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Variations of the red triangle and red wedge have been used for over a century to represent anti-fascism and other left-wing political ideologies.[2] In Western Europe the most well-known historical example is the inverted red triangle that represents opposition to Germany's Nazi Party and resistance to Nazi Germany's military occupation of Europe during World War Two.[3] This inverted red triangle symbol was reclaimed by anti-fascists in Europe after being used on prisoner uniforms in concentration camps in Nazi Germany and occupied Europe. A red triangle patch pointing upwards designated prisoners within the jurisdiction of the Wehrmacht, including prisoners of war,[citation needed] spies, and military deserters.[4] Whereas an inverted red triangle was worn by political prisoners, including resistance fighters.[3][5][6] The Nazis chose red because the first people to wear it were Communists. Besides Communists, liberals, anarchists, Social Democrats, Freemasons, and other opposition party members also wore a red triangle.[6][7] After the war the red triangle symbol was reclaimed as a symbol of resistance against the German occupation of Europe during the war, similar to the way that the pink triangle used to mark gay prisoners became a symbol of LGBTQ pride.[3] The reclaimed red triangle symbol has been used as the logo for the Association of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime – Federation of Antifascists (VVN-BdA) in Germany, and numerous other post-war remembrances and memorial groups, it has also been worn as a lapel pin by left-wing politicians from Belgium, France, and Spain. Other left-wing, anti-fascist, and resistance groups have used red triangle or red wedge symbols that reference images and symbols from before WWII.[2] One of these is Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge, a 1919 propaganda poster by El Lissitzky.[2] An even earlier image recalled by some labour movements is an equilateral triangle representing eight-hours of work, eight-hours of leisure, and eight hours of sleep in the 24-hours of a day. In 2020, Donald Trump's presidential re-election campaign attracted controversy by using the symbol in social media adversisements attacking his own far-left opponents, whom he described as "Antifa".[8]
Before Nazi Germany
Eight-hour workday
The red triangle has been a left-wing political symbol since the 19th century. On Labor Day in 1890 in France workers wore a red triangle as a symbol of the eight-hour working day they were fighting for, with the three points representing 8 hours of work, 8 hours of rest, and 8 hours of leisure.[9][10] It is still used with this meaning in some parts of Europe, in conjunction with Labour Day celebrations on 8 May.[11]
In July 1889 in Paris, at the meeting of the Second International, the workers' association bringing together European socialist and workers' parties, decided that the following year, workers would demonstrate on May 1 to demand the eight-hour day.[12] The red leather triangle was adopted on 1 May 1890 in Paris during the workers' struggles so that the demonstrator could distinguish himself from the man in the street.[13] The badge symbolizes workers' demand for a maximum eight-hour work day, which reserved 8 hours of sleep and 8 hours of leisure. The inscription "1 May, 8 hours of work" was sewn onto the triangle for the demonstration.[14]
Following the immense success of the mobilization of the 1 May 1890 – in Belgium, 150,000 workers went on strike – it was decided shortly afterward to make this date a worldwide day of action, this is the creation of the International Workers' Day (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.).[12] The eight-hour day was obtained in 1919 in France and in 1921 in Belgium.[12]
- Advertisements for 'Three 8' brand soap [lower-alpha 3][lower-alpha 4]
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'3x8' brand soap [additional citation(s) needed]
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Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.
El Lissitzky's Red Wedge
Similar symbols were being used in far-left politics in early 20th century Russia. A red triangle or "red wedge" features on some early communist posters. A red wedge appeared in a 1919 soviet propaganda poster by constructivist artist El Lissitzky titled "Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge", referring to the anti-communist White movement, who were defeated by the Red Army during the Russian Civil War.[15][16] The term "whites" referred to the White movement, a conservative, right-wing, monarchist movement whose factional colour was white. The title, allegedly recommended by Ilya Ehrenburg, is possibly a response to the pogrom slogan "Beat the Jews!" (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.).[17][18][19] The full slogan was Beat the Jews - save Russia! (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.), and it was predominantly used by right wing monarchists and their militant Black Hundreds.[20][21][22]
Numerous modern left-wing groups and publications have used symbols that reference the red wedge, or the reclamation or the red triangle badge that the Nazis used to mark their political opponents, or both.[2] The black flag used by modern anti-fascists (Antifa) also refers back to the era of the Russian Revolution.[23] The El Lissitzky poster was the namesake of the 1980s British left-wing musical collective Red Wedge, they opposed British conservatives but did not describe themselves as communist.[24][25][26]
Opponents of the Nazi Party
Background to Nazi persecution of left-wing opponents
The colour of the symbol comes from the party colours of the Communist Party of Germany, one of the first groups to be detained in the Nazi concentration camps.[3] Nazi crackdowns on their left wing political enemies started very early. As depicted in the famous poem, First They Came by Martin Niemöller, a German priest. It begins, "When the Nazis came for the communists, I kept quiet; I wasn't a communist" (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.).[29] The most comon English version begimns, "First they came for the Communists".[30][29] In a 2024 article about the origins of the red triangle symbol, Germany's public broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported, "At first, the majority of political inmates were German Social Democrats or Communists and the red of the triangle referred to their party colors.. most were non-Germans from across the political spectrum who had opposed National Socialism or Nazi Germany's occupation of their countries".[3]
The red triangle badge in Nazi concentration camps
A red inverted triangle was worn by political prisoners in Nazi concentration camps.[31][5][7] The red triangle was only used for Jewish prisoners in unusual circumstances, such as when the Nazi authorities in the prison were unaware that the prisoner was Jewish.[32]
German communists were among the first to be imprisoned in concentration camps.[33][34] Their ties to the USSR concerned Hitler, and the Nazi Party was intractably opposed to communism. Rumors of communist violence were spread by the Nazis to justify the Enabling Act of 1933, which gave Hitler his first dictatorial powers. Hermann Göring testified at Nuremberg that Nazi willingness to repress German Communists prompted Hindenburg and the old elite to cooperate with them. Hitler and the Nazis also despised German leftists because of their resistance to Nazi racism. Hitler referred to Marxism and "Bolshevism" as means for "the international Jew" to undermine "racial purity", stir up class tension and mobilise trade unions against the government and business. When the Nazis occupied a territory, communists, socialists and anarchists were usually among the first to be repressed; this included summary executions. An example is Hitler's Commissar Order, in which he demanded the summary execution of all Soviet troops who were political commissars who offered resistance or were captured in battle.[35][verification needed]
Many red triangle wearers were interned at Dachau concentration camp. The triangle and star system was used at the Dachau concentration camp from 1938 to 1942.[36]
According to the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Oświęcim, Poland, 95% of prisoners at Auschwitz concentration camp were accused of political crimes.[lower-alpha 5][37][additional citation(s) needed]
Later this expanded and many political detainees were German and foreign civilian activists from across the political spectrum who opposed the Nazi regime, captured resistances fighters (many of whom were executed during—or immediately after—their interrogation, particularly in occupied Poland and France) and, sometimes, their families. German political prisoners were a substantial proportion of the first inmates at Dachau (the prototypical Nazi concentration camp). The political People's Court was notorious for the number of its death sentences.[38][39]
After WWII
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Reappropriation of red triangles (political prisoners). |
Since the end of World War II the red triangle has been used as an anti-fascist symbol.[2] The pink triangle and red triangle were both reclaimed after the war as symbols of pride and remembrance.[3]
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Floral tribute at the red triangle, 8 May 2022, Fort Breendonk.
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Women with symbols of all persecuted groups on International Women's Day (8 March) at the Ravensbrück monument in Amsterdam in 1985.[40]
Association of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime – Federation of Antifascists (VVN-BdA)
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The Association of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime – Federation of Antifascists (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist., VVN-BdA) is a German political confederation founded in 1947 and based in Berlin. The VVN-BdA, formerly the VVN, emerged from victims' associations in Germany founded by political opponents to Nazism after the Second World War and the end of the Nazi rule in Germany.[verification needed]
With the end of World War II, self-help groups of former resistance fighters were founded in "anti-fascist committees", known as "Antifas", involving working class militants, in particular but not only Communists[41][42][43][44] which were banned immediately by the military administrations of each of the British and American occupation zones for being far politically left.[45][46] By June 26, 1945, an "association of political prisoners and persecutees of the Nazi system" had been founded in Stuttgart, and in the following weeks and months, there were regional groups of ex-political prisoners and other persecuted individuals formed with the permission of the allied forces, in each of the four occupation zones.[47]
The group are critical of far-right politicians in Germany and abroad. In 2025, the group claimed that, "The weakening of universities has long been a declared goal of the US right".[48]
The VVN-BdA have often used their red triangle symbol. and variants of it, at protests against the German political party Alternative for Germany (the AfD), repeatedly calling for the AfD to be banned. In a press release they quoted Erich Kästner, "The events of 1933 to 1945 should have been fought by 1928 at the latest. Later, it was too late." in a January 2024 call for a ban.[49] Federal chairman of the VVN-BdA, Florian Gutsche, said "The revelation of the deportation plans has brought the AfD's inhumane ideology into the spotlight of public debate. However, these plans are not new. Its platform already clearly shows that it is a völkisch-nationalist party. Through party funding, the AfD has been providing state support to Nazis for years".[49] Many other people and groups have also called for the AfD to be banned, including historians and activist groups that date back to the aftermath of World War Two. Jens-Christian Wagner, head of the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorial Foundation.[50]
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Memorial in Saxony‑Anhalt [lower-alpha 6]
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Postcard showing a VVN event in 1950 in East Berlin.[lower-alpha 7]
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VVN memorial to the victims of fascism.
