SSStandartenführer

SS-Standartenführer was a senior officer rank in the Schutzstaffel (SS) of Nazi Germany. The designation translates roughly as "Standarte Leader" and indicated command of a Standarte, the SS’s regimental-sized unit, or an equivalent senior staff position. In terms of military hierarchy, Standartenführer was a high-ranking officer, commonly regarded as equivalent to a colonel in the Wehrmacht, and was above the rank of Oberführer and below the top-tier SS general ranks in many periods. The rank was used in both the Allgemeine-SS and the Waffen-SS from the 1930s through the end of World War II in 1945.

As a Standartenführer, a person might command a Standarte in the Waffen-SS or serve in senior staff roles at division, corps, or higher levels, depending on organizational needs and career path within the SS. The rank carried significant authority within the SS chain of command and was often associated with responsibility for personnel, logistics, and operational planning within their unit or unit-equivalent.

Insignia and symbols for Standartenführer varied by branch and period, typically represented on collar patches and shoulder boards of SS officer uniforms. After the collapse of the Nazi regime in 1945, the SS was dissolved, and its ranks, including Standartenführer, became closely associated with the crimes of the regime in historical memory.

Notable holders of the rank included senior SS officers who commanded regimental formations in the Waffen-SS or served in higher SS offices during the war.