Central Europe Germany Italy Spain (Spanish Civil War) Albania Austria Baltic states Belgium Bulgaria Burma China Czechia Denmark France Germany Greece Italy Japan Jewish Luxembourg Netherlands Norway Poland Romania Slovakia Spain Soviet Union Yugoslavia Germany Italy Netherlands Portugal Spain Sweden Switzerland United Kingdom United States The Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold (German: [ˈʁaɪçsˌbanɐ ˈʃvaʁts ˈʁoːt ˈɡɔlt], lit.

Congruent with its historical makeup, it is officially open for members of all democratic parties but is closely associated with the SPD.

The Reichsbanner was initially formed in reaction to the Nazis' Beer Hall Putsch and Communist's Hamburg rebellion, both failed coups, which had taken place at the end of 1923.

[13] Reichsbanner was a veterans' organization, in which former soldiers of the First World War enlisted their military experience in the service of the Republic.

Its main goal was the defense of the Weimar Republic against usurpations of democracy from the National Socialist, Monarchist, and Communist camps.

[4][14] Social Democratic politician Otto Hörsing described Reichsbanner as a 'non-partisan protection organization of the Republic and democracy in the fight against the Swastika and the Soviet star'.

[15] Members saw themselves as guardians of the continuation of Germany's democratic traditions such as the Revolutions of 1848 and their namesake constitutional national colors of black, red and gold.

[16] Following substantial Nazi electoral successes in 1930, the Reichsbanner in September sought to strengthen itself against intensified street violence by Sturmabteilung units with a restructuring of the operational organization.

[4][14] Within the Front, defensive operations were the responsibility of the Reichsbanner, which became increasingly important as violence from the Communist Rotfrontkämpferbund and Nazi Sturmabteilung.

In the original Reichsbanner, two organizational structures existed in parallel: a registered political association and an organized fighting force.