All the symbols depicted in the hate symbols database must be evaluated in the context in which they appear. Few symbols represent just one idea or are used exclusively by one group. For example, 100% is often used as an amount or an expression and it is also used by some white supremacists as shorthand for "100% white." Similarly, other symbols in this database may be significant to people who are not extreme or racist. The descriptions here point out significant multiple meanings but may not be able to relay every possible meaning of a particular symbol.
The Sturmabteilung (or SA) symbol is the emblem of Hitler's brownshirted stormtroopers (Sturmabteilung or "storm units" in German). The Sturmabteilung were paramilitary formations used by Hitler to intimidate political opponents and Jews before and after his rise to power in Germany. It declined after 1934 when its leaders were murdered at Hitler's orders and was largely supplanted by the SS. After World War II, some neo-Nazis, especially in Europe, turned to the Sturmabteilung symbol after other, more recognizable Nazi symbols were banned. In this way, the Sturmabteilung symbol became a fairly common white supremacist symbol.
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