Band

Figure 1.--The Hitler Youth arm band had a destinctive white srtipe. Note the several different pieves which had to be sewed together.

The official Hitler Youth arm band was red with a white strap and swastica. I'm not sure if every boy got an arm band. In many images Hitler Youth boys are not wearing them. Perhaps they were only for ceremonial occasions. The arm band was made destinctive, in part because the SA began to compalin that their browm shirted uniform was being confused with that of the Hitler youth. Thus the arm band was given the destinctive white strap. It is multi-piece construction with the swastika being sewn in several pieces onto the white background which is sewn on top of the white strip which is sewn on the red armband. As junior branch of the SA it came under the command of the SA.

Background

NAZI youth units were at first organized as units of the thugish brown shirted SA and this also wore brown shirts. Members of the youth section wore an almost identical brown uniform to that worn by the SA and this gave rise to certain problems.
Killings: Many of the older boys of 16 to 18 years of age in the group known as the 1Tungsturm Adolf Hitler' were often involved in street brawls with the political opponents of the Nazis, some even being killed, when they were mistaken for members of the SA.
Complaints: The S.A. thugs for their part, did not like being confused with children. SA Stormtroopers began to complain that their browm shirted uniform was being confused with that of the Hitler youth. They resented being confused with the youths.

Kurt Gruber, a 21-year-old law student who had joined the Nazi Party in 1923 was given the job of building the NAZI youth prganization. Gruber had served as a group leader under the first NAZI youth leader, Lenk, and was a skilled organizer. Gruber introduced the first Hitler Youth style uniforms. Previously the uniforms worn by the boys had been hodgepodge of available garmernts. The new uniforms featuring a brown shirt and black shorts and a unique arm band. To distinguish the youth section from the adult members of the SA in 1924 the Jungsturm took to wearing a separate uniform with a swastika arm band of a special design (the pattern eventually adopted by the Hitler Youth), different to that of the 'Kampfbinde' worn by the rank and file members of the SA Detachments.

The Arm Band

The official Hitler Youth arm band was red with a white strap and swastica. The band had the required NAZI swastika minus the white circular background, with a white horizontal stripe added to easily distinguish youth members from brownshirted Storm Troopers.

Obtaining

I am not sure if every boy was awarded an arm band or whether parents bought or made them. Also I am not sure if there was an awaard ceremony in which they were presented the arm bands.

Conventions

I'm not sure if every boy got an arm band. In many images Hitler Youth boys are not wearing them. Perhaps they were only for ceremonial occasions. Thus the arm band was given the destinctive white strap. It is multi-piece construction with the swastika being sewn in several pieces onto the white background which is sewn on top of the white strip which is sewn on the red armband. As junior branch of the SA it came under the command of the SA.