of a numbered collar patch, showing both battalion and regiment affiliation, worn opposite the badge of rank. This unit insignia patch was worn by those holding the rank of Sturmbannführer and below; the higher officer ranks wore oak leaf insignia on both collars. By the close of the 1920s, the SA rank system had solidified into the following titles: SA uniforms under Ernst Röhm (1930–1933) The next major change in SA uniforms and insignia occurred in 1930 when Ernst Röhm was appointed as Chief of Staff of the SA. Röhm's appointment was as the result of Adolf Hitler personally assuming command of the SA as the Oberster SA-Führer. Hitler would hold this title until the fall of Nazi Germany in 1945 and, after 1930, it was the SA Chief of Staff who was the effective leader of the organization. Röhm undertook several changes to the SA uniform and insignia design, the first being to invent several new ranks in order for the SA rank system to mirror that of the professional military. The rank expansion took place gradually between 1930 and 1932, with the final addition being the creation of a rank of SA-Obergruppenführer, which Röhm appointed to himself as well as senior SA-generals of the SA command staff. The new ranks used the same collar pip and oak leaf system as before, but with the addition of corded shoulder boards worn on the right shoulder for the officers. Further, the officers wore right shoulder cord of either gold or silver. In contrast, the enlisted men wore piping cords shaped as shoulder straps on the right shoulder. In 1933, when Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, Röhm made his title of SA-Chief of Staff into an actual rank. The insignia for Ernst Röhm's new rank (known as Stabschef) consisted of a wreathed star which was designed after that of a Bolivian General, due to Röhm's previous military experience as a military adviser in Bolivia. Ranks and insignia This table contains the final ranks and insignia of the SA, which were in use from 1942 to 1945. Remarks Right collar patch contains the number and type of unit (ascending up to "Obersturmbannführer" in SA and SS, and "Oberstaffelfuehrer" in NSMC): ... Left collar patch contain the rank insignias (from ascending "Standartenfuehrer" both sides). Waffenfarben Prior to 1932, when the Schutzstaffel wore the same uniform as the SA, black uniform colors also