• Uniformed members of the Germanske SS Norge lined up at a Nazi propaganda event outside the Royal Palace in Oslo in German-occupied Norway during World War II in 1943.
• Photo: Henriksen & Steen (Norwegian photo company 1922-1964).
• Norges SS ("The Norwegian SS") was renamed the Germanske SS Norge in July 1942. Norges SS was established in May 1941 under the auspices of Jonas Lie. Sverre Riisnæs was Lie's second in command. Lie was inspired by the German Reichskommissar Josef Terboven and established the Norwegian SS without consulting Vidkun Quisling even though the formation remained notionally part of Quisling's National Union (Nasjonal Samling, or NS). It was separate from the NS's own Hird regiments although initially used its uniforms and structure. SS leader Heinrich Himmler personally attended the foundation ceremony for the Norwegian SS and continued to bestow favour of Lie, preventing Quisling from prohibiting the formation's establishment although he later forbade members of the Hird from participating. The establishment of the Norwegian Legion for its service on the Eastern Front in June 1941 led many members of the Norwegian SS to enlist and severely weakened it. As part of the SS's attempt to weaken Quisling's power, the Norwegian SS was renamed in July 1942 and brought into the Germanic SS. The organisation's membership reached a notional strength of 1,300 in 1944. A large part of the members were recruited from the Norwegian police, and about 50 percent served in the Waffen SS on the Eastern Front. It published a newspaper called Germaneren.

SS Regalia by Robin Lumsden 1995:

In July 1942. many veterans returned from the east to form the new Germanske-SS Norge, which abandoned all Rikshird associations, A new oath of allegiance was taken to Hitler, and the Germaninspired motto 'Min aere er troskap' ('My Honor is Loyalty') was adopted. The uniform of the Germanske-SS Norge was all black except for a brown shirt. It comprised a ski-cap (peaked caps were never worn by the Norwegian SS), an open-neeked tunic, ski trousers and mountain boots. An eagle holding a sun cross in silver and black was worn on the left sleeve above a cuff title bearing the legend 'Germanske-SS Norge'. Rank insignia appeared on lhe left collar patch with a silver sun wheel swastika on the right patch. SS runes on a black diamond wore sported on the right upper arm.

No Germanic-SS unit in Norway attained sufficient size to be regarded as a Standarte. The largest that could he mustered was a Stormbann or battalion, of which there were 12 in various parts of the country. Most were consistently under strength. The concept of patron members was introduced into Norway as in the other Germanic countries, and these so-called Støttende Medlemmer were entitled to wear a small oval badge in black enamel, with silver SS runes and the letters 'SM'. Official figures published in Germaneren, the Norwegian SS newspaper, gave the strength of the Germanic-SS in Norway as 1250 in September 1944. Of these, 330 were on combat duty with the Waffen-SS, and 750 were in police units, leaving only 160 Norwegians in the active Germanic-SS. At the same time, there were 3500 patron members.