Anarcho-capitalist symbolism
Encyclopedia
Libertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
have embraced symbols which represent the convergence of anarchist (non-state) and libertarian (free-market capitalist) traditions. These ones are the most popular.
Gold-black bisected flag
The 'black-and-yellow' or 'black-and-gold' flag is used by anarcho-capitalistsAnarcho-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...
and other 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...
. Like other anarchist flags, this flag is bisected diagonally. The right half in black is for 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 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:...
at Rampart College
Rampart College
Rampart College was a libertarian educational institution established by Robert LeFevre in Colorado, United States in 1956. The college was an unaccredited four-year school for classical liberals and individualist anarchists...
.
Circle-A with Dollar Sign
The circle-A symbol representing anarchismAnarchism
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...
with an added dollar sign representing free market
Free market
A free market is a competitive market where prices are determined by supply and demand. However, the term is also commonly used for markets in which economic intervention and regulation by the state is limited to tax collection, and enforcement of private ownership and contracts...
capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
. This is the latest creation (2010) in anarcho-capitalist symbolism.
Ama-gi
Ama-gi
Ama-gi is a Sumerian word expressing the emancipation of slaves.Literally translated, it means "return to the mother," inasmuch as former slaves were "returned to their mothers, ." Although historians note that the meaning of the term is closer to "freedom," many libertarians believe it to be the...
is an ancient Sumerian
Sumerian language
Sumerian is the language of ancient Sumer, which was spoken in southern Mesopotamia since at least the 4th millennium BC. During the 3rd millennium BC, there developed a very intimate cultural symbiosis between the Sumerians and the Akkadians, which included widespread bilingualism...
cuneiform word meaning "freedom" or "liberty," the first known usage of the concept in writing. Ama-gi literally means "return to the mother," i.e. freed.
Libertatis Æquilibritas
The Libertatis Æquilibritas (LatinLatin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
for "the Equilibrium of Liberty") is a symbol created by Per Bylund used by some adherents of anarcho-capitalism
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...
. It is based on the Circle-A, but symbols such as the yin/yang symbol, and the dollar sign
Dollar sign
The dollar or peso sign is a symbol primarily used to indicate the various peso and dollar units of currency around the world.- Origin :...
are also present. The Circle-A represents the total liberty and freedom only available in anarchist society, whereas the yin/yang represents the perceived balance of a totally free market
Free market
A free market is a competitive market where prices are determined by supply and demand. However, the term is also commonly used for markets in which economic intervention and regulation by the state is limited to tax collection, and enforcement of private ownership and contracts...
. The dollar sign represents capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
in the free-market sense and the natural right to private property
Private property
Private property is the right of persons and firms to obtain, own, control, employ, dispose of, and bequeath land, capital, and other forms of property. Private property is distinguishable from public property, which refers to assets owned by a state, community or government rather than by...
. It serves to distinguish anarcho-capitalists from the rest of the anarchist
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...
movement, which largely opposes capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
.
V for Voluntary
The V for Voluntary symbol (also Voluntary V or Voluntary victory) was created in 2007 and is a play on the phrase 'V for VendettaV for Vendetta
V for Vendetta is a ten-issue comic book series written by Alan Moore and illustrated mostly by David Lloyd, set in a dystopian future United Kingdom imagined from the 1980s to about the 1990s. A mysterious masked revolutionary who calls himself "V" works to destroy the totalitarian government,...
'. But where 'Vendetta' stresses vengeance and violence, 'Voluntary' stresses peace and looking forwards.
The colors yellow (or gold) and black have the same meaning as used in the anarcho-capitalist
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...
flag. The shape at the top of the symbol represents a handshake
Handshake
A handshake is a short ritual in which two people grasp one of each other's like hands, in most cases accompanied by a brief up and down movement of the grasped hands.-History:...
, which is the most typical expression of a voluntary agreement.
The circle-V has also caught on among voluntaryists, it consists of the capital letter "V" enclosed in a circle. It is related to the well-known Ⓐ but with a V to symbolize the voluntaryist philosophy behind the anarchist ideal. The circle-V can be written with the Unicode encoding 24CB: Ⓥ. In addition, the "(V)" can be used to quickly represent the circle-V on a computer.
See also
- Anarcho-capitalist literatureAnarcho-capitalist literatureAnarcho-capitalism has been the subject of a number of works of literature, both nonfiction and fiction.-Nonfiction:The following is a partial list of notable nonfiction works discussing anarcho-capitalism. Works by Bastiat, de Molinari, and others were written before the terms "anarcho-capitalism"...
- Anarcho-syndicalist symbolismAnarcho-syndicalist symbolismThe historically anarcho-syndicalist movement have embraced traditional symbols which represent the union of anarchist ideal with labour movement and with socialist projects ....
- Anarchist symbolismAnarchist symbolismWhile anarchists have historically largely denied the importance of symbols to political movement, they have embraced certain symbols for their cause, including most prominently the circle-A and the black flag...