Anarchist symbolism
Encyclopedia
While anarchist
s have historically largely denied the importance of symbol
s to political movement, they have embraced certain symbols for their cause, including most prominently the circle-A and the black flag. Since the revival of anarchism at the turn of the 21st-century concurrent with the rise of the anti-globalization movement
, anarchist cultural symbols are widely present.
The black flag, and the color black
in general, have been associated with anarchism
since the 1880s. Many anarchist collective
s contain the word "black" in their names. There have been a number of anarchist periodicals entitled Black Flag
.
The uniform blackness of the flag is in stark contrast to the colorful flags typical of most nation-state
s. Additionally, as a white flag
is the universal symbol for surrender to superior force, the counter-opposite black flag would logically be a symbol of defiance and opposition to surrender.
has a shared ancestry with - amongst other ideologies - socialism
, a movement strongly associated with the red flag
. As anarchism became more and more distinct from socialism in the 1880s, it adopted the black flag in an attempt to differentiate itself. Some anarchists at the time, such as Peter Kropotkin
, preferred to continue using the red flag rather than adopt the black.
Both the black and red flags first gained notoriety for their use by Buccaneer
s, who were pirates of French origin operating in the West Indies. The black flag (later the "Jolly Roger
") was displayed, or 'run up' the mast, first as an indication that the lives of the crew would be spared if they surrendered. If the crew resisted, the red flag would then be displayed to indicate that the offer of amnesty had been withdrawn; no prisoners would be taken (see also Jolly Roger/Pirate flag below).
, the red flag was adopted by the Jacobin Club
, whose members controlled the insurrectionary Paris Commune
during the assault on the Tuileries
, the September Massacres
, and throughout the Reign of Terror
. In 1831, the black flag was displayed as an emblem of protest during the first Canut revolt, an uprising of silk workers in Lyon
; it was also flown in the 1840s during hunger riots, as a symbol of the desperation of the starving urban poor.
It first became associated with anarchism in the 1880s. The French anarchist paper, Le Drapeau Noir ("The Black Flag"), which existed until 1882, is one of the first published references to use black as an anarchist color. Black International was the name of a London
anarchist group founded in July 1881. Louise Michel
, participant in the Paris Commune of 1871
, flew the black flag on March 9, 1883, during demonstration of the unemployed in Paris, France. An open air meeting of the unemployed was broken up by the police and around 500 demonstrators, with Michel at the front carrying a black flag and shouting "Bread, work, or lead!" marched off towards the Boulevard Saint-Germain. The crowd pillaged three baker's shops before the police attacked. Michel was arrested and sentenced to six years solitary confinement. Public pressure soon forced the granting of an amnesty. According to Michel, the "black flag is the flag of strikes and the flag of those who are hungry."
The black flag soon made its way to America. On November 27, 1884, the black flag was displayed in Chicago at an Anarchist demonstration. According to the English Language newspaper of the Chicago anarchists, it was "the fearful symbol of hunger, misery and death."
In the Russian Revolution of 1917
, Nestor Makhno
's anarchist forces were known collectively as the Black Army. They fought under a black flag with some success until they were crushed by the Red Army
(see Black Guards
). Emiliano Zapata
, a Mexican
revolutionary in the 1910s, used a black flag with a skull and crossbones
and the Blessed Virgin Mary on it. The flag's slogan was "Tierra y Libertad" ("Land and Liberty"). In 1925, Japan
ese anarchists formed the Black Youth League, which had branches in the then-colonial Taiwan
. In 1945, the group named their journal Kurohata ("Black Flag").
More recently, Paris
ian students carried black (and red) flags during the massive General Strike of May 1968. In the same year, these flags were seen at the American Students for a Democratic Society
national convention
. Also at about the same time, the British
based journal Black Flag was started, and is still in existence today. Black flags remain a symbol of anarchists today.
The Circle-A is almost certainly the best-known present-day symbol for anarchy. It is a monogram
that consists of the capital letter "A
" surrounded by the capital letter "O
". The letter "A" is derived from the first letter of "anarchy" or "anarchism" in most European languages and is the same in both Latin and Cyrillic scripts. The "O" stands for order. Together they stand for "Anarchy is the mother of Order," the first part of a Proudhon quotation. This character can be written as Unicode
codepoint U+24B6: Ⓐ. In addition, the "@
" sign or "(A)" can be used to quickly represent the circle-A on a computer.
. This was set up by Giuseppe Fanelli
in 1868. It predates its adoption by anarchists as it was used as a symbol by others. According to George Woodcock
, this symbol was not used by classical anarchists. In a series of photos of the Spanish Civil War taken by Gerda Taro
a small A in a circle is visibly chalked on the helmet of a militiaman. There is no notation of the affiliation of the militiaman, but one can presume he is an Anarchist. The first documented use was by a small French
group, Jeunesse Libertaire ("Libertarian Youth") in 1964. Circolo Sacco e Vanzetti, youth group from Milan
, adopted it and in 1968 it became popular throughout Italy. From there it spread rapidly around the world.
movement, which was part of the punk rock
movement of the late 1970s. However, the punk movement helped spread the circle-A symbol more widely, and helped raise awareness of it among non-anarchists. This process began with the use of anarchist imagery by the Sex Pistols
, though Crass
was the first pop band marketed under the "punk" genre to use the symbol in their promotional materials as well as espouse a more traditionally orthodox anarchist stance. They had become aware of the symbol, while traveling through France. With time the symbol, and "anarchy" as a vague synonym for rebelliousness, were incorporated into common punk imagery. This led to gradual appearances in mainstream culture over the course of several years, at times far removed from its political origin (described by Situationists as "recuperation
"). These appearances typically connected it with anarchy
and were intended as sensationalist
marketing ploys, playing off of mainstream association of anarchy with chaos
. This process mirrored the process of punk subculture
coming into the mainstream, which occurred at approximately the same time.