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VVN-BdA members wearing red triangle anti-AfD symbols
Use in East Germany (Deutsche Demokratische Republik)
From 1975 onwards, the Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR, also known as East Germany) released a medal for the "Committee of Antifascist Resistance Fighters" (KdAW, Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.) of the GDR that included a red triangle.[52] The Committee of Antifascist Resistance Fighters (KdAW) was formed in 1953. Practically speaking, it functioned as the East German counterpart of the Union of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime (Vereinigung der Verfolgten des Naziregimes). The KdAW enjoyed a close relationship with the Socialist Unity Party, although it was not a member of the National Front.[verification needed] The organisation played an important role in the commemoration of German resistance to Nazism and The Holocaust in East Germany.[53] East Germany utilised such commemorative functions to emphasise the anti-fascist orientation of the state.[54] Membership in the KdAW served as a means of accessing benefits. For instance, membership made one eligible to receive the Medal for Fighters Against Fascism.[55] It also contained a number of working groups, which brought people with similar backgrounds together. The most prominent of these were groups for survivors of various concentration camps and prisons; for example one existed for former prisoners of Brandenburg-Görden Prison. Another working group was formed for veterans of the International Brigades of the Spanish Civil War.[56]
The red triangle on memorials
In addition to the Association of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime – Federation of Antifascists (VVN-BdA) memorials above, the red triangle also features on numerous other war memorials in Europe. War memorials featuring the red triangle symbol exist in Germany and in areas of Europe that were occupied by Germany during World War Two.[3]
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Memorial on the grounds of Sachsenhausen
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Memorial for the 2,000 women victims of Ravensbrück
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Buchenwald death march route historical information signage
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Memorial to forced labor deaths at the truck factory in Zittau, Germany
Service medals
Service medals awarded to prisoners of war and other camp inmates after WWII feature the triangle that was used on prisoners' uniforms. The Auschwitz Cross, a Polish medal for camp victims and the Political Prisoner's Cross 1940–1945, a Belgian medal both show a red triangle with a nationality indicator, and the ribbons replicate the striped fabric of some camp uniforms.[57]
The Political Prisoner's Cross 1940–1945 (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist., Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.) was a Belgian war medal established by royal decree of the Regent on 13 November 1947 and awarded to Belgian citizens arrested and interned by the Germans as political prisoners during the Second World War. The award's statute included provisions for posthumous award should the intended recipient not survive detention, and the right of the widow, the mother or the father of the deceased to wear the cross.[57]
The Auschwitz Cross (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.), instituted on 14 March 1985, was a Polish decoration awarded to honour survivors of Nazi German concentration camps, including Auschwitz.[58] Auschwitz is a German name for the Polish town Oświęcim, where a complex of concentration camps was built by Nazi Germany during the German occupation of Europe during WWII.[additional citation(s) needed] It was awarded generally to Poles, but it was possible to award it to foreigners in special cases. It could be awarded posthumously. It ceased to be awarded in 1999. An exception was made in the case of Greta Ferušić, who was awarded it in February 2004.[59] Some of the people awarded the medal were Jewish, including Szymon Kluger (Shimson Kleuger).[60]
Organisations in Belgium
Territoires de la Mémoire and Triangle Rouge (Red Triangle) are Belgian organisations who promote the use of the red triangle as a symbol of anti-fascism and anti-racism.[61][62][lower-alpha 10]
![[icon]](/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (July 2025) |
Recent anti-fascist and left-wing usage
After the war the red triangle and pink triangle symbols were reclaimed by those who opposed the Nazis' oppression of those groups.[3] The red triangle became a symbol of resistance against the German occupation of Europe during the war, and the pink triangle used to mark gay prisoners became a symbol of LGBTQ pride.[3] Like the pink triangle, the red also was used in some broader contexts, not just directly related to memorializing the victims of Nazi Germany. Some of the broader usage referenced the El Lissitsky poster.[2]
Various anti-fascist and left wing groups in Europe have used red triangles referencing the reclaimed political prisoners' symbol or the Soviet red wedge. In the United Kingdom in the 1980s Anti-Fascist Action sometimes used the symbol.[16][63] For example, they produced a badge that showed a red triangle / red wedge symbol aggressively attacking a black swastika and smashing it.[16] In the dandruff era, the Red Wedge we a left wing pop group in the UK who took their name from the soviet poster.[64]
Symbols at protests
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Red triangle and red wedge symbols often feature at protests against far-right political movements, particularly in Germany.[65]
The German protest group NIKA (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.) was started in response to the rise of Germany's far-right party, the AfD (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.).[66]
The German protest group NIKA (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.) was started in response to the rise of Germany's far-right party, the AfD (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.).[1]
The same protest banner saying "crash the party" was also used by NIKA in 2017.[67]
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VVN-BdA flags at a protest against Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Hannover in Lower Saxony in 2022.
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A Jewish anti-fascist symbol [lower-alpha 11] on a banner in New York City at a rally against the Christchurch mosque massacre and other fascist violence on 16 March 2019 [lower-alpha 12][68]
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NIKA logo in the corner of a banner saying in Script error: The function "langx" does not exist., in Spandau in 2018 [lower-alpha 13]
Political discourse
Political discussions often include comparisons to Nazi Germany or fascism more broadly, the analogy is often criticised and particularly controversial when applied to Israel (the self-described "Jewish State" in the Levant).
Red triangle lapel pins in European politics
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Red triangle lapel pins are widely distributed Western European countries. Red triangle pins are worn by socialist, communist, and other left-wing or far-left politicians in countries such as Belgium, Spain, and France.[69][70][71]
Left-wing French presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon wore a red triangle lapel pin during his campaign, the message was particularly aimed at diffentiating himself from far-right National Front candidate Marine Le Pen (daughter of the party's even more controversial founder, Jean-Marie Le Pen).[69]
Jean-Luc Mélenchon explained the meaning of the symbol, "I have been compared to the National Front. I was outraged. I said to myself, what could I wear? And someone, a Belgian, a comrade, said to me, 'Listen, I'll give you mine, it's the insignia of the communist deportees in the Nazi concentration camps'. And so I said: 'now I'm putting it on, I'm not taking it off' ... We forget this moment in history. But the first to be deported and massacred were the communists..." [69]
French politician Ugo Bernalicis, from the Left Party (previously from the Socialist Party), represents the department of Nord, in the French National Assembly.[72][73] Bernalicis was born into a family close to the communist movement, with a militant father, an elected grandfather and a great-grandfather who was deported to the Dachau concentration camp because of his political convictions.[74]
Modern persecution of leftists and criticism of the far-right
In 2020, Donald Trump's presidential re-election campaign attracted controversy by using the symbol in social media adversisements attacking his own far-left opponents, whom he described as "Antifa". Facebook banned the ad on the basis of the historical use by the Nazi Party in their persecution of their political opponents.[8] A spokesperson for the campaign claimed it was not a hate symbol on the basis that it was not in the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) database of hate symbols. ADL's CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, pointed out the database only included symbols used in the United States, not historical or foreign symbols.[8] "Gigafact" published a fact check with the question "Does Antifa commonly use an inverted red triangle symbol once used by Nazis?" and their headline answer was "NO", but they did point out that the red triangle has been used by some European anti-fascist groups.[63]
2020 Trump campaign terrorism accusations against antifa
In June 2020, Donald Trump's election campaign included an advertisement on social media saying that he would make "Antifa" (short for anti-fascism) a "designated terrorist" group. The advertisement showed the red triangle as an antifa symbol.[75]
In June 2020, the re-election campaign of Donald Trump posted an advertisement on Facebook stating that "Dangerous MOBS of far-left groups are running through our streets and causing absolute mayhem" and identifying them as "ANTIFA", accompanied by a graphic of a downward-pointing red triangle. The ads appeared on the Facebook pages of Donald Trump, the Trump campaign, and Vice President Mike Pence. Many observers compared the graphic to the symbol used by the Nazis for identifying political prisoners such as communists, social democrats and socialists. Many noted the number of ads – 88 – which is associated with neo-Nazis and white supremacists.[76][77][78]
Progressive and conservative Jewish groups both expressed public disapproval for Trump's use of the symbol. "Bend the Arc: Jewish Action", a Progressive Jewish site, stated the campaign was using the symbol "to smear millions of protestors".[79][80][81][82][83][84]
Facebook removed the campaign ads with the graphic, saying that its use in this context violated their policy against "organized hate".[85][86][87][88][89][90] The Trump campaign's communications director wrote, "The red triangle is a common Antifa symbol used in an ad about Antifa." Historian Mark Bray, author of Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook, disputed this, saying that the symbol is not associated with Antifa in the United States.[91]
Trump lost the 2020 election, but won the next, then in his second term Trump again tried to use terrorist designations very broadly, to target drug cartels in Central America.[92]
Logos of political and activist groups
Left-wing groups
Most political groups using the symbol are far-left groups in Europe.
- Anti-Fascist Action in the United Kingdom used the symbol in badges in the 80s, the one example showed the pointed red shape smashing a black swastika.[16][93]
- Anti-Racist Action (1988) use a red triangle in the form of a forked red slingshot.[94]
- The Network of Communists (RdC, Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.) is a communist political movement network, founded in Bologna, Italy on 13 September 1998.[95]
- NIKA (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.) was started in Germany in response to the rise of Germany's far-right party, the AfD (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.).[96]
- Organisation of Communist Internationalists (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.)
- Ras l'front (RLF, English: "Fed up") use an inverted red triangle in some of their modern logos. For example: RLF Voiron.[97][98]
- Revolutionary Left (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.) in Spain used a red wedge in their first logo.
- Territoires de la Mémoire (Territories of Memory) and Triangle Rouge (Red Triangle) are Belgian organisations who promote the use of the red triangle as a symbol of anti-fascism and anti-racism.[61][lower-alpha 14] (See also: Avenue Louise § World War II)
![Organisation of Communist Internationalists [lower-alpha 15]](/File:Logo_of_the_Organisation_of_Communist_Internationalists.svg)
Religious and nationalist groups
- Liberté chérie (French for "Cherished Liberty") was a Masonic Lodge founded in 1943 by imprisoned freemasons at Esterwegen concentration camp. It was one of the few lodges of Freemasons founded within a Nazi concentration camp during the Second World War.[99][100][101]
- Qassam Brigades (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.) have used an inverted red triangle (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.) in their propaganda videos since November 2023.[102][103] The inverted red triangle was later included in the logo of their Military Media division.[104][105] Qassam differ from most of the other groups by being religious and nationalist. Most media have said Qassam's symbol has different orogins (see below).
The red triangle and red wedge in arts and media
Left-wing news and non-fiction
- Searchlight (magazine) use the red wedge in their current logo.[2]
- Antifaschistisches Infoblatt (AIB) is an anti-fascist publication in Berlin, Germany.[106][107]
- The People's history of Australia podcast uses a logo with a red wedge attacking a white map of Australia.[108]
Music
- The British band Red Wedge reference Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge in their name.[64][16]
- L'affiche rouge is a song by Léo Ferré commemorating victims of the Affiche rouge affair.
Visual arts
- A political cartoon by Brazilian artist Carlos Latuff depicted a Palestinian man behind the West Bank barrier in the striped uniform of a Nazi concentration camp, with a red crescent in place of the red triangle work by political prisoners, or red and yellow star worn by Jewish political prisoners. In 2006 a Latuff's cartoon won second prize in the 2006 International Holocaust Cartoon Competition in Iran.[109][110][111] The competition in Iran was started as retaliation for Western cartoonists' depictions of the Prophet Muhammed and associated claims of "free speech", by choosing the topic Western audiences would find most offensive.[112][113]
- The Russian artist Sergei Bugaev produced an "Anti-Lissitzky" series at the end of the Cold War, between 1991 and 1995, which included several derivative works based on "Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge".[114]
- Kunstverein Roter Keil (Red Wedge art and culture association) say their name is a coincidence.
