Rank tab

[Greg Domian]

I picked this up years ago when I first started collecting but not sure what unit it belongs to. I presume it is SA. What group/unit would it be for and what would be a going price on a rank tab of this grade?

Greg

[Erich B.]

That would be for SA Group Westmark. If the pip had been golden, it would be for Niedersachsen.
Erich

[Greg Domian]

Thanks Erich. Any idea on price? i'm going to put it on the E-stand.

Greg

[sgstandard]

Tab

The color looks reddish-brown to me. Could it be from SA Gruppe Alpenland? Personally, I'm not too keen on the wool thickness. I realize that cardboard backing was used sometimes, but this is far more prevalent on SS tabs. It's fairly rare for SA tabs, IMO. I'm not sure about the litzen, either. Am I off base?

[Greg Domian]

From alpenland tabs I have seen they look more pink or even a raddish color. I have also seen differen shades of blue for Hansa/Hessen too so don't think differences in hue are a big concern. I always thought Alpenland was pink. I have no problems with the wool, and the color depending on what light you are looking at it in does have a slight reddish brown hue to it rather than a full brown but more on the brown side. With the cardboard backing it could be a home made version of the tab, not sure but litzen has a nice gold toning to it from silver aging.

Greg

[sgstandard]

Tabs

Alpenland and other Gruppes wore "Red-Brown", whatever that means, but I think it's a darker brown. These darn colors are difficult sometimes. Hansa and Hessen aren't too difficult, because the only other blues are Hochland, which is very light, and 'Cornflower" blue, which is very distinctive. I bought a Standartenfuhrer tab from Bill Shea, which was advertised as "Reddish-Brown" or Alpenland, but I'm positive it's Westfalen "Wine-Red". Tough call sometimes.

[Erich B.]

Alpenland is a 'russet brown', which is almost like a rust color--this tab is definitely more brown. My thought is that this tab is either early, so had a non-standard stiffener of cardboard rather than buckram, or the backing was replaced at some time because of damage to the original stiffener. Some of the tabs in the early to mid 30s were observed by the RZM to have celluloid, metal, or cardboard stiffening material, which they stated was not allowed.
Technically the Tresse should be white/black/white, but I've seen silver/black/silver used on original tabs.
While there are numerous examples of SA insignia and cap band colors that are judgement calls in modern times as far as group determination, I think this one would safely be considered dark brown.
Erich

[sgstandard]

Russet

Thanks for the information. I don't remember ever seeing any tabs that were rust colored. . Are they rare?

[Erich B.]

I wouldn't say they are rare, but it's true that you don't see them very often. I think they were introduced in 1938 after the Anschluss when the SA was again legal in Austria (as part of the Großdeutsches Reich) so they weren't around as long as some of the more commonly found colors.