Various schools within the anarchist movement have adopted their own flags. These flags are bisected diagonally with the right half in black for anarchy and the left half in a color representing each school's ideas. These color templates are also extended to five-pointed stars representing the same schools.
The red-and-black flag is the symbol of the anarcho-syndicalist
and anarcho-communist
movements. Black is the traditional color of anarchism, and red is the traditional color of socialism. The red-and-black flag combines the two colors in equal parts, with a simple diagonal split. Typically, the red section is placed on the top-left corner, with the black on the bottom-right corner of the flag. This symbolizes the co-existence of anarchist and socialist ideals within the anarcho-syndicalism movement, and to symbolize the more socialistic means of the movement leading to a more anarchistic end.
The black-and-yellow or black-and-gold flag is used by some who identify as anarcho-capitalists
or market anarchists
. The yellow is intended to symbolise gold
, a commodity of exchange
often used in marketplaces unrestricted by state intervention. The flag was first used in public in Colorado in 1963 at an event organised by Robert LeFevre
.
The black-and-green flag is used by green anarchists
and anarcho-primitivists
. It is generally taken to symbolize the green anarchists' idea of resistance against industrial civilization, and cooperation with nature. To anarcho-primitivists, it symbolizes the idea that the world should be completely natural and should "rewild
."
The black-and-purple flag is used in association with anarcha-feminism
, as is the black-and-pink flag, although the latter is more closely associated with queer
anarchists, known as anarcho-queer
s. Unlike other bisected anarchist flags, it does not necessarily represent another form of anarchism, but is used to focus on opposition to the hierarchical patterns of heteronormativity
, heterosexism
, sexism
, transphobia
, and patriarchy
.
The black-and-white flag is used by anarcho-pacifists and, to a lesser extent, Christian anarchists.
, who was a prominent figure in the Industrial Workers of the World
(IWW). As its stance suggests, the cat is meant to suggest wildcat strikes and radical unionism. The IWW (or the Wobblies) was an important industrial union, and was the first American labor union to recruit and organize women and people of color, and played a critical role in the fight for the eight-hour work day and in Free Speech fights all over the country in the early 20th century. Their most famous and influential years were from 1905 until they were largely suppressed by the Palmer Raids
.
The origin of the black cat symbol is unclear, but according to one story it came from a IWW strike that was going badly. Several members had been beaten up and were put in a hospital. At that time a skinny, black cat walked into the striker's camp. The cat was fed by the striking workers and as the cat regained its health the strike took a turn for the better. Eventually the striking workers got some of their demands and they adopted the cat as their mascot.
The name Black Cat has been used for numerous anarchist-affiliated collectives and cooperatives, including a well-known music venue in Austin, Texas
(which was closed following a July 6, 2002 fire) and a now-defunct "collective kitchen" in the University District
of Seattle, Washington.
As a symbol, the black cat
has historically been associated with witchcraft
, ill omen
s, and death. It dates back to ancient Hebrew
and Babylonia
n cultures. The witchcraft usage has persisted into modern times; anarchism shares the black cat symbol with witchcraft and Wicca
, though the latter two generally do not represent the cat
with its back arched in a fighting stance.
The Anarchist Black Cross
organization's primary goal is to eliminate all prison
s. It originated in Tsarist Russia as a support organization for political prisoner
s. Their symbol is a black cross
, with the upwards-facing line being replaced with a raised fist
, a symbol also associated with anarchism, defiance of authority, and personal empowerment (black power, youth power, women's liberation, American Indian Movement, International Socialist Organization, 'power to the people', etc...). The fist also represents union, as "many weak fingers can come together to create a strong fist".
The cross is a modification of the Red Cross emblem used by International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
(founded 1863), the world's largest group of humanitarian organizations. Originally called the Anarchist Red Cross, the name was changed around 1920 to avoid confusion when the Red Cross started organizing relief for prisoners as well.
is a rarely used symbol of the anarchist movement.
Black Rose Books is the name of the pre-eminent anarchist bookstore in Montreal
, an anarchist infoshop
in Portland
, Oregon
, and is now the name of a small press imprint headed by anarchist philosopher Dimitrios Roussopoulos
. Black Rose was the title of a respected journal of anarchist ideas published in the Boston
area during the 1970s, as well as the name of an anarchist lecture series addressed by notable anarchist and libertarian socialists (including Murray Bookchin
and Noam Chomsky
) into the 1990s.
The Jolly Roger
as a black flag with skull and bones has recently gained a popularity among anarchists.