Fiction
- A variant of the image by El Lissitzky is used as the logo for the "Peacekeepers" on Sci-Fi TV show Farscape.[115]
See also
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Red triangles (political prisoners). |
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Red triangles. |
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to VVN. |
- Anti-fascism
- Black triangle (badge)
- Brown triangle
- Communist Party of Germany
- German-occupied Europe
- Historiography of German resistance to Nazism
- Identification in Nazi camps
- LGBTQ symbols § Triangle badges of Nazi Germany
- Nazi concentration camp badge § Single triangles
- P (Nazi symbol)
- Pink triangle
- Protective custody (Nazi Germany)
- Red triangle (Palestinian symbol)
- Trotskyism
- Victims of Nazi Germany § Political groups
- Yellow badge #Political groups
References
Footnotes
- ↑ Image from a protest in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony in 2021. The banner says "crash the party" (in English) with Nationalismus ist keine Alternative (NIKA, English: Nationalism is not an alternative) underneath, and had been used at earlier protests as well.[1]
- ↑ Association of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime – Federation of Antifascists (VVN-BdA) protest banner at a protest against Alternative for Germany in Frankfurt in 2025. Translation: "Ban the AfD now! Ban Nazi parties, before it's too late".
- ↑ 'Three 8' referred to 8 hours of work, 8 hours of leisure, and 8 hours of sleep.
- ↑
Media related to Workers' Soap Factory at Wikimedia Commons
- ↑ Note: Auschwitz is the German name for Oświęcim.
- ↑ In the town of Lüderitz, Saxony-Anhalt, in the former East Germany. The inscription says in Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.
- ↑ German Youth Meeting on 27-30 May 1950, in the Lustgarten, Berlin. Image from flickr.[51][additional citation(s) needed]
- ↑ The phrase in Script error: The function "langx" does not exist., is written on the middle pillar.
- ↑ Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.
- ↑ Note: as of 2023-06-08 their page-long French language definition of Anti-Semitism made no mention of either Israel or Zionism, see also: IHRA definition of antisemitism.[62]
- ↑ Similar symbols have been used elsewhere, such as by Jewish Anti Fascist Action in the UK
- ↑ March Against Racism and Fascism in New York City on 16 March 2019. More images: Media related to New York City rally in support of the victims of the Christchurch mosque shootings in Civic Center, Manhattan at Wikimedia Commons
- ↑ Protest against the party conference of the Berlin regional association of the AfD in 2018. The banner says: Script error: The function "langx" does not exist., See also: Media related to Protest against an AfD meeting in the Zitadelle Spandau on 04-09-2018 at Wikimedia Commons
- ↑ Note: as of 2023-06-08 their page-long French language definition of Anti-Semitism made no mention of either Israel or Zionism, see also: IHRA definition of antisemitism.[62]
- ↑ (Организация Коммунистов Интернационалистов)
External links
- LangLаngС (pen name) (26 June 2020). "Have Antifa members used an inverted red triangle as a symbol?". Skeptics Stack Exchange. Archived from the original on 2025-07-05.
- Becker, Maximilian (21 December 2020). "Tales of Antifascism: International Survivors' Organizations during the Cold War". Fascism. 9 (1–2): 244–271. doi:10.1163/22116257-09010009. ISSN 2211-6249.
- "Website of the VVN-BdA (Bund der Antifaschistinnen und Antifaschisten)". vvn-bda.de (in Deutsch). Retrieved 26 July 2025.
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Added some updates and sources. Copyedit of some captions. Removed the close up and kept just one image of that memorial, turned close up caption into a footnote. Removed a small off-topic section that had no citations.
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Added some updates and sources. Copyedit of some captions. Removed the close up and kept just one image of that memorial, turned close up caption into a footnote. Removed a small off-topic section that had no citations.
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Variations of the red triangle and red wedge have been used for over a century to represent anti-fascism and other left-wing political ideologies.[2] In Western Europe the most well-known historical example is the inverted red triangle that represents opposition to Germany's Nazi Party and resistance to Nazi Germany's military occupation of Europe during World War Two.[3] This inverted red triangle symbol was reclaimed by anti-fascists in Europe after being used on prisoner uniforms in concentration camps in Nazi Germany and occupied Europe. A red triangle patch pointing upwards designated prisoners within the jurisdiction of the Wehrmacht, including prisoners of war,[citation needed] spies, and military deserters.[4] Whereas an inverted red triangle was worn by political prisoners, including resistance fighters.[3][5][6] The Nazis chose red because the first people to wear it were Communists. Besides Communists, liberals, anarchists, Social Democrats, Freemasons, and other opposition party members also wore a red triangle.[6][7] After the war the red triangle symbol was reclaimed as a symbol of resistance against the German occupation of Europe during the war, similar to the way that the pink triangle used to mark gay prisoners became a symbol of LGBTQ pride.[3] The reclaimed red triangle symbol has been used as the logo for the Association of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime – Federation of Antifascists (VVN-BdA) in Germany, and numerous other post-war remembrances and memorial groups, it has also been worn as a lapel pin by left-wing politicians from Belgium, France, and Spain. Other left-wing, anti-fascist, and resistance groups have used red triangle or red wedge symbols that reference images and symbols from before WWII.[2] One of these is Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge, a 1919 propaganda poster by El Lissitzky.[2] An even earlier image recalled by some labour movements is an equilateral triangle representing eight-hours of work, eight-hours of leisure, and eight hours of sleep in the 24-hours of a day. In 2020, Donald Trump's presidential re-election campaign attracted controversy by using the symbol in social media adversisements attacking his own far-left opponents, whom he described as "Antifa".[8]
Before Nazi Germany
Eight-hour workday
The red triangle has been a left-wing political symbol since the 19th century. On Labor Day in 1890 in France workers wore a red triangle as a symbol of the eight-hour working day they were fighting for, with the three points representing 8 hours of work, 8 hours of rest, and 8 hours of leisure.[9][10] It is still used with this meaning in some parts of Europe, in conjunction with Labour Day celebrations on 8 May.[11]
In July 1889 in Paris, at the meeting of the Second International, the workers' association bringing together European socialist and workers' parties, decided that the following year, workers would demonstrate on May 1 to demand the eight-hour day.[12] The red leather triangle was adopted on 1 May 1890 in Paris during the workers' struggles so that the demonstrator could distinguish himself from the man in the street.[13] The badge symbolizes workers' demand for a maximum eight-hour work day, which reserved 8 hours of sleep and 8 hours of leisure. The inscription "1 May, 8 hours of work" was sewn onto the triangle for the demonstration.[14]
Following the immense success of the mobilization of the 1 May 1890 – in Belgium, 150,000 workers went on strike – it was decided shortly afterward to make this date a worldwide day of action, this is the creation of the International Workers' Day (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.).[12] The eight-hour day was obtained in 1919 in France and in 1921 in Belgium.[12]
- Advertisements for 'Three 8' brand soap [lower-alpha 3][lower-alpha 4]
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'3x8' brand soap [additional citation(s) needed]
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Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.
El Lissitzky's Red Wedge
Similar symbols were being used in far-left politics in early 20th century Russia. A red triangle or "red wedge" features on some early communist posters. A red wedge appeared in a 1919 soviet propaganda poster by constructivist artist El Lissitzky titled "Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge", referring to the anti-communist White movement, who were defeated by the Red Army during the Russian Civil War.[15][16] The term "whites" referred to the White movement, a conservative, right-wing, monarchist movement whose factional colour was white. The title, allegedly recommended by Ilya Ehrenburg, is possibly a response to the pogrom slogan "Beat the Jews!" (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.).[17][18][19] The full slogan was Beat the Jews - save Russia! (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.), and it was predominantly used by right wing monarchists and their militant Black Hundreds.[20][21][22]
Numerous modern left-wing groups and publications have used symbols that reference the red wedge, or the reclamation or the red triangle badge that the Nazis used to mark their political opponents, or both.[2] The black flag used by modern anti-fascists (Antifa) also refers back to the era of the Russian Revolution.[23] The El Lissitzky poster was the namesake of the 1980s British left-wing musical collective Red Wedge, they opposed British conservatives but did not describe themselves as communist.[24][25][26]
Opponents of the Nazi Party
Background to Nazi persecution of left-wing opponents
The colour of the symbol comes from the party colours of the Communist Party of Germany, one of the first groups to be detained in the Nazi concentration camps.[3] Nazi crackdowns on their left wing political enemies started very early. As depicted in the famous poem, First They Came by Martin Niemöller, a German priest. It begins, "When the Nazis came for the communists, I kept quiet; I wasn't a communist" (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.).[29] The most comon English version begimns, "First they came for the Communists".[30][29] In a 2024 article about the origins of the red triangle symbol, Germany's public broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported, "At first, the majority of political inmates were German Social Democrats or Communists and the red of the triangle referred to their party colors.. most were non-Germans from across the political spectrum who had opposed National Socialism or Nazi Germany's occupation of their countries".[3]
The red triangle badge in Nazi concentration camps
A red inverted triangle was worn by political prisoners in Nazi concentration camps.[31][5][7] The red triangle was only used for Jewish prisoners in unusual circumstances, such as when the Nazi authorities in the prison were unaware that the prisoner was Jewish.[32]
German communists were among the first to be imprisoned in concentration camps.[33][34] Their ties to the USSR concerned Hitler, and the Nazi Party was intractably opposed to communism. Rumors of communist violence were spread by the Nazis to justify the Enabling Act of 1933, which gave Hitler his first dictatorial powers. Hermann Göring testified at Nuremberg that Nazi willingness to repress German Communists prompted Hindenburg and the old elite to cooperate with them. Hitler and the Nazis also despised German leftists because of their resistance to Nazi racism. Hitler referred to Marxism and "Bolshevism" as means for "the international Jew" to undermine "racial purity", stir up class tension and mobilise trade unions against the government and business. When the Nazis occupied a territory, communists, socialists and anarchists were usually among the first to be repressed; this included summary executions. An example is Hitler's Commissar Order, in which he demanded the summary execution of all Soviet troops who were political commissars who offered resistance or were captured in battle.[35][verification needed]
Many red triangle wearers were interned at Dachau concentration camp. The triangle and star system was used at the Dachau concentration camp from 1938 to 1942.[36]
According to the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Oświęcim, Poland, 95% of prisoners at Auschwitz concentration camp were accused of political crimes.[lower-alpha 5][37][additional citation(s) needed]
Later this expanded and many political detainees were German and foreign civilian activists from across the political spectrum who opposed the Nazi regime, captured resistances fighters (many of whom were executed during—or immediately after—their interrogation, particularly in occupied Poland and France) and, sometimes, their families. German political prisoners were a substantial proportion of the first inmates at Dachau (the prototypical Nazi concentration camp). The political People's Court was notorious for the number of its death sentences.[38][39]
After WWII
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Since the end of World War II the red triangle has been used as an anti-fascist symbol.[2] The pink triangle and red triangle were both reclaimed after the war as symbols of pride and remembrance.[3]
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Floral tribute at the red triangle, 8 May 2022, Fort Breendonk.
