The Steel Helmets, or Association of Frontline Soldiers (Bund der Frontsoldaten), was founded in 1918 by war veteran Franz Seldte, his brothers and some other soldiers from his unit. The association was originally meant as both a mutual aid society for World War I veterans and as a political combat group like many other that sprung up during the 1920s. In 1926, it numbered half a million members, by far the largest at the time. Around this time the Steel Helmets entered politics, although unlike similar groups, it didn't endorse a single party preferring instead to present itself simply as Conservative. However, as time passed the Steel Helmets became more radical and authoritarian and eventually joined the NSDAP coalition that brought Hitler to power.

The Communist paramilitary organization in the Weimar Republic was called the Roter Frontkämpferbund (RFB), or League of Red Front Fighters. This was the enforcement militia of the Communist Party of Germany (kommunistische partei deutschlands) or KPD active between 1919-1933. The standard Red Banner was in common use.

There were also various variants in use by local groups including a Red banner with a centered yellow fist. Addition lettering would sometimes be added such as city names, slogans, or initials (examples: RFB, Ortsgruppe, Rot Front, Roter Frontkämpfer Bund, or R.F.B. Ortsgruppe) in either yellow or white. There are also red banners with a red fist in a black circular field with a black ring around it, and text in black. There were also vehicle flags was a red triangular banner with a red fist in a black circular field.

The Free Corps (Freikorps) were German volunteer military or anti-communist paramilitary units. Between World War I and World War II the term was used for all the paramilitary organizations that arose during the Weimar Republic to fight the Communist.

The Werwolf Freikorps (Werewolf Free Corps) was one of many small active paramilitary units that fought for control of the streets of Berlin and Munich during the politically turbulent Weimar era. In 1923, this veterans group which named itself Werwolfbund Deutscher Männer und Frontkrieger (Werewolf Organization of German Men and Front Line Soldiers) was formed as apparently part of the Heydebreck Freikorps. Initially formed during the Red Revolution of November 1918, Peter von Heydebreck, a German World War I veteran, founded this counter revolutionary Freikorps, which was apparently named after himself.

The SA (popularly "Brown Shirts") was a paramilitary organization created to protect National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP) meetings and disrupt those of other parties. This is an early example (later flags had slanted swastikas) of the flags used by the battalions and companies of the SA "Assault Troops" (Sturmabteilung), or "Protection and Sport Division" Regiments. The small black, blue, green, or silver squares in the upper left hand corners contains the numerals which indicated battalions and companies (Roman numerals) and regiments (Arabic numerals).

One of the last political militias created in 1924, apparently as an attempt to counter some of the more radical groups that came before. The Reichsbanner was created by the cooperation of the Social-Democratic Party of Germany (Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands), the German Centrist Party (Deutsche Zentrumspartei), and the German Democratic Party (Deutsche Demokratische Partei), in association with some trade unions.

Iron Front was founded in 1931 by the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), the labor unions, the Realm Banner Black-Red-Gold and workers´ sport clubs, as a united front for defending the democracy, mainly against the rapidly strengthening Nazis, but also against the monarchist nationalists and the Communists. Organized as a militia, it held mass demonstrations in support of the Weimar Republic, which frequently turned into street fighting against the Nazis or Communists. The Iron Front was banned in 1933.