Some claim to use the Jolly Roger as a form of appreciation for the Pirate way of life in freedom and a lack of authority. Many Pirate ships were loosely democratic and most crew mates were working class fugitives from the highly repressive societies in which they were born. Anarchists may find affinity with the concept of pirate utopia
s, especially the island of legend, Libertatia
. The Libertatian pirates have been identified as precursors to anarchists. Some Internet and techno-anarchists consider themselves pirates due to their free lifestyles in the world of technology and their defiance of copyright laws which is called "pirating". Several articles relating to the connection between anarchism and piracy can be found in the libcom.org library
The sabot or wooden shoe (also known as clog
) was used symbolically by anarchists in the 19th and early 20th century, although it has largely faded from use since then. The French
word for wooden shoe, sabot is the probable root of the word sabotage
: and refers to the tactic by early Dutch unionists of throwing sabots into the gears of factory or farm machinery, effectively stopping work until the equipment could be repaired. The American analogue of this tactic is "monkeywrenching," referring to the similar practice of throwing a monkeywrench in the machinery to damage it and prevent strikebreakers from being able to replace striking union members.
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
, there is an anarcho-syndicalist bookshop called The Wooden Shoe, and from 2001 to 2003 there was an anarchist magazine in Denmark called Sabot. There is also an American record label focusing primarily on punk-rock and genres revolving around it called Sabot Productions, which uses exactly the same sabot picture seen on the left as their logo.
A flag depicting a regular leather shoe of a type worn by peasants in the 16th century
was carried by the peasants in the German peasants war of 1524-1525, a proto-anarchist rebellion.
sign is used by squatters all over the world. Sometimes as a graffiti, often on the walls of the occupied building. But it is also used in the graphic design of posters and flyers.
The sign might have originated in the squatters scene in Amsterdam
(The Netherlands
) in the late seventies.
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
s have historically largely denied the importance of symbol
Symbol
A symbol is something which represents an idea, a physical entity or a process but is distinct from it. The purpose of a symbol is to communicate meaning. For example, a red octagon may be a symbol for "STOP". On a map, a picture of a tent might represent a campsite. Numerals are symbols for...
s to political movement, they have embraced certain symbols for their cause, including most prominently the circle-A and the black flag. Since the revival of anarchism at the turn of the 21st-century concurrent with the rise of the anti-globalization movement
Anti-globalization movement
The anti-globalization movement, or counter-globalisation movement, is critical of the globalization of corporate capitalism. The movement is also commonly referred to as the global justice movement, alter-globalization movement, anti-globalist movement, anti-corporate globalization movement, or...
, anarchist cultural symbols are widely present.
Black flag
Black
Black is the color of objects that do not emit or reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum; they absorb all such frequencies of light...
in general, have been associated with anarchism
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
since the 1880s. Many anarchist collective
Collective
A collective is a group of entities that share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest, or work together on a specific project to achieve a common objective...
s contain the word "black" in their names. There have been a number of anarchist periodicals entitled Black Flag
Black Flag (newspaper)
Black Flag is the name of a number of anarchist periodicals, most notably the British anarchist bi-annual magazine Black Flag, mainly known for its coverage of international anarchist politics as well as supporting "class war" prisoners....
.
The uniform blackness of the flag is in stark contrast to the colorful flags typical of most nation-state
Nation-state
The nation state is a state that self-identifies as deriving its political legitimacy from serving as a sovereign entity for a nation as a sovereign territorial unit. The state is a political and geopolitical entity; the nation is a cultural and/or ethnic entity...
s. Additionally, as a white flag
White flag
White flags have had different meanings throughout history and depending on the locale.-Flag of temporary truce in order to parley :...
is the universal symbol for surrender to superior force, the counter-opposite black flag would logically be a symbol of defiance and opposition to surrender.
Historical origins
The black flag represents the absence of a flag, and thus stands in opposition to the very notion of nation-states. In that light, the flag can be seen as a rejection of the concept of representation, or the idea that any person or institution can adequately represent a group of individuals. Modern anarchismHistory of anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
has a shared ancestry with - amongst other ideologies - socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
, a movement strongly associated with the red flag
Red flag
In politics, a red flag is a symbol of Socialism, or Communism, or sometimes left-wing politics in general. It has been associated with left-wing politics since the French Revolution. Socialists adopted the symbol during the Revolutions of 1848 and it became a symbol of communism as a result of its...
. As anarchism became more and more distinct from socialism in the 1880s, it adopted the black flag in an attempt to differentiate itself. Some anarchists at the time, such as Peter Kropotkin
Peter Kropotkin
Prince Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin was a Russian zoologist, evolutionary theorist, philosopher, economist, geographer, author and one of the world's foremost anarcho-communists. Kropotkin advocated a communist society free from central government and based on voluntary associations between...
, preferred to continue using the red flag rather than adopt the black.
Both the black and red flags first gained notoriety for their use by Buccaneer
Buccaneer
The buccaneers were privateers who attacked Spanish shipping in the Caribbean Sea during the late 17th century.The term buccaneer is now used generally as a synonym for pirate...
s, who were pirates of French origin operating in the West Indies. The black flag (later the "Jolly Roger
Jolly Roger
The Jolly Roger is any of various flags flown to identify a ship's crew as pirates. The flag most commonly identified as the Jolly Roger today is the skull and crossbones, a flag consisting of a human skull above two long bones set in an x-mark arrangement on a black field. This design was used by...
