BACKGROUND: The SA, Sturmabteilung, (Storm/Assault Detachment), was originally formed in the August 1921 as a protective guard unit for the political leaders of the fledgling NSDAP, Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, (National Socialist German Worker's Party), and as with the NSDAP the SA was structure along para-military lines. The SA recruited most of its personnel from the ranks of the various Freikorps groups composed mainly of disgruntled ex-soldiers and was first utilized at a NSDAP meeting in Munich in November 1921. The SA M33 service dagger was the first dagger officially sanctioned by the NSDAP and was introduced on December 15TH 1933. The dagger was intended as an ornamental item and the design was based on the traditional 16TH century Swiss "Holbein" hunting dagger. Originally the daggers featured an anodized scabbard and utilized nice quality solid nickel/silver fittings while later models had cheaper nickel/silver plated fittings and painted scabbards. In late 1934 items manufactured for the SA including daggers came under the quality control of the RZM, Reichzeugmeisterei, (National Equipment Quartermaster) and as a result were marked with the RZM logo when appropriate. Of Note: The RZM was official founded in June 1934 in Munich by the NSDAP as a Reich Hauptamt, (State Central Office), and was based on the earlier SA Quartermaster's Department. The functions of the RZM were not only to procure and distribute items to Party formations, but also to approve chosen designs and to act as a quality control supervisor to ensure items manufactured for the Party met required specification and were standardized.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: A 9mm diameter, enameled runic SA roundel.