SS runes (German: SS-Runen) is a generic name given to a collection of pseudo-runes used by the Schutzstaffel (SS), from the 1920s to 1945. These symbols were featured on flags, uniforms and other items as symbols of various aspects of Nazi ideology and Ariosophy. They also represented virtues seen as desirable in SS members. Some were based on völkisch mysticGuido von List's pseudo-runic Armanen runes, which he loosely based on the historical runic alphabets, but the SS-runes also included other esoteric symbols not borrowed from the Armanen runes. Post World War II, these insignias continue to be used by neo-Nazi individuals and groups.[1]
The SS runes with names
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SS runes
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Image
Name
Meaning
Description
Hakenkreuz
Nationalism
The Hakenkreuz ("hook-cross") or 'swastika' symbolized nationality and was used by the SS as an extension of its state use.
Sonnenrad
A stylized swastika
Sig-Rune
Victory
The Sig-Rune ("Victory rune") or Siegrune symbolised victory (Sieg). The names of the ᛋ-rune (on which the Siegrune was based) translate as "sun" (see Sowilo), however, von List reinterpreted it as a victory sign when he compiled his list of "Armanen runes".[2]
The Siegrune was adapted into the emblem of the SS in 1933 by Walter Heck, an SS-Sturmhauptführer who worked as a graphic designer for Ferdinand Hoffstatter, a producer of emblems and insignia in Bonn.[2] Heck's device consisted of two sig runes drawn side by side like lightning bolts, and was soon adopted by all branches of the SS – though Heck himself received only a token payment of 2.5 Reichsmarks for his work.[3] The device had a double meaning; as well as standing for the initials of the SS, it could be read as a rallying cry of "Victory, Victory!".[2] The symbol became so ubiquitous that it was frequently typeset using runes rather than letters; during the Nazi period, an extra key was added to German typewriters to enable them to type the double-sig logo with a single keystroke.[4]
The Wolfsangel ("wolf hook") was used as a heraldic symbol alluding to a wolf trap, and is still found on the municipal arms of a number of German towns and cities. It was adopted by a fifteenth-century peasants' uprising, thus acquiring an association with liberty and independence. The Nazi Party adopted the symbol during its early years and it was subsequently widely used by the SS, including by units such as the 2nd SS Panzer Division "Das Reich".
The Opfer-Rune ("sacrifice"), analog to the Eif-Rune, is a rotated version of the ᛇ or Eihwaz rune – preceded the Nazis, as it was first adopted after 1918 by Der Stahlhelm war veterans' movement that eventually merged with the Sturmabteilung (SA). The symbol was adopted by the Nazis after 1923 to commemorate the party members who died in Adolf Hitler's failed Beer Hall Putsch.[3]
Eif-Rune
Zeal/enthusiasm
The Eif-Rune ("zeal/enthusiasm"), analog to the Opfer-Rune, is a rotated and reflected version of the ᛇ or Eihwaz rune. During the early years of the SS it was used by Adolf Hitler's personal adjutants, such as Rudolf Hess.[3]
The Leben-Rune ("life rune") or Lebensrune was based on the upright Algiz rune ᛉ and was used by the Lebensborn e. V., the SS body responsible for the Lebensborn programme which supported the "racially, biologically, and hereditarily valuable families" of SS members and other "Aryans".[3][7] This interpretation of the "man" rune is not based on List, but it occurs as early as the 1920s in the literature of Germanic mysticism,[8] and it came to be widely used within the NSDAP and Nazi Germany, e.g. in official prescriptions for the various uniforms of the Sturmabteilung.[9] The Yr rune came to be seen as the "life rune" inverted and interpreted as "death rune" (Todesrune) During the World War II era, these two runes (ᛉ for "born", ᛦ for "died") came to be used in obituaries and on tomb stones as marking birth and death dates, replacing asterisk and cross symbols (* for "born", † for "died") conventionally used in this context in Germany.
The Toten-Rune ("death rune") or Todesrune (also just Tot) is the inverted version of the Lebensrune or "life rune". It was based on the downturned Algiz rune ᛣ, which existed in Elder Futhark as a stylistic choice, later becomming the Norse standard, being renamed in Younger Futhark as Ýr, meaning "yew".[10] It was used by the SS to represent death on documents and grave markers in place of the more conventional † symbol used for such purposes.[3]
Tyr-Rune
Leadership in battle
Main article: Tyr (SS rune)
The Tyr-Rune followed the design of the ᛏ or Tiwaz rune which was named after Týr, a god in Germanic paganism sometimes associated with war. Based on the link between the historical rune and battle, the SS developed the idea of the insignia as the "Kampf" or battle rune, symbolising military leadership.
The SS commonly used it in place of the Christian cross on the grave markers of its members. It was also used by graduates of the SA Reichsführerschule, which trained SS officers until 1934; they wore it on their upper left arms. It was adopted as an emblem by the 32nd SS Volunteer Grenadier Division "30 Januar", which was assembled from the members of SS schools in January 1945, as well as by the SS Recruitment and Training Department[5]
Heilszeichen
Prosperity
The Heilszeichen ("Whole symbol") SS-rune appeared on the SS death's head ring and were used to symbolise good fortune and success.[5]
The Hagall-Rune (borrowed from the Armanen runes) was widely used in the SS for its symbolic representation of "unshakeable faith" in Nazi philosophy, as Himmler put it.[11] It was used in SS weddings as well as on the SS-Ehrenring (death's head ring) worn by members of the SS. The rune was also used as division insignia of the 6th SS Mountain Division "Nord".
It is roughly similar to the ᚼ or Haglaz rune of the Younger Futhark, which stood for "hail", but it was modified by von List for his Armanen runes. List considered it to be the "mother rune" of his runic alphabet and envisaged it as a representation of a hexagonal crystal.[12]
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