") was displayed, or 'run up' the mast, first as an indication that the lives of the crew would be spared if they surrendered. If the crew resisted, the red flag would then be displayed to indicate that the offer of amnesty had been withdrawn; no prisoners would be taken (see also Jolly Roger/Pirate flag below).
Subsequent usage
During the French RevolutionFrench Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, the red flag was adopted by the Jacobin Club
Jacobin Club
The Jacobin Club was the most famous and influential political club in the development of the French Revolution, so-named because of the Dominican convent where they met, located in the Rue St. Jacques , Paris. The club originated as the Club Benthorn, formed at Versailles from a group of Breton...
, whose members controlled the insurrectionary Paris Commune
Paris Commune (French Revolution)
The Paris Commune during the French Revolution was the government of Paris from 1789 until 1795. Established in the Hôtel de Ville just after the storming of the Bastille, the Commune became insurrectionary in the summer of 1792, essentially refusing to take orders from the central French...
during the assault on the Tuileries
10th of August (French Revolution)
On 10 August 1792, during the French Revolution, revolutionary Fédéré militias — with the backing of a new municipal government of Paris that came to be known as the "insurrectionary" Paris Commune and ultimately supported by the National Guard — besieged the Tuileries palace. King Louis XVI and...
, the September Massacres
September Massacres
The September Massacres were a wave of mob violence which overtook Paris in late summer 1792, during the French Revolution. By the time it had subsided, half the prison population of Paris had been executed: some 1,200 trapped prisoners, including many women and young boys...
, and throughout the Reign of Terror
Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror , also known simply as The Terror , was a period of violence that occurred after the onset of the French Revolution, incited by conflict between rival political factions, the Girondins and the Jacobins, and marked by mass executions of "enemies of...
. In 1831, the black flag was displayed as an emblem of protest during the first Canut revolt, an uprising of silk workers in Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
; it was also flown in the 1840s during hunger riots, as a symbol of the desperation of the starving urban poor.
It first became associated with anarchism in the 1880s. The French anarchist paper, Le Drapeau Noir ("The Black Flag"), which existed until 1882, is one of the first published references to use black as an anarchist color. Black International was the name of a London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
anarchist group founded in July 1881. Louise Michel
Louise Michel
Louise Michel was a French anarchist, school teacher and medical worker. She often used the pseudonym Clémence and was also known as the red virgin of Montmartre...
, participant in the Paris Commune of 1871
Paris Commune
The Paris Commune was a government that briefly ruled Paris from March 18 to May 28, 1871. It existed before the split between anarchists and Marxists had taken place, and it is hailed by both groups as the first assumption of power by the working class during the Industrial Revolution...
, flew the black flag on March 9, 1883, during demonstration of the unemployed in Paris, France. An open air meeting of the unemployed was broken up by the police and around 500 demonstrators, with Michel at the front carrying a black flag and shouting "Bread, work, or lead!" marched off towards the Boulevard Saint-Germain. The crowd pillaged three baker's shops before the police attacked. Michel was arrested and sentenced to six years solitary confinement. Public pressure soon forced the granting of an amnesty. According to Michel, the "black flag is the flag of strikes and the flag of those who are hungry."
The black flag soon made its way to America. On November 27, 1884, the black flag was displayed in Chicago at an Anarchist demonstration. According to the English Language newspaper of the Chicago anarchists, it was "the fearful symbol of hunger, misery and death."
In the Russian Revolution of 1917
Russian Revolution of 1917
The Russian Revolution is the collective term for a series of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which destroyed the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Soviet Union. The Tsar was deposed and replaced by a provisional government in the first revolution of February 1917...
, Nestor Makhno
Nestor Makhno
Nestor Ivanovych Makhno or simply Daddy Makhno was a Ukrainian anarcho-communist guerrilla leader turned army commander who led an independent anarchist army in Ukraine during the Russian Civil War....
's anarchist forces were known collectively as the Black Army. They fought under a black flag with some success until they were crushed by the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
(see Black Guards
Black Guards
Black Guards were armed groups of workers formed after the Russian Revolution and before the Third Russian Revolution. They were the main strike force of the anarchists...
). Emiliano Zapata
Emiliano Zapata
Emiliano Zapata Salazar was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution, which broke out in 1910, and which was initially directed against the president Porfirio Díaz. He formed and commanded an important revolutionary force, the Liberation Army of the South, during the Mexican Revolution...
, a Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
revolutionary in the 1910s, used a black flag with a skull and crossbones
Skull and crossbones (military)
Variations on the skull and crossbones have been used by several military forces. The largest is on the "Jolly Roger" flags used by submarines.-Naval warfare:...
and the Blessed Virgin Mary on it. The flag's slogan was "Tierra y Libertad" ("Land and Liberty"). In 1925, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese anarchists formed the Black Youth League, which had branches in the then-colonial Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
. In 1945, the group named their journal Kurohata ("Black Flag").