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Women with symbols of all persecuted groups on International Women's Day (8 March) at the Ravensbrück monument in Amsterdam in 1985.[40]
Association of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime – Federation of Antifascists (VVN-BdA)
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The Association of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime – Federation of Antifascists (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist., VVN-BdA) is a German political confederation founded in 1947 and based in Berlin. The VVN-BdA, formerly the VVN, emerged from victims' associations in Germany founded by political opponents to Nazism after the Second World War and the end of the Nazi rule in Germany.[verification needed]
With the end of World War II, self-help groups of former resistance fighters were founded in "anti-fascist committees", known as "Antifas", involving working class militants, in particular but not only Communists[41][42][43][44] which were banned immediately by the military administrations of each of the British and American occupation zones for being far politically left.[45][46] By June 26, 1945, an "association of political prisoners and persecutees of the Nazi system" had been founded in Stuttgart, and in the following weeks and months, there were regional groups of ex-political prisoners and other persecuted individuals formed with the permission of the allied forces, in each of the four occupation zones.[47]
The group are critical of far-right politicians in Germany and abroad. In 2025, the group claimed that, "The weakening of universities has long been a declared goal of the US right".[48]
The VVN-BdA have often used their red triangle symbol. and variants of it, at protests against the German political party Alternative for Germany (the AfD), repeatedly calling for the AfD to be banned. In a press release they quoted Erich Kästner, "The events of 1933 to 1945 should have been fought by 1928 at the latest. Later, it was too late." in a January 2024 call for a ban.[49] Federal chairman of the VVN-BdA, Florian Gutsche, said "The revelation of the deportation plans has brought the AfD's inhumane ideology into the spotlight of public debate. However, these plans are not new. Its platform already clearly shows that it is a völkisch-nationalist party. Through party funding, the AfD has been providing state support to Nazis for years".[49] Many other people and groups have also called for the AfD to be banned, including historians and activist groups that date back to the aftermath of World War Two. Jens-Christian Wagner, head of the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorial Foundation.[50]
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Memorial in Saxony‑Anhalt [lower-alpha 6]
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Postcard showing a VVN event in 1950 in East Berlin.[lower-alpha 7]
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VVN memorial to the victims of fascism.
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VVN-BdA members wearing red triangle anti-AfD symbols
Use in East Germany (Deutsche Demokratische Republik)
From 1975 onwards, the Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR, also known as East Germany) released a medal for the "Committee of Antifascist Resistance Fighters" (KdAW, Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.) of the GDR that included a red triangle.[52] The Committee of Antifascist Resistance Fighters (KdAW) was formed in 1953. Practically speaking, it functioned as the East German counterpart of the Union of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime (Vereinigung der Verfolgten des Naziregimes). The KdAW enjoyed a close relationship with the Socialist Unity Party, although it was not a member of the National Front.[verification needed] The organisation played an important role in the commemoration of German resistance to Nazism and The Holocaust in East Germany.[53] East Germany utilised such commemorative functions to emphasise the anti-fascist orientation of the state.[54] Membership in the KdAW served as a means of accessing benefits. For instance, membership made one eligible to receive the Medal for Fighters Against Fascism.[55] It also contained a number of working groups, which brought people with similar backgrounds together. The most prominent of these were groups for survivors of various concentration camps and prisons; for example one existed for former prisoners of Brandenburg-Görden Prison. Another working group was formed for veterans of the International Brigades of the Spanish Civil War.[56]
The red triangle on memorials
In addition to the Association of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime – Federation of Antifascists (VVN-BdA) memorials above, the red triangle also features on numerous other war memorials in Europe. War memorials featuring the red triangle symbol exist in Germany and in areas of Europe that were occupied by Germany during World War Two.[3]
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Memorial on the grounds of Sachsenhausen
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Memorial for the 2,000 women victims of Ravensbrück
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Buchenwald death march route historical information signage
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Memorial to forced labor deaths at the truck factory in Zittau, Germany
Service medals
Service medals awarded to prisoners of war and other camp inmates after WWII feature the triangle that was used on prisoners' uniforms. The Auschwitz Cross, a Polish medal for camp victims and the Political Prisoner's Cross 1940–1945, a Belgian medal both show a red triangle with a nationality indicator, and the ribbons replicate the striped fabric of some camp uniforms.[57]
The Political Prisoner's Cross 1940–1945 (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist., Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.) was a Belgian war medal established by royal decree of the Regent on 13 November 1947 and awarded to Belgian citizens arrested and interned by the Germans as political prisoners during the Second World War. The award's statute included provisions for posthumous award should the intended recipient not survive detention, and the right of the widow, the mother or the father of the deceased to wear the cross.[57]
The Auschwitz Cross (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.), instituted on 14 March 1985, was a Polish decoration awarded to honour survivors of Nazi German concentration camps, including Auschwitz.[58] Auschwitz is a German name for the Polish town Oświęcim, where a complex of concentration camps was built by Nazi Germany during the German occupation of Europe during WWII.[additional citation(s) needed] It was awarded generally to Poles, but it was possible to award it to foreigners in special cases. It could be awarded posthumously. It ceased to be awarded in 1999. An exception was made in the case of Greta Ferušić, who was awarded it in February 2004.[59] Some of the people awarded the medal were Jewish, including Szymon Kluger (Shimson Kleuger).[60]
Organisations in Belgium
Territoires de la Mémoire and Triangle Rouge (Red Triangle) are Belgian organisations who promote the use of the red triangle as a symbol of anti-fascism and anti-racism.[61][62][lower-alpha 10]
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Recent anti-fascist and left-wing usage
After the war the red triangle and pink triangle symbols were reclaimed by those who opposed the Nazis' oppression of those groups.[3] The red triangle became a symbol of resistance against the German occupation of Europe during the war, and the pink triangle used to mark gay prisoners became a symbol of LGBTQ pride.[3] Like the pink triangle, the red also was used in some broader contexts, not just directly related to memorializing the victims of Nazi Germany. Some of the broader usage referenced the El Lissitsky poster.[2]
Various anti-fascist and left wing groups in Europe have used red triangles referencing the reclaimed political prisoners' symbol or the Soviet red wedge. In the United Kingdom in the 1980s Anti-Fascist Action sometimes used the symbol.[16][63] For example, they produced a badge that showed a red triangle / red wedge symbol aggressively attacking a black swastika and smashing it.[16] In the dandruff era, the Red Wedge we a left wing pop group in the UK who took their name from the soviet poster.[64]
Symbols at protests
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Red triangle and red wedge symbols often feature at protests against far-right political movements, particularly in Germany.[65]
The German protest group NIKA (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.) was started in response to the rise of Germany's far-right party, the AfD (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.).[66]
The German protest group NIKA (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.) was started in response to the rise of Germany's far-right party, the AfD (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.).[1]
The same protest banner saying "crash the party" was also used by NIKA in 2017.[1]
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VVN-BdA flags at a protest against Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Hannover in Lower Saxony in 2022.
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A Jewish anti-fascist symbol [lower-alpha 11] on a banner in New York City at a rally against the Christchurch mosque massacre and other fascist violence on 16 March 2019 [lower-alpha 12][67]
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NIKA logo in the corner of a banner saying in Script error: The function "langx" does not exist., in Spandau in 2018 [lower-alpha 13]
Political discourse
Political discussions often include comparisons to Nazi Germany or fascism more broadly, the analogy is often criticised and particularly controversial when applied to Israel (the self-described "Jewish State" in the Levant).
Red triangle lapel pins in European politics
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Red triangle lapel pins are widely distributed Western European countries. Red triangle pins are worn by socialist, communist, and other left-wing or far-left politicians in countries such as Belgium, Spain, and France.[68][69][70]
Left-wing French presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon wore a red triangle lapel pin during his campaign, the message was particularly aimed at diffentiating himself from far-right National Front candidate Marine Le Pen (daughter of the party's even more controversial founder, Jean-Marie Le Pen).[68]
Jean-Luc Mélenchon explained the meaning of the symbol, "I have been compared to the National Front. I was outraged. I said to myself, what could I wear? And someone, a Belgian, a comrade, said to me, 'Listen, I'll give you mine, it's the insignia of the communist deportees in the Nazi concentration camps'. And so I said: 'now I'm putting it on, I'm not taking it off' ... We forget this moment in history. But the first to be deported and massacred were the communists..." [68]
French politician Ugo Bernalicis, from the Left Party (previously from the Socialist Party), represents the department of Nord, in the French National Assembly.[71][72] Bernalicis was born into a family close to the communist movement, with a militant father, an elected grandfather and a great-grandfather who was deported to the Dachau concentration camp because of his political convictions.[73]
Modern persecution of leftists and criticism of the far-right
In 2020, Donald Trump's presidential re-election campaign attracted controversy by using the symbol in social media adversisements attacking his own far-left opponents, whom he described as "Antifa". Facebook banned the ad on the basis of the historical use by the Nazi Party in their persecution of their political opponents.[8] A spokesperson for the campaign claimed it was not a hate symbol on the basis that it was not in the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) database of hate symbols. ADL's CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, pointed out the database only included symbols used in the United States, not historical or foreign symbols.[8] "Gigafact" published a fact check with the question "Does Antifa commonly use an inverted red triangle symbol once used by Nazis?" and their headline answer was "NO", but they did point out that the red triangle has been used by some European anti-fascist groups.[63]
2020 Trump campaign terrorism accusations against antifa
In June 2020, Donald Trump's election campaign included an advertisement on social media saying that he would make "Antifa" (short for anti-fascism) a "designated terrorist" group. The advertisement showed the red triangle as an antifa symbol.[74]
In June 2020, the re-election campaign of Donald Trump posted an advertisement on Facebook stating that "Dangerous MOBS of far-left groups are running through our streets and causing absolute mayhem" and identifying them as "ANTIFA", accompanied by a graphic of a downward-pointing red triangle. The ads appeared on the Facebook pages of Donald Trump, the Trump campaign, and Vice President Mike Pence. Many observers compared the graphic to the symbol used by the Nazis for identifying political prisoners such as communists, social democrats and socialists. Many noted the number of ads – 88 – which is associated with neo-Nazis and white supremacists.[75][76][77]
Progressive and conservative Jewish groups both expressed public disapproval for Trump's use of the symbol. "Bend the Arc: Jewish Action", a Progressive Jewish site, stated the campaign was using the symbol "to smear millions of protestors".[78][79][80][81][82][83]
Facebook removed the campaign ads with the graphic, saying that its use in this context violated their policy against "organized hate".[84][85][86][87][88][89] The Trump campaign's communications director wrote, "The red triangle is a common Antifa symbol used in an ad about Antifa." Historian Mark Bray, author of Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook, disputed this, saying that the symbol is not associated with Antifa in the United States.[90]
Trump lost the 2020 election, but won the next, then in his second term Trump again tried to use terrorist designations very broadly, to target drug cartels in Central America.[91]
Logos of political and activist groups
Left-wing groups
Most political groups using the symbol are far-left groups in Europe.
