Standartenführer

SS-Standartenführer ([ʃtanˈdaʁtn̩.fyːʀɐ], "standard leader") was a Nazi Party (NSDAP) paramilitary rank that was used in several NSDAP organizations, such as the SA, SS, NSKK and the NSFK.[2][3] First founded as a title in 1925, in 1928 the rank became one of the first commissioned NSDAP ranks and was bestowed upon those SA and SS officers who commanded units known as Standarten which were regiment-sized formations of between three hundred and five hundred men.[2]

Hermann Fegelein as an SS-Standartenführer

Standartenführer
SS Gorget patches
SS Shoulder and camo insignia
Country	Nazi Germany
Service branch	Schutzstaffel Sturmabteilung National Socialist Motor Corps National Socialist Flyers Corps
Abbreviation	Staf.
NATO rank	OF-5
Formation	1925
Abolished	1945
Next higher rank	Oberführer
Next lower rank	Obersturmbannführer
Equivalent ranks	Oberst (OF-5)[1] Kapitän zur See

In 1929 the rank of Standartenführer was divided into two separate ranks known as Standartenführer (I) and Standartenführer (II). This concept was abandoned in 1930 when both the SA and SS expanded their rank systems to allow for more officer positions and thus the need for only a single Standartenführer rank. In 1933, when Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany, the rank of Standartenführer had been established as the highest field officer rank, lesser than that of Oberführer of the SS and SA. By the start of World War II, Standartenführer was widely spread as both an SS rank and a rank of the SA. In the Waffen-SS, the rank was considered the equivalent of an Oberst, a full colonel.[4]

The insignia for Standartenführer consisted of a single oak leaf displayed on both collars.[5] Standartenführer was the first of the SS and SA ranks to display rank insignia on both collars, without the display of unit insignia.[5] From 1938, newer SS uniforms featured the shoulder boards of a German Army Oberst (colonel) in addition to the oak leaf collar patches.[6]