More recently, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
ian students carried black (and red) flags during the massive General Strike of May 1968. In the same year, these flags were seen at the American Students for a Democratic Society
Students for a Democratic Society (1960 organization)
Students for a Democratic Society was a student activist movement in the United States that was one of the main iconic representations of the country's New Left. The organization developed and expanded rapidly in the mid-1960s before dissolving at its last convention in 1969...
national convention
Political convention
In politics, a political convention is a meeting of a political party, typically to select party candidates.In the United States, a political convention usually refers to a presidential nominating convention, but it can also refer to state, county, or congressional district nominating conventions...
. Also at about the same time, the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
based journal Black Flag was started, and is still in existence today. Black flags remain a symbol of anarchists today.
Circle-A
Monogram
A monogram is a motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters or other graphemes to form one symbol. Monograms are often made by combining the initials of an individual or a company, used as recognizable symbols or logos. A series of uncombined initials is properly referred to as a...
that consists of the capital letter "A
A
A is the first letter and a vowel in the basic modern Latin alphabet. It is similar to the Ancient Greek letter Alpha, from which it derives.- Origins :...
" surrounded by the capital letter "O
O
O is the fifteenth letter and a vowel in the basic modern Latin alphabet.The letter was derived from the Semitic `Ayin , which represented a consonant, probably , the sound represented by the Arabic letter ع called `Ayn. This Semitic letter in its original form seems to have been inspired by a...
". The letter "A" is derived from the first letter of "anarchy" or "anarchism" in most European languages and is the same in both Latin and Cyrillic scripts. The "O" stands for order. Together they stand for "Anarchy is the mother of Order," the first part of a Proudhon quotation. This character can be written as Unicode
Unicode
Unicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems...
codepoint U+24B6: Ⓐ. In addition, the "@
At sign
The at sign , also called the ampersat, apetail, arroba, atmark, at symbol, commercial at or monkey tail, is formally an abbreviation of the accounting and commercial invoice term "at the rate of"...
" sign or "(A)" can be used to quickly represent the circle-A on a computer.
History of anarchist usage
The first recorded use of the A in a circle by anarchists was by the Federal Council of Spain of the International Workers AssociationInternational Workingmen's Association
The International Workingmen's Association , sometimes called the First International, was an international organization which aimed at uniting a variety of different left-wing socialist, communist and anarchist political groups and trade union organizations that were based on the working class...
. This was set up by Giuseppe Fanelli
Giuseppe Fanelli
Giuseppe Fanelli was a nineteenth century Italian revolutionary anarchist. Born in Naples, Italy, he visited Spain in 1868 on a journey planned by anarchist Mikhail Bakunin in order to recruit members for the First International...
in 1868. It predates its adoption by anarchists as it was used as a symbol by others. According to George Woodcock
George Woodcock
George Woodcock was a Canadian writer of political biography and history, an anarchist thinker, an essayist and literary critic. He was also a poet, and published several volumes of travel writing. He founded in 1959 the journal Canadian Literature, the first academic journal specifically...
, this symbol was not used by classical anarchists. In a series of photos of the Spanish Civil War taken by Gerda Taro
Gerda Taro
Gerda Taro was born into a Polish Jewish family living in Germany. She became a war photographer, and the companion and professional partner of photographer Robert Capa...
a small A in a circle is visibly chalked on the helmet of a militiaman. There is no notation of the affiliation of the militiaman, but one can presume he is an Anarchist. The first documented use was by a small French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
group, Jeunesse Libertaire ("Libertarian Youth") in 1964. Circolo Sacco e Vanzetti, youth group from Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, adopted it and in 1968 it became popular throughout Italy. From there it spread rapidly around the world.
The Circle-A and popular culture
As noted above, the circle-A long predates the anarcho-punkAnarcho-punk
Anarcho-punk is punk rock that promotes anarchism. The term anarcho-punk is sometimes applied exclusively to bands that were part of the original anarcho-punk movement in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s and early 1980s...
movement, which was part of the punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
movement of the late 1970s. However, the punk movement helped spread the circle-A symbol more widely, and helped raise awareness of it among non-anarchists. This process began with the use of anarchist imagery by the Sex Pistols
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They were responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians...
, though Crass
Crass
Crass are an English punk rock band that was formed in 1977, which promoted anarchism as a political ideology, way of living, and as a resistance movement. Crass popularised the seminal anarcho-punk movement of the punk subculture, and advocated direct action, animal rights, and environmentalism...
was the first pop band marketed under the "punk" genre to use the symbol in their promotional materials as well as espouse a more traditionally orthodox anarchist stance. They had become aware of the symbol, while traveling through France. With time the symbol, and "anarchy" as a vague synonym for rebelliousness, were incorporated into common punk imagery. This led to gradual appearances in mainstream culture over the course of several years, at times far removed from its political origin (described by Situationists as "recuperation
Recuperation (sociology)
Recuperation, in the sociological sense, is the process by which politically radical ideas and images are commodified and incorporated within a mainstream society and, thus, become interpreted through a more socially acceptable or conventional perspective. More broadly, it may refer to the...