- Anti-Fascist Action in the United Kingdom used the symbol in badges in the 80s, the one example showed the pointed red shape smashing a black swastika.[16][92]
- Anti-Racist Action (1988) use a red triangle in the form of a forked red slingshot.[93]
- The Network of Communists (RdC, Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.) is a communist political movement network, founded in Bologna, Italy on 13 September 1998.[94]
- NIKA (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.) was started in Germany in response to the rise of Germany's far-right party, the AfD (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.).[95]
- Organisation of Communist Internationalists (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.)
- Ras l'front (RLF, English: "Fed up") use an inverted red triangle in some of their modern logos. For example: RLF Voiron.[96][97]
- Revolutionary Left (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.) in Spain used a red wedge in their first logo.
- Territoires de la Mémoire (Territories of Memory) and Triangle Rouge (Red Triangle) are Belgian organisations who promote the use of the red triangle as a symbol of anti-fascism and anti-racism.[61][lower-alpha 14] (See also: Avenue Louise § World War II)
Religious and nationalist groups
- Liberté chérie (French for "Cherished Liberty") was a Masonic Lodge founded in 1943 by imprisoned freemasons at Esterwegen concentration camp. It was one of the few lodges of Freemasons founded within a Nazi concentration camp during the Second World War.[98][99][100]
- Qassam Brigades (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.) have used an inverted red triangle (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.) in their propaganda videos since November 2023.[101][102] The inverted red triangle was later included in the logo of their Military Media division.[103][104] Al-Qassam (military and security division of the civilian Islamic Resistance Movement) differ from most of the other groups by being religious and nationalist, but that are allied with two Marxist groups.[lower-alpha 16] Most media have said Qassam's symbol has different origins (see below), but their actions have been compared to resistance groups by some anti-Zionists.
The red triangle and red wedge in arts and media
Left-wing news and non-fiction
- Searchlight (magazine) use the red wedge in their current logo.[2]
- Antifaschistisches Infoblatt (AIB) is an anti-fascist publication in Berlin, Germany.[105][106]
- The People's history of Australia podcast uses a logo with a red wedge attacking a white map of Australia.[107]
Music
- The British band Red Wedge reference Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge in their name.[64][16]
- L'affiche rouge is a song by Léo Ferré commemorating victims of the Affiche rouge affair.
Visual arts
- A political cartoon by Brazilian artist Carlos Latuff depicted a Palestinian man behind the West Bank barrier in the striped uniform of a Nazi concentration camp, with a red crescent in place of the red triangle work by political prisoners, or red and yellow star worn by Jewish political prisoners. In 2006 a Latuff's cartoon won second prize in the 2006 International Holocaust Cartoon Competition in Iran.[108][109][110] The competition in Iran was started as retaliation for Western cartoonists' depictions of the Prophet Muhammed and associated claims of "free speech", by choosing the topic Western audiences would find most offensive.[111][112]
- The Russian artist Sergei Bugaev produced an "Anti-Lissitzky" series at the end of the Cold War, between 1991 and 1995, which included several derivative works based on "Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge".[113]
- Kunstverein Roter Keil (Red Wedge art and culture association) say their name is a coincidence.
Fiction
- A variant of the image by El Lissitzky is used as the logo for the "Peacekeepers" on Sci-Fi TV show Farscape.[114]
See also
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Red triangles (political prisoners). |
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Red triangles. |
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to VVN. |
- Anti-fascism
- Black triangle (badge)
- Brown triangle
- Communist Party of Germany
- German-occupied Europe
- Historiography of German resistance to Nazism
- Identification in Nazi camps
- LGBTQ symbols § Triangle badges of Nazi Germany
- Nazi concentration camp badge § Single triangles
- P (Nazi symbol)
- Pink triangle
- Protective custody (Nazi Germany)
- Red triangle (Palestinian symbol)
- Trotskyism
- Victims of Nazi Germany § Political groups
- Yellow badge #Political groups
References
Footnotes
- ↑ Image from a protest in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony in 2021. The banner says "crash the party" (in English) with Nationalismus ist keine Alternative (NIKA, English: Nationalism is not an alternative) underneath, and had been used at earlier protests as well.[1]
- ↑ Association of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime – Federation of Antifascists (VVN-BdA) protest banner at a protest against Alternative for Germany in Frankfurt in 2025. Translation: "Ban the AfD now! Ban Nazi parties, before it's too late".
- ↑ 'Three 8' referred to 8 hours of work, 8 hours of leisure, and 8 hours of sleep.
- ↑ Media related to Workers' Soap Factory at Wikimedia Commons
- ↑ Note: Auschwitz is the German name for Oświęcim.
- ↑ In the town of Lüderitz, Saxony-Anhalt, in the former East Germany. The inscription says in Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.
- ↑ German Youth Meeting on 27-30 May 1950, in the Lustgarten, Berlin. Image from flickr.[51][additional citation(s) needed]
- ↑ The phrase in Script error: The function "langx" does not exist., is written on the middle pillar.
- ↑ Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.
- ↑ Note: as of 2023-06-08 their page-long French language definition of Anti-Semitism made no mention of either Israel or Zionism, see also: IHRA definition of antisemitism.[62]
- ↑ Similar symbols have been used elsewhere, such as by Jewish Anti Fascist Action in the UK
- ↑ March Against Racism and Fascism in New York City on 16 March 2019. More images: Media related to New York City rally in support of the victims of the Christchurch mosque shootings in Civic Center, Manhattan at Wikimedia Commons
- ↑ Protest against the party conference of the Berlin regional association of the AfD in 2018. The banner says: Script error: The function "langx" does not exist., See also: Media related to Protest against an AfD meeting in the Zitadelle Spandau on 04-09-2018 at Wikimedia Commons
- ↑ Note: as of 2023-06-08 their page-long French language definition of Anti-Semitism made no mention of either Israel or Zionism, see also: IHRA definition of antisemitism.[62]
- ↑ (Организация Коммунистов Интернационалистов)
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedQPD
External links
- LangLаngС (pen name) (26 June 2020). "Have Antifa members used an inverted red triangle as a symbol?". Skeptics Stack Exchange. Archived from the original on 2025-07-05.
- Becker, Maximilian (21 December 2020). "Tales of Antifascism: International Survivors' Organizations during the Cold War". Fascism. 9 (1–2): 244–271. doi:10.1163/22116257-09010009. ISSN 2211-6249.
- "Website of the VVN-BdA (Bund der Antifaschistinnen und Antifaschisten)". vvn-bda.de (in Deutsch). Retrieved 26 July 2025.
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Variations of the red triangle and red wedge have been used for over a century to represent anti-fascism and other left-wing political ideologies.[2] In Western Europe the most well-known historical example is the inverted red triangle that represents opposition to Germany's Nazi Party and resistance to Nazi Germany's military occupation of Europe during World War Two.[3] This inverted red triangle symbol was reclaimed by anti-fascists in Europe after being used on prisoner uniforms in concentration camps in Nazi Germany and occupied Europe. A red triangle patch pointing upwards designated prisoners within the jurisdiction of the Wehrmacht, including prisoners of war,[citation needed] spies, and military deserters.[4] Whereas an inverted red triangle was worn by political prisoners, including resistance fighters.[3][5][6] The Nazis chose red because the first people to wear it were Communists. Besides Communists, liberals, anarchists, Social Democrats, Freemasons, and other opposition party members also wore a red triangle.[6][7] After the war the red triangle symbol was reclaimed as a symbol of resistance against the German occupation of Europe during the war, similar to the way that the pink triangle used to mark gay prisoners became a symbol of LGBTQ pride.[3] The reclaimed red triangle symbol has been used as the logo for the Association of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime – Federation of Antifascists (VVN-BdA) in Germany, and numerous other post-war remembrances and memorial groups, it has also been worn as a lapel pin by left-wing politicians from Belgium, France, and Spain. Other left-wing, anti-fascist, and resistance groups have used red triangle or red wedge symbols that reference images and symbols from before WWII.[2] One of these is Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge, a 1919 propaganda poster by El Lissitzky.[2] An even earlier image recalled by some labour movements is an equilateral triangle representing eight-hours of work, eight-hours of leisure, and eight hours of sleep in the 24-hours of a day. In 2020, Donald Trump's presidential re-election campaign attracted controversy by using the symbol in social media adversisements attacking his own far-left opponents, whom he described as "Antifa".[8]
Before Nazi Germany
Eight-hour workday
The red triangle has been a left-wing political symbol since the 19th century. On Labor Day in 1890 in France workers wore a red triangle as a symbol of the eight-hour working day they were fighting for, with the three points representing 8 hours of work, 8 hours of rest, and 8 hours of leisure.[9][10] It is still used with this meaning in some parts of Europe, in conjunction with Labour Day celebrations on 8 May.[11]
In July 1889 in Paris, at the meeting of the Second International, the workers' association bringing together European socialist and workers' parties, decided that the following year, workers would demonstrate on May 1 to demand the eight-hour day.[12] The red leather triangle was adopted on 1 May 1890 in Paris during the workers' struggles so that the demonstrator could distinguish himself from the man in the street.[13] The badge symbolizes workers' demand for a maximum eight-hour work day, which reserved 8 hours of sleep and 8 hours of leisure. The inscription "1 May, 8 hours of work" was sewn onto the triangle for the demonstration.[14]
Following the immense success of the mobilization of the 1 May 1890 – in Belgium, 150,000 workers went on strike – it was decided shortly afterward to make this date a worldwide day of action, this is the creation of the International Workers' Day (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.).[12] The eight-hour day was obtained in 1919 in France and in 1921 in Belgium.[12]
- Advertisements for 'Three 8' brand soap [lower-alpha 3][lower-alpha 4]
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'3x8' brand soap [additional citation(s) needed]
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El Lissitzky's Red Wedge
Similar symbols were being used in far-left politics in early 20th century Russia. A red triangle or "red wedge" features on some early communist posters. A red wedge appeared in a 1919 soviet propaganda poster by constructivist artist El Lissitzky titled "Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge", referring to the anti-communist White movement, who were defeated by the Red Army during the Russian Civil War.[15][16] The term "whites" referred to the White movement, a conservative, right-wing, monarchist movement whose factional colour was white. The title, allegedly recommended by Ilya Ehrenburg, is possibly a response to the pogrom slogan "Beat the Jews!" (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.).[17][18][19] The full slogan was Beat the Jews - save Russia! (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.), and it was predominantly used by right wing monarchists and their militant Black Hundreds.[20][21][22]
Numerous modern left-wing groups and publications have used symbols that reference the red wedge, or the reclamation or the red triangle badge that the Nazis used to mark their political opponents, or both.[2] The black flag used by modern anti-fascists (Antifa) also refers back to the era of the Russian Revolution.[23] The El Lissitzky poster was the namesake of the 1980s British left-wing musical collective Red Wedge, they opposed British conservatives but did not describe themselves as communist.[24][25][26]
Opponents of the Nazi Party
Background to Nazi persecution of left-wing opponents
