ABSTRACT
The years of Germany's first democratic experience, from the proclamation of the Weimar Republic on 9 November 1918 to its final collapse on 30 January 1933, have been described as “a dramatic era”. One of the main perpetrators for undermining of German democracy were the Nazi paramilitary units, the stormtroopers. The SA's charter stated that it was established to “protect the use of the floor at its rallies”. Every SA member on “duty” wore a uniform, a visible symbol to the outside world of their ideological affiliation. The advance of the Nazi paramilitaries was accompanied by a symbolic deployment that served to consolidate their ranks and, at the same time, to differentiate them from the wider political landscape. For the Nazis, as with any movement erected as a political religion, the flag was much more than a piece of fabric. Music and song were resources used intensively and extensively by the SA during their propaganda marches in towns and cities.