"). These appearances typically connected it with anarchy
Anarchy
Anarchy , has more than one colloquial definition. In the United States, the term "anarchy" typically is meant to refer to a society which lacks publicly recognized government or violently enforced political authority...
and were intended as sensationalist
Sensationalism
Sensationalism is a type of editorial bias in mass media in which events and topics in news stories and pieces are over-hyped to increase viewership or readership numbers...
marketing ploys, playing off of mainstream association of anarchy with chaos
Civil disorder
Civil disorder, also known as civil unrest or civil strife, is a broad term that is typically used by law enforcement to describe one or more forms of disturbance caused by a group of people. Civil disturbance is typically a symptom of, and a form of protest against, major socio-political problems;...
. This process mirrored the process of punk subculture
Punk subculture
The punk subculture includes a diverse array of ideologies, and forms of expression, including fashion, visual art, dance, literature, and film, which grew out of punk rock.-History:...
coming into the mainstream, which occurred at approximately the same time.
Bisected flags and stars
The red-and-black flag is the symbol of the anarcho-syndicalist
Anarcho-syndicalism
Anarcho-syndicalism is a branch of anarchism which focuses on the labour movement. The word syndicalism comes from the French word syndicat which means trade union , from the Latin word syndicus which in turn comes from the Greek word σύνδικος which means caretaker of an issue...
and anarcho-communist
Anarchist communism
Anarchist communism is a theory of anarchism which advocates the abolition of the state, markets, money, private property, and capitalism in favor of common ownership of the means of production, direct democracy and a horizontal network of voluntary associations and workers' councils with...
movements. Black is the traditional color of anarchism, and red is the traditional color of socialism. The red-and-black flag combines the two colors in equal parts, with a simple diagonal split. Typically, the red section is placed on the top-left corner, with the black on the bottom-right corner of the flag. This symbolizes the co-existence of anarchist and socialist ideals within the anarcho-syndicalism movement, and to symbolize the more socialistic means of the movement leading to a more anarchistic end.
The black-and-yellow or black-and-gold flag is used by some who identify as anarcho-capitalists
Anarcho-capitalism
Anarcho-capitalism is a libertarian and individualist anarchist political philosophy that advocates the elimination of the state in favour of individual sovereignty in a free market...
or market anarchists
Market anarchism
Free-market anarchism refers to an individualist anarchist philosophy in which monopoly of force held by government would be replaced by a competitive market of non-monopolistic organizations providing security, justice, and other defense services...
. The yellow is intended to symbolise gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
, a commodity of exchange
Trade
Trade is the transfer of ownership of goods and services from one person or entity to another. Trade is sometimes loosely called commerce or financial transaction or barter. A network that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and...
often used in marketplaces unrestricted by state intervention. The flag was first used in public in Colorado in 1963 at an event organised by Robert LeFevre
Robert LeFevre
Robert LeFevre was an American libertarian businessman, radio personality, and primary theorist of autarchism.-Early life:...
.
The black-and-green flag is used by green anarchists
Green anarchism
Green anarchism, or ecoanarchism, is a school of thought within anarchism which puts a particular emphasis on environmental issues. An important early influence was the thought of the American anarchist Henry David Thoreau and his book Walden...
and anarcho-primitivists
Anarcho-primitivism
Anarcho-primitivism is an anarchist critique of the origins and progress of civilization. According to anarcho-primitivism, the shift from hunter-gatherer to agricultural subsistence gave rise to social stratification, coercion, and alienation...
. It is generally taken to symbolize the green anarchists' idea of resistance against industrial civilization, and cooperation with nature. To anarcho-primitivists, it symbolizes the idea that the world should be completely natural and should "rewild
Rewilding (anarchism)
Rewilding is the process of re-instating the role of keystone species to human society where the expression of this role appears lacking. The term originates in conservation biology in which "rewilding" stands for the re-introduction of keystone species into areas where such species appear locally...
."
The black-and-purple flag is used in association with anarcha-feminism
Anarcha-feminism
Anarcha-feminism combines anarchism with feminism. It generally views patriarchy as a manifestation of involuntary hierarchy. Anarcha-feminists believe that the struggle against patriarchy is an essential part of class struggle, and the anarchist struggle against the state...
, as is the black-and-pink flag, although the latter is more closely associated with queer
Queer
Queer is an umbrella term for sexual minorities that are not heterosexual, heteronormative, or gender-binary. In the context of Western identity politics the term also acts as a label setting queer-identifying people apart from discourse, ideologies, and lifestyles that typify mainstream LGBT ...
anarchists, known as anarcho-queer
Anarcho-queer
Anarcho-queer is an Anarchist school of thought which advocates Anarchism and Social revolution as a means of Gay Liberation and abolition of homophobia, lesbophobia, biphobia, transphobia, heteronormativity, heterosexism, patriarchy and the gender binary...
s. Unlike other bisected anarchist flags, it does not necessarily represent another form of anarchism, but is used to focus on opposition to the hierarchical patterns of heteronormativity
Heteronormativity
Heteronormativity is a term invented in 1991 to describe any of a set of lifestyle norms that hold that people fall into distinct and complementary genders with natural roles in life. It also holds that heterosexuality is the normal sexual orientation, and states that sexual and marital relations...
, heterosexism
Heterosexism
Heterosexism is a system of attitudes, bias, and discrimination in favor of opposite-sex sexuality and relationships. It can include the presumption that everyone is heterosexual or that opposite-sex attractions and relationships are the only norm and therefore superior...