The colour of the symbol comes from the party colours of the Communist Party of Germany, one of the first groups to be detained in the Nazi concentration camps.[3] Nazi crackdowns on their left wing political enemies started very early. As depicted in the famous poem, First They Came by Martin Niemöller, a German priest. It begins, "When the Nazis came for the communists, I kept quiet; I wasn't a communist" (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.).[29] The most comon English version begimns, "First they came for the Communists".[30][29] In a 2024 article about the origins of the red triangle symbol, Germany's public broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported, "At first, the majority of political inmates were German Social Democrats or Communists and the red of the triangle referred to their party colors.. most were non-Germans from across the political spectrum who had opposed National Socialism or Nazi Germany's occupation of their countries".[3]
The red triangle badge in Nazi concentration camps
A red inverted triangle was worn by political prisoners in Nazi concentration camps.[31][5][7] The red triangle was only used for Jewish prisoners in unusual circumstances, such as when the Nazi authorities in the prison were unaware that the prisoner was Jewish.[32]
German communists were among the first to be imprisoned in concentration camps.[33][34] Their ties to the USSR concerned Hitler, and the Nazi Party was intractably opposed to communism. Rumors of communist violence were spread by the Nazis to justify the Enabling Act of 1933, which gave Hitler his first dictatorial powers. Hermann Göring testified at Nuremberg that Nazi willingness to repress German Communists prompted Hindenburg and the old elite to cooperate with them. Hitler and the Nazis also despised German leftists because of their resistance to Nazi racism. Hitler referred to Marxism and "Bolshevism" as means for "the international Jew" to undermine "racial purity", stir up class tension and mobilise trade unions against the government and business. When the Nazis occupied a territory, communists, socialists and anarchists were usually among the first to be repressed; this included summary executions. An example is Hitler's Commissar Order, in which he demanded the summary execution of all Soviet troops who were political commissars who offered resistance or were captured in battle.[35][verification needed]
Many red triangle wearers were interned at Dachau concentration camp. The triangle and star system was used at the Dachau concentration camp from 1938 to 1942.[36]
According to the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Oświęcim, Poland, 95% of prisoners at Auschwitz concentration camp were accused of political crimes.[lower-alpha 5][37][additional citation(s) needed]
Later this expanded and many political detainees were German and foreign civilian activists from across the political spectrum who opposed the Nazi regime, captured resistances fighters (many of whom were executed during—or immediately after—their interrogation, particularly in occupied Poland and France) and, sometimes, their families. German political prisoners were a substantial proportion of the first inmates at Dachau (the prototypical Nazi concentration camp). The political People's Court was notorious for the number of its death sentences.[38][39]
After WWII
Since the end of World War II the red triangle has been used as an anti-fascist symbol.[2] The pink triangle and red triangle were both reclaimed after the war as symbols of pride and remembrance.[3]
Association of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime – Federation of Antifascists (VVN-BdA)
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The Association of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime – Federation of Antifascists (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist., VVN-BdA) is a German political confederation founded in 1947 and based in Berlin. The VVN-BdA, formerly the VVN, emerged from victims' associations in Germany founded by political opponents to Nazism after the Second World War and the end of the Nazi rule in Germany.[verification needed]
With the end of World War II, self-help groups of former resistance fighters were founded in "anti-fascist committees", known as "Antifas", involving working class militants, in particular but not only Communists[41][42][43][44] which were banned immediately by the military administrations of each of the British and American occupation zones for being far politically left.[45][46] By June 26, 1945, an "association of political prisoners and persecutees of the Nazi system" had been founded in Stuttgart, and in the following weeks and months, there were regional groups of ex-political prisoners and other persecuted individuals formed with the permission of the allied forces, in each of the four occupation zones.[47]
The group are critical of far-right politicians in Germany and abroad. In 2025, the group claimed that, "The weakening of universities has long been a declared goal of the US right".[48]
The VVN-BdA have often used their red triangle symbol. and variants of it, at protests against the German political party Alternative for Germany (the AfD), repeatedly calling for the AfD to be banned. In a press release they quoted Erich Kästner, "The events of 1933 to 1945 should have been fought by 1928 at the latest. Later, it was too late." in a January 2024 call for a ban.[49] Federal chairman of the VVN-BdA, Florian Gutsche, said "The revelation of the deportation plans has brought the AfD's inhumane ideology into the spotlight of public debate. However, these plans are not new. Its platform already clearly shows that it is a völkisch-nationalist party. Through party funding, the AfD has been providing state support to Nazis for years".[49] Many other people and groups have also called for the AfD to be banned, including historians and activist groups that date back to the aftermath of World War Two. Jens-Christian Wagner, head of the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorial Foundation.[50]
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Memorial in Saxony‑Anhalt [lower-alpha 6]
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Postcard showing the VVN event in the Lustgarten, Berlin [51]
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VVN memorial to the victims of fascism
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VVN-BdA members wearing red triangle anti-AfD symbols
Use in East Germany (Deutsche Demokratische Republik)
From 1975 onwards, the Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR, also known as East Germany) released a medal for the "Committee of Antifascist Resistance Fighters" (KdAW, Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.) of the GDR that included a red triangle.[52] The Committee of Antifascist Resistance Fighters (KdAW) was formed in 1953. Practically speaking, it functioned as the East German counterpart of the Union of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime (Vereinigung der Verfolgten des Naziregimes). The KdAW enjoyed a close relationship with the Socialist Unity Party, although it was not a member of the National Front.[verification needed] The organisation played an important role in the commemoration of German resistance to Nazism and The Holocaust in East Germany.[53] East Germany utilised such commemorative functions to emphasise the anti-fascist orientation of the state.[54] Membership in the KdAW served as a means of accessing benefits. For instance, membership made one eligible to receive the Medal for Fighters Against Fascism.[55] It also contained a number of working groups, which brought people with similar backgrounds together. The most prominent of these were groups for survivors of various concentration camps and prisons; for example one existed for former prisoners of Brandenburg-Görden Prison. Another working group was formed for veterans of the International Brigades of the Spanish Civil War.[56]
The red triangle on memorials
In addition to the Association of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime – Federation of Antifascists (VVN-BdA) memorials above, the red triangle also features on numerous other war memorials in Europe. War memorials featuring the red triangle symbol exist in Germany and in areas of Europe that were occupied by Germany during World War Two.[3]
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Memorial on the grounds of Sachsenhausen
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Memorial for the 2,000 women victims of Ravensbrück
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Buchenwald death march route historical information signage
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Memorial to forced labor deaths at the truck factory in Zittau, Germany
Service medals
Service medals awarded to prisoners of war and other camp inmates after WWII feature the triangle that was used on prisoners' uniforms. The Auschwitz Cross, a Polish medal for camp victims and the Political Prisoner's Cross 1940–1945, a Belgian medal both show a red triangle with a nationality indicator, and the ribbons replicate the striped fabric of some camp uniforms.[57]
The Political Prisoner's Cross 1940–1945 (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist., Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.) was a Belgian war medal established by royal decree of the Regent on 13 November 1947 and awarded to Belgian citizens arrested and interned by the Germans as political prisoners during the Second World War. The award's statute included provisions for posthumous award should the intended recipient not survive detention, and the right of the widow, the mother or the father of the deceased to wear the cross.[57]
The Auschwitz Cross (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.), instituted on 14 March 1985, was a Polish decoration awarded to honour survivors of Nazi German concentration camps, including Auschwitz.[58] Auschwitz is a German name for the Polish town Oświęcim, where a complex of concentration camps was built by Nazi Germany during the German occupation of Europe during WWII.[additional citation(s) needed] It was awarded generally to Poles, but it was possible to award it to foreigners in special cases. It could be awarded posthumously. It ceased to be awarded in 1999. An exception was made in the case of Greta Ferušić, who was awarded it in February 2004.[59] Some of the people awarded the medal were Jewish, including Szymon Kluger (Shimson Kleuger).[60]
Organisations in Belgium
Territoires de la Mémoire and Triangle Rouge (Red Triangle) are Belgian organisations who promote the use of the red triangle as a symbol of anti-fascism and anti-racism.[61][62][lower-alpha 8]
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Recent anti-fascist and left-wing usage
After the war the red triangle and pink triangle symbols were reclaimed by those who opposed the Nazis' oppression of those groups.[3] The red triangle became a symbol of resistance against the German occupation of Europe during the war, and the pink triangle used to mark gay prisoners became a symbol of LGBTQ pride.[3] Like the pink triangle, the red also was used in some broader contexts, not just directly related to memorializing the victims of Nazi Germany. Some of the broader usage referenced the El Lissitsky poster.[2]
Various anti-fascist and left wing groups in Europe have used red triangles referencing the reclaimed political prisoners' symbol or the Soviet red wedge. In the United Kingdom in the 1980s Anti-Fascist Action sometimes used the symbol.[16][63] For example, they produced a badge that showed a red triangle / red wedge symbol aggressively attacking a black swastika and smashing it.[16] In the dandruff era, the Red Wedge we a left wing pop group in the UK who took their name from the soviet poster.[64]
Symbols at protests
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Red triangle and red wedge symbols often feature at protests against far-right political movements, particularly in Germany.[65]
The German protest group NIKA (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.) was started in response to the rise of Germany's far-right party, the AfD (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.).[1]
The same protest banner saying "crash the party" was also used by NIKA in 2017.[1]
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VVN-BdA flags at a protest against Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Hannover in Lower Saxony in 2022.
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A Jewish anti-fascist symbol [lower-alpha 9] on a banner in New York City at a rally against the Christchurch mosque massacre and other fascist violence on 16 March 2019 [lower-alpha 10][66]
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NIKA logo in the corner of a banner saying in Script error: The function "langx" does not exist., in Spandau in 2018 [lower-alpha 11]
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Women with symbols of all persecuted groups on International Women's Day at the Ravensbrück monument in Amsterdam in 1985.[67]
Political discourse
Political discussions often include comparisons to Nazi Germany or fascism more broadly, the analogy is often criticised and particularly controversial when applied to Israel (the self-described "Jewish State" in the Levant).
