Black Brigades

Auxiliary Corps of the Black Shirts' Action Squads
Corpo Ausiliario delle Squadre d'azione di Camicie Nere
Alessandro Pavolini, commander-in-chief of the Black Brigades (left) and Vincenzo Costa (right) review the troops of the 8th Black Brigade "Aldo Resega", summer of 1944
Active30 June 1944 – 25 April 1945
Country Italian Social Republic
Allegiance Republican Fascist Party
TypeParamilitary
RoleAuxiliary police, anti-guerrilla gendarmerie
Size110,000
Garrison/HQCesano Maderno, Milan
Motto(s)"Belli come la vita, neri come la morte"
("Beautiful as life, black as death")
ColorsBlack
March"Stornelli delle Brigate Nere"
("Stornello of the Black Brigades")
EngagementsWorld War II
Commanders
CommanderAlessandro Pavolini
Insignia
Insignia of the Black Brigades

The Auxiliary Corps of the Black Shirts' Action Squads (Italian: Corpo Ausiliario delle Squadre d'azione di Camicie Nere), most widely known as the Black Brigades (Italian: Brigate Nere), was one of the Fascist paramilitary groups, organized and run by the Republican Fascist Party (Partito Fascista Repubblicano, PFR) operating in the Italian Social Republic (in northern Italy), during the final years of World War II, and after the signing of the Italian Armistice in 1943. They were officially led by Alessandro Pavolini, former Minister of Culture of the fascist era during the last years of Fascist Italy.