, sexism
Sexism
Sexism, also known as gender discrimination or sex discrimination, is the application of the belief or attitude that there are characteristics implicit to one's gender that indirectly affect one's abilities in unrelated areas...
, transphobia
Transphobia
Transphobia is a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards transsexualism and transsexual or transgender people, based on the expression of their internal gender...
, and patriarchy
Patriarchy
Patriarchy is a social system in which the role of the male as the primary authority figure is central to social organization, and where fathers hold authority over women, children, and property. It implies the institutions of male rule and privilege, and entails female subordination...
.
The black-and-white flag is used by anarcho-pacifists and, to a lesser extent, Christian anarchists.
Other symbols
While the black flag and circle-A have been associated with anarchism as a whole, there are various other symbols used by certain groups of anarchists.Black cat
The black cat, also called the "wild cat" or "sabot-cat", usually with an arched back and with claws and teeth bared, is closely associated with anarchism, especially with anarcho-syndicalism. It was designed by Ralph ChaplinRalph Chaplin
Ralph Hosea Chaplin was an American writer, artist and labor activist. At the age of seven, he saw a worker shot dead during the Pullman strike in Chicago, Illinois. He had moved with his family from Ames, Kansas to Chicago in 1893...
, who was a prominent figure in the Industrial Workers of the World
Industrial Workers of the World
The Industrial Workers of the World is an international union. At its peak in 1923, the organization claimed some 100,000 members in good standing, and could marshal the support of perhaps 300,000 workers. Its membership declined dramatically after a 1924 split brought on by internal conflict...
(IWW). As its stance suggests, the cat is meant to suggest wildcat strikes and radical unionism. The IWW (or the Wobblies) was an important industrial union, and was the first American labor union to recruit and organize women and people of color, and played a critical role in the fight for the eight-hour work day and in Free Speech fights all over the country in the early 20th century. Their most famous and influential years were from 1905 until they were largely suppressed by the Palmer Raids
Palmer Raids
The Palmer Raids were attempts by the United States Department of Justice to arrest and deport radical leftists, especially anarchists, from the United States. The raids and arrests occurred in November 1919 and January 1920 under the leadership of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer...
.
The origin of the black cat symbol is unclear, but according to one story it came from a IWW strike that was going badly. Several members had been beaten up and were put in a hospital. At that time a skinny, black cat walked into the striker's camp. The cat was fed by the striking workers and as the cat regained its health the strike took a turn for the better. Eventually the striking workers got some of their demands and they adopted the cat as their mascot.
The name Black Cat has been used for numerous anarchist-affiliated collectives and cooperatives, including a well-known music venue in Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
(which was closed following a July 6, 2002 fire) and a now-defunct "collective kitchen" in the University District
University District, Seattle, Washington
The University District is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, so named because the main campus of the University of Washington is located there. The UW moved in two years after the area was annexed to Seattle, while much of the area was still clear cut forest or stump farmland...
of Seattle, Washington.
As a symbol, the black cat
Black cat
A black cat is a feline with black fur. It is not a particular breed of cat and may be mixed or of a specific breed. The Bombay, known for its sleek black fur, is an example of a black cat. The all-black pigmentation is equally prevalent in both male and female cats...
has historically been associated with witchcraft
Witchcraft
Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...
, ill omen
Omen
An omen is a phenomenon that is believed to foretell the future, often signifying the advent of change...
s, and death. It dates back to ancient Hebrew
Hebrews
Hebrews is an ethnonym used in the Hebrew Bible...
and Babylonia
Babylonia
Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia , with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as a major power when Hammurabi Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq), with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as...
n cultures. The witchcraft usage has persisted into modern times; anarchism shares the black cat symbol with witchcraft and Wicca
Wicca
Wicca , is a modern Pagan religious movement. Developing in England in the first half of the 20th century, Wicca was popularised in the 1950s and early 1960s by a Wiccan High Priest named Gerald Gardner, who at the time called it the "witch cult" and "witchcraft," and its adherents "the Wica."...
, though the latter two generally do not represent the cat
Cat
The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...
with its back arched in a fighting stance.
Black cross
Anarchist Black Cross
The Anarchist Black Cross is an anarchist politics support organization. The group is notable for its efforts at providing prisoners with political literature, but it also organises material and legal support for class struggle prisoners worldwide...
organization's primary goal is to eliminate all prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
s. It originated in Tsarist Russia as a support organization for political prisoner
Political prisoner
According to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, a political prisoner is ‘someone who is in prison because they have opposed or criticized the government of their own country’....
s. Their symbol is a black cross
Cross
A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two lines or bars perpendicular to each other, dividing one or two of the lines in half. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally; if they run obliquely, the design is technically termed a saltire, although the arms of a saltire need not meet...
, with the upwards-facing line being replaced with a raised fist
Raised fist
The raised fist is a symbol of solidarity and support. It is also used as a salute to express unity, strength, defiance, or resistance. The salute dates back to ancient Assyria as a symbol of resistance in the face of violence.-History:Assyrian depictions of the goddess Ishtar show her raising a...
, a symbol also associated with anarchism, defiance of authority, and personal empowerment (black power, youth power, women's liberation, American Indian Movement, International Socialist Organization, 'power to the people', etc...). The fist also represents union, as "many weak fingers can come together to create a strong fist".
The cross is a modification of the Red Cross emblem used by International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is an international humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide which was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and to prevent and alleviate human...
(founded 1863), the world's largest group of humanitarian organizations. Originally called the Anarchist Red Cross, the name was changed around 1920 to avoid confusion when the Red Cross started organizing relief for prisoners as well.
Black rose
The Black RoseBlack Rose (symbolism)
Black roses do not exist in nature as such, but nevertheless have been created in laboratories. Botanists have manipulated roses' genes through preliminary cross breeding, creating a hybrid black rose...
is a rarely used symbol of the anarchist movement.
Black Rose Books is the name of the pre-eminent anarchist bookstore in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, an anarchist infoshop
Infoshop
An infoshop is a storefront or social center that serves as a node for the distribution of political information, typically in the form of books, zines, stickers and posters. Infoshops often serve as a meeting space and resource hub for local activist groups....
in Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, and is now the name of a small press imprint headed by anarchist philosopher Dimitrios Roussopoulos
Dimitrios Roussopoulos
Dimitrios Roussopoulos is a Montreal based political and environmental activist, prolific author and editor,and founder of the left-wing publishing house Black Rose Books....
. Black Rose was the title of a respected journal of anarchist ideas published in the Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
area during the 1970s, as well as the name of an anarchist lecture series addressed by notable anarchist and libertarian socialists (including Murray Bookchin
Murray Bookchin
Murray Bookchin was an American libertarian socialist author, orator, and philosopher. A pioneer in the ecology movement, Bookchin was the founder of the social ecology movement within anarchist, libertarian socialist and ecological thought. He was the author of two dozen books on politics,...
and Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
) into the 1990s.
Jolly Roger/Pirate flag
Jolly Roger
The Jolly Roger is any of various flags flown to identify a ship's crew as pirates. The flag most commonly identified as the Jolly Roger today is the skull and crossbones, a flag consisting of a human skull above two long bones set in an x-mark arrangement on a black field. This design was used by...
as a black flag with skull and bones has recently gained a popularity among anarchists.
Some claim to use the Jolly Roger as a form of appreciation for the Pirate way of life in freedom and a lack of authority. Many Pirate ships were loosely democratic and most crew mates were working class fugitives from the highly repressive societies in which they were born. Anarchists may find affinity with the concept of pirate utopia
Pirate utopia
Pirate utopias were described by anarchist writer Peter Lamborn Wilson in his 1995 book Pirate Utopias: Moorish Corsairs & European Renegadoes as secret islands once used for supply purposes by pirates...
s, especially the island of legend, Libertatia
Libertatia
Libertatia is said to have been a libertarian communalist colony founded in the late 17th century in Madagascar by pirates under the leadership of Captain James Misson. Whether or not Libertatia actually existed is disputed...
. The Libertatian pirates have been identified as precursors to anarchists. Some Internet and techno-anarchists consider themselves pirates due to their free lifestyles in the world of technology and their defiance of copyright laws which is called "pirating". Several articles relating to the connection between anarchism and piracy can be found in the libcom.org library
Sabot
Clog (shoe)
A clog is a type of footwear made in part or completely from wood.The Oxford English Dictionary defines a clog as a "thick piece of wood", and later as a "wooden soled overshoe" and a "shoe with a thick wooden sole"....
) was used symbolically by anarchists in the 19th and early 20th century, although it has largely faded from use since then. The French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
word for wooden shoe, sabot is the probable root of the word sabotage
Sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions. One who engages in sabotage is...
: and refers to the tactic by early Dutch unionists of throwing sabots into the gears of factory or farm machinery, effectively stopping work until the equipment could be repaired. The American analogue of this tactic is "monkeywrenching," referring to the similar practice of throwing a monkeywrench in the machinery to damage it and prevent strikebreakers from being able to replace striking union members.
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, there is an anarcho-syndicalist bookshop called The Wooden Shoe, and from 2001 to 2003 there was an anarchist magazine in Denmark called Sabot. There is also an American record label focusing primarily on punk-rock and genres revolving around it called Sabot Productions, which uses exactly the same sabot picture seen on the left as their logo.
A flag depicting a regular leather shoe of a type worn by peasants in the 16th century
16th century
As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century lasted from 1501 to 1600. It is regarded by historians as the century in which the rise of the West occurred....
was carried by the peasants in the German peasants war of 1524-1525, a proto-anarchist rebellion.
Squatting sign
The SquattingSquatting
Squatting consists of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied space or building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have permission to use....
sign is used by squatters all over the world. Sometimes as a graffiti, often on the walls of the occupied building. But it is also used in the graphic design of posters and flyers.
The sign might have originated in the squatters scene in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
(The Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
) in the late seventies.
External links
- The Symbols of Anarchy from An Anarchist FAQAn Anarchist FAQ"An Anarchist FAQ" is an FAQ written by an international work group of social anarchists connected through the internet. It documents anarchist theory and ideas while arguing that social anarchism is a better form of anarchism than individualist anarchism, which it critiques. It also explores other...
- History of anarchist symbols from AnarchyIsOrder.org
- Anarchism at Flags Of The World