Red triangle lapel pins in European politics
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Red triangle lapel pins are widely distributed Western European countries. Red triangle pins are worn by socialist, communist, and other left-wing or far-left politicians in countries such as Belgium, Spain, and France.[68][69][70]
Left-wing French presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon wore a red triangle lapel pin during his campaign, the message was particularly aimed at diffentiating himself from far-right National Front candidate Marine Le Pen (daughter of the party's even more controversial founder, Jean-Marie Le Pen).[68]
Jean-Luc Mélenchon explained the meaning of the symbol, "I have been compared to the National Front. I was outraged. I said to myself, what could I wear? And someone, a Belgian, a comrade, said to me, 'Listen, I'll give you mine, it's the insignia of the communist deportees in the Nazi concentration camps'. And so I said: 'now I'm putting it on, I'm not taking it off' ... We forget this moment in history. But the first to be deported and massacred were the communists..."[68]
French politician Ugo Bernalicis, from the Left Party (previously from the Socialist Party), represents the department of Nord, in the French National Assembly.[71][72] Bernalicis was born into a family close to the communist movement, with a militant father, an elected grandfather and a great-grandfather who was deported to the Dachau concentration camp because of his political convictions.[73]
Modern persecution of leftists and criticism of the far-right
In 2020, Donald Trump's presidential re-election campaign attracted controversy by using the symbol in social media adversisements attacking his own far-left opponents, whom he described as "Antifa". Facebook banned the ad on the basis of the historical use by the Nazi Party in their persecution of their political opponents.[8] A spokesperson for the campaign claimed it was not a hate symbol on the basis that it was not in the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) database of hate symbols. ADL's CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, pointed out the database only included symbols used in the United States, not historical or foreign symbols.[8] "Gigafact" published a fact check with the question "Does Antifa commonly use an inverted red triangle symbol once used by Nazis?" and their headline answer was "NO", but they did point out that the red triangle has been used by some European anti-fascist groups.[63]
2020 Trump campaign terrorism accusations against Antifa
In June 2020, Donald Trump's election campaign included an advertisement on social media saying that he would make "Antifa" (short for anti-fascism) a "designated terrorist" group. The advertisement showed the red triangle as an antifa symbol.[74]
In June 2020, the re-election campaign of Donald Trump posted an advertisement on Facebook stating that "Dangerous MOBS of far-left groups are running through our streets and causing absolute mayhem" and identifying them as "ANTIFA", accompanied by a graphic of a downward-pointing red triangle. The ads appeared on the Facebook pages of Donald Trump, the Trump campaign, and Vice President Mike Pence. Many observers compared the graphic to the symbol used by the Nazis for identifying political prisoners such as communists, social democrats and socialists. Many noted the number of ads – 88 – which is associated with neo-Nazis and white supremacists.[75][76][77]
Progressive and conservative Jewish groups both expressed public disapproval for Trump's use of the symbol. "Bend the Arc: Jewish Action", a Progressive Jewish site, stated the campaign was using the symbol "to smear millions of protestors".[78][79][80][81][82][83]
Facebook removed the campaign ads with the graphic, saying that its use in this context violated their policy against "organized hate".[84][85][86][87][88][89] The Trump campaign's communications director wrote, "The red triangle is a common Antifa symbol used in an ad about Antifa." Historian Mark Bray, author of Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook, disputed this, saying that the symbol is not associated with Antifa in the United States.[90]
Trump lost the 2020 election, but won the next, then in his second term Trump again tried to use terrorist designations very broadly, to target drug cartels in Central America.[91]
Logos of political and activist groups
Left-wing groups
Most political groups using the symbol are far-left groups in Europe.
- Anti-Fascist Action in the United Kingdom used the symbol in badges in the 80s, the one example showed the pointed red shape smashing a black swastika.[16][92]
- Anti-Racist Action (1988) use a red triangle in the form of a forked red slingshot.[93]
- The Network of Communists (RdC, Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.) is a communist political movement network, founded in Bologna, Italy on 13 September 1998.[94]
- NIKA (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.) was started in Germany in response to the rise of Germany's far-right party, the AfD (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.).[95]
- Organisation of Communist Internationalists (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.)
- Ras l'front (RLF, English: "Fed up") use an inverted red triangle in some of their modern logos. For example: RLF Voiron.[96][97]
- Revolutionary Left in Spain (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.) used a red wedge in their first logo.
- Territoires de la Mémoire (Territories of Memory) and Triangle Rouge (Red Triangle) are Belgian organisations who promote the use of the red triangle as a symbol of anti-fascism and anti-racism.[61][lower-alpha 13] (See also: Avenue Louise § World War II)
Nationalist or religious groups
Liberté chérie (French for "Cherished Liberty") was a Masonic Lodge founded in 1943 by imprisoned freemasons at Esterwegen concentration camp. It was one of the few lodges of Freemasons founded within a Nazi concentration camp during the Second World War.[98][99][100]
- Qassam Brigades (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.) have used an inverted red triangle (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.) in their propaganda videos since November 2023.[101][102] The inverted red triangle was later included in the logo of their Military Media division (الإعلام العسكري).[103][104] Al-Qassam (military and security division of the civilian Islamic Resistance Movement) differ from most of the other groups by being religious and nationalist, but that are allied with two Marxist groups.[lower-alpha 14] Most media have said Qassam's symbol has different origins (see below), but some anti-Zionists have compared the actions of al-Qassam to resistance groups in occupied Europe in WWII, in Warsaw and Sobibor.[105][106][107]
The red triangle and red wedge in arts and media
Left-wing news and non-fiction
- Searchlight (magazine) use the red wedge in their current logo.[2]
- Antifaschistisches Infoblatt (AIB) is an anti-fascist publication in Berlin, Germany.[108][109]
- The People's History of Australia podcast uses a logo with a red wedge attacking a white map of Australia.[110]
Music
- The British band Red Wedge reference Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge in their name.[64][16]
- L'affiche rouge is a song by Léo Ferré commemorating victims of the Affiche rouge affair.
Visual arts
- A political cartoon by Brazilian artist Carlos Latuff depicted a Palestinian man behind the West Bank barrier in the striped uniform of a Nazi concentration camp, with a red crescent in place of the red triangle work by political prisoners, or red and yellow star worn by Jewish political prisoners. In 2006 a Latuff's cartoon won second prize in the 2006 International Holocaust Cartoon Competition in Iran.[111][112][113] The competition in Iran was started as retaliation for Western cartoonists' depictions of the Prophet Muhammed and associated claims of "free speech", by choosing the topic Western audiences would find most offensive.[114][115]
- The Russian artist Sergei Bugaev produced an "Anti-Lissitzky" series at the end of the Cold War, between 1991 and 1995, which included several derivative works based on "Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge".[116]
- Kunstverein Roter Keil (Red Wedge art and culture association) say their name is a coincidence.
Fiction
- A variant of the image by El Lissitzky is used as the logo for the "Peacekeepers" on Sci-Fi TV show Farscape.[117]
See also
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Red triangles (political prisoners). |
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Red triangles. |
- Anti-fascism
- Black triangle (badge)
- Brown triangle
- Communist Party of Germany
- German-occupied Europe
- Historiography of German resistance to Nazism
- Identification in Nazi camps
- LGBTQ symbols § Triangle badges of Nazi Germany
- Nazi concentration camp badge § Single triangles
- P (Nazi symbol)
- Pink triangle
- Protective custody (Nazi Germany)
- Red triangle (Palestinian symbol)
- Trotskyism
- Victims of Nazi Germany § Political groups
- Yellow badge #Political groups
References
Footnotes
- ↑ Image from a protest in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony in 2021. The banner says "crash the party" (in English) with Nationalismus ist keine Alternative (NIKA, English: Nationalism is not an alternative) underneath, and had been used at earlier protests as well.[1]
- ↑ Association of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime – Federation of Antifascists (VVN-BdA) protest banner at a protest against Alternative for Germany in Frankfurt in 2025. Translation: "Ban the AfD now! Ban Nazi parties, before it's too late".
- ↑ 'Three 8' referred to 8 hours of work, 8 hours of leisure, and 8 hours of sleep.
- ↑ Media related to Workers' Soap Factory at Wikimedia Commons
- ↑ Note: Auschwitz is the German name for Oświęcim.
- ↑ In the town of Lüderitz, Saxony-Anhalt, in the former East Germany. The inscription says in Script error: The function "langx" does not exist..
- ↑ Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.
- ↑ Note: as of 2023-06-08 their page-long French language definition of Anti-Semitism made no mention of either Israel or Zionism, see also: IHRA definition of antisemitism.[62]
- ↑ Similar symbols have been used elsewhere, such as by Jewish Anti Fascist Action in the UK
- ↑ March Against Racism and Fascism in New York City on 16 March 2019. More images: Media related to New York City rally in support of the victims of the Christchurch mosque shootings in Civic Center, Manhattan at Wikimedia Commons
- ↑ Protest against the party conference of the Berlin regional association of the AfD in 2018. The banner says: Script error: The function "langx" does not exist., See also: Media related to Protest against an AfD meeting in the Zitadelle Spandau on 04-09-2018 at Wikimedia Commons
- ↑ Script error: The function "langx" does not exist..
- ↑ Note: as of 2023-06-08 their page-long French language definition of Anti-Semitism made no mention of either Israel or Zionism, see also: IHRA definition of antisemitism.[62]
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
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External links
- LangLаngС (pen name) (26 June 2020). "Have Antifa members used an inverted red triangle as a symbol?". Skeptics Stack Exchange. Archived from the original on 2025-07-05.
- Becker, Maximilian (21 December 2020). "Tales of Antifascism: International Survivors' Organizations during the Cold War". Fascism. 9 (1–2): 244–271. doi:10.1163/22116257-09010009. ISSN 2211-6249.
- "Website of the VVN-BdA (Bund der Antifaschistinnen und Antifaschisten)". vvn-bda.de (in Deutsch). Retrieved 26 July 2025.
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Variations of the red triangle and red wedge have been used for over a century to represent anti-fascism and other left-wing political ideologies.[2] In Western Europe the most well-known historical example is the inverted red triangle that represents opposition to Germany's Nazi Party and resistance to Nazi Germany's military occupation of Europe during World War Two.[3] This inverted red triangle symbol was reclaimed by anti-fascists in Europe after being used on prisoner uniforms in concentration camps in Nazi Germany and occupied Europe. A red triangle patch pointing upwards designated prisoners within the jurisdiction of the Wehrmacht, including prisoners of war,[citation needed] spies, and military deserters.[4] Whereas an inverted red triangle was worn by political prisoners, including resistance fighters.[3][5][6] The Nazis chose red because the first people to wear it were Communists. Besides Communists, liberals, anarchists, Social Democrats, Freemasons, and other opposition party members also wore a red triangle.[6][7] After the war the red triangle symbol was reclaimed as a symbol of resistance against the German occupation of Europe during the war, similar to the way that the pink triangle used to mark gay prisoners became a symbol of LGBTQ pride.[3] The reclaimed red triangle symbol has been used as the logo for the Association of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime – Federation of Antifascists (VVN-BdA) in Germany, and numerous other post-war remembrances and memorial groups, it has also been worn as a lapel pin by left-wing politicians from Belgium, France, and Spain. Other left-wing, anti-fascist, and resistance groups have used red triangle or red wedge symbols that reference images and symbols from before WWII.[2] One of these is Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge, a 1919 propaganda poster by El Lissitzky.[2] An even earlier image recalled by some labour movements is an equilateral triangle representing eight-hours of work, eight-hours of leisure, and eight hours of sleep in the 24-hours of a day. In 2020, Donald Trump's presidential re-election campaign attracted controversy by using the symbol in social media adversisements attacking his own far-left opponents, whom he described as "Antifa".[8]
Before Nazi Germany
Eight-hour workday
The red triangle has been a left-wing political symbol since the 19th century. On Labor Day in 1890 in France workers wore a red triangle as a symbol of the eight-hour working day they were fighting for, with the three points representing 8 hours of work, 8 hours of rest, and 8 hours of leisure.[9][10] It is still used with this meaning in some parts of Europe, in conjunction with Labour Day celebrations on 8 May.[11]
In July 1889 in Paris, at the meeting of the Second International, the workers' association bringing together European socialist and workers' parties, decided that the following year, workers would demonstrate on May 1 to demand the eight-hour day.[12] The red leather triangle was adopted on 1 May 1890 in Paris during the workers' struggles so that the demonstrator could distinguish himself from the man in the street.[13] The badge symbolizes workers' demand for a maximum eight-hour work day, which reserved 8 hours of sleep and 8 hours of leisure. The inscription "1 May, 8 hours of work" was sewn onto the triangle for the demonstration.[14]
Following the immense success of the mobilization of the 1 May 1890 – in Belgium, 150,000 workers went on strike – it was decided shortly afterward to make this date a worldwide day of action, this is the creation of the International Workers' Day (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.).[12] The eight-hour day was obtained in 1919 in France and in 1921 in Belgium.[12]
- Advertisements for 'Three 8' brand soap [lower-alpha 3][lower-alpha 4]
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'3x8' brand soap [additional citation(s) needed]
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Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.
El Lissitzky's Red Wedge
Similar symbols were being used in far-left politics in early 20th century Russia. A red triangle or "red wedge" features on some early communist posters. A red wedge appeared in a 1919 soviet propaganda poster by constructivist artist El Lissitzky titled "Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge", referring to the anti-communist White movement, who were defeated by the Red Army during the Russian Civil War.[15][16] The term "whites" referred to the White movement, a conservative, right-wing, monarchist movement whose factional colour was white. The title, allegedly recommended by Ilya Ehrenburg, is possibly a response to the pogrom slogan "Beat the Jews!" (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.).[17][18][19] The full slogan was Beat the Jews - save Russia! (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.), and it was predominantly used by right wing monarchists and their militant Black Hundreds.[20][21][22]
Numerous modern left-wing groups and publications have used symbols that reference the red wedge, or the reclamation or the red triangle badge that the Nazis used to mark their political opponents, or both.[2] The black flag used by modern anti-fascists (Antifa) also refers back to the era of the Russian Revolution.[23] The El Lissitzky poster was the namesake of the 1980s British left-wing musical collective Red Wedge, they opposed British conservatives but did not describe themselves as communist.[24][25][26]
Opponents of the Nazi Party
Background to Nazi persecution of left-wing opponents
The colour of the symbol comes from the party colours of the Communist Party of Germany, one of the first groups to be detained in the Nazi concentration camps.[3] Nazi crackdowns on their left wing political enemies started very early. As depicted in the famous poem, First They Came by Martin Niemöller, a German priest. It begins, "When the Nazis came for the communists, I kept quiet; I wasn't a communist" (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.).[29] The most comon English version begimns, "First they came for the Communists".[30][29] In a 2024 article about the origins of the red triangle symbol, Germany's public broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported, "At first, the majority of political inmates were German Social Democrats or Communists and the red of the triangle referred to their party colors.. most were non-Germans from across the political spectrum who had opposed National Socialism or Nazi Germany's occupation of their countries".[3]
The red triangle badge in Nazi concentration camps
A red inverted triangle was worn by political prisoners in Nazi concentration camps.[31][5][7]
The red triangle was only used for Jewish prisoners in unusual circumstances, such as when the Nazi authorities in the prison were unaware that the prisoner was Jewish.[32]
German communists were among the first to be imprisoned in concentration camps.[33][34] Their ties to the USSR concerned Hitler, and the Nazi Party was intractably opposed to communism. Rumors of communist violence were spread by the Nazis to justify the Enabling Act of 1933, which gave Hitler his first dictatorial powers. Hermann Göring testified at Nuremberg that Nazi willingness to repress German Communists prompted Hindenburg and the old elite to cooperate with them. Hitler and the Nazis also despised German leftists because of their resistance to Nazi racism. Hitler referred to Marxism and "Bolshevism" as means for "the international Jew" to undermine "racial purity", stir up class tension and mobilise trade unions against the government and business. When the Nazis occupied a territory, communists, socialists and anarchists were usually among the first to be repressed; this included summary executions. An example is Hitler's Commissar Order, in which he demanded the summary execution of all Soviet troops who were political commissars who offered resistance or were captured in battle.[35][verification needed]
Many red triangle wearers were interned at Dachau concentration camp. The triangle and star system was used at the Dachau concentration camp from 1938 to 1942.[36]
According to the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Oświęcim, Poland, 95% of prisoners at Auschwitz concentration camp were accused of political crimes.[lower-alpha 5][37][additional citation(s) needed]
Later this expanded and many political detainees were German and foreign civilian activists from across the political spectrum who opposed the Nazi regime, captured resistances fighters (many of whom were executed during—or immediately after—their interrogation, particularly in occupied Poland and France) and, sometimes, their families. German political prisoners were a substantial proportion of the first inmates at Dachau (the prototypical Nazi concentration camp). The political People's Court was notorious for the number of its death sentences.[38][39]
After WWII
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Since the end of World War II the red triangle has been used as an anti-fascist symbol.[2] The pink triangle and red triangle were both reclaimed after the war as symbols of pride and remembrance.[3]
Association of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime – Federation of Antifascists (VVN-BdA)
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The Association of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime – Federation of Antifascists (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist., VVN-BdA) is a German political confederation founded in 1947 and based in Berlin. The VVN-BdA, formerly the VVN, emerged from victims' associations in Germany founded by political opponents to Nazism after the Second World War and the end of the Nazi rule in Germany.[verification needed]
With the end of World War II, self-help groups of former resistance fighters were founded in "anti-fascist committees", known as "Antifas", involving working class militants, in particular but not only Communists[40][41][42][43] which were banned immediately by the military administrations of each of the British and American occupation zones for being far politically left.[44][45] By June 26, 1945, an "association of political prisoners and persecutees of the Nazi system" had been founded in Stuttgart, and in the following weeks and months, there were regional groups of ex-political prisoners and other persecuted individuals formed with the permission of the allied forces, in each of the four occupation zones.[46]
The group are critical of far-right politicians in Germany and abroad. In 2025, the group claimed that, "The weakening of universities has long been a declared goal of the US right".[47]
The VVN-BdA have often used their red triangle symbol. and variants of it, at protests against the German political party Alternative for Germany (the AfD), repeatedly calling for the AfD to be banned. In a press release they quoted Erich Kästner, "The events of 1933 to 1945 should have been fought by 1928 at the latest. Later, it was too late." in a January 2024 call for a ban.[48] Federal chairman of the VVN-BdA, Florian Gutsche, said "The revelation of the deportation plans has brought the AfD's inhumane ideology into the spotlight of public debate. However, these plans are not new. Its platform already clearly shows that it is a völkisch-nationalist party. Through party funding, the AfD has been providing state support to Nazis for years".[48] Many other people and groups have also called for the AfD to be banned, including historians and activist groups that date back to the aftermath of World War Two. Jens-Christian Wagner, head of the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorial Foundation.[49]
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Memorial in Saxony‑Anhalt [lower-alpha 6]
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Postcard showing a VVN event in 1950 in East Berlin.[lower-alpha 7]
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VVN memorial to the victims of fascism.
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VVN-BdA members wearing red triangle anti-AfD symbols
Use in East Germany (Deutsche Demokratische Republik)
From 1975 onwards, the Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR, also known as East Germany) released a medal for the "Committee of Antifascist Resistance Fighters" (KdAW, Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.) of the GDR that included a red triangle.[51] The Committee of Antifascist Resistance Fighters (KdAW) was formed in 1953. Practically speaking, it functioned as the East German counterpart of the Union of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime (Vereinigung der Verfolgten des Naziregimes). The KdAW enjoyed a close relationship with the Socialist Unity Party, although it was not a member of the National Front.[verification needed] The organisation played an important role in the commemoration of German resistance to Nazism and The Holocaust in East Germany.[52] East Germany utilised such commemorative functions to emphasise the anti-fascist orientation of the state.[53] Membership in the KdAW served as a means of accessing benefits. For instance, membership made one eligible to receive the Medal for Fighters Against Fascism.[54] It also contained a number of working groups, which brought people with similar backgrounds together. The most prominent of these were groups for survivors of various concentration camps and prisons; for example one existed for former prisoners of Brandenburg-Görden Prison. Another working group was formed for veterans of the International Brigades of the Spanish Civil War.[55]
The red triangle on memorials
In addition to the Association of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime – Federation of Antifascists (VVN-BdA) memorials above, the red triangle also features on numerous other war memorials in Europe. War memorials featuring the red triangle symbol exist in Germany and in areas of Europe that were occupied by Germany during World War Two.[3]
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Memorial on the grounds of Sachsenhausen
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Memorial for the 2,000 women victims of Ravensbrück
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Buchenwald death march route historical information signage
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Memorial to forced labor deaths at the truck factory in Zittau, Germany
Service medals
Service medals awarded to prisoners of war and other camp inmates after WWII feature the triangle that was used on prisoners' uniforms. The Auschwitz Cross, a Polish medal for camp victims and the Political Prisoner's Cross 1940–1945, a Belgian medal both show a red triangle with a nationality indicator, and the ribbons replicate the striped fabric of some camp uniforms.[56]
The Political Prisoner's Cross 1940–1945 (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist., Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.) was a Belgian war medal established by royal decree of the Regent on 13 November 1947 and awarded to Belgian citizens arrested and interned by the Germans as political prisoners during the Second World War. The award's statute included provisions for posthumous award should the intended recipient not survive detention, and the right of the widow, the mother or the father of the deceased to wear the cross.[56]
The Auschwitz Cross (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.), instituted on 14 March 1985, was a Polish decoration awarded to honour survivors of Nazi German concentration camps, including Auschwitz.[57] Auschwitz is a German name for the Polish town Oświęcim, where a complex of concentration camps was built by Nazi Germany during the German occupation of Europe during WWII.[additional citation(s) needed] It was awarded generally to Poles, but it was possible to award it to foreigners in special cases. It could be awarded posthumously. It ceased to be awarded in 1999. An exception was made in the case of Greta Ferušić, who was awarded it in February 2004.[58] Some of the people awarded the medal were Jewish, including Szymon Kluger (Shimson Kleuger).[59]
Belgium
Territoires de la Mémoire and Triangle Rouge (Red Triangle) are Belgian organisations who promote the use of the red triangle as a symbol of anti-fascism and anti-racism.[60][61][lower-alpha 10]
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Recent anti-fascist and left-wing usage
After the war the red triangle and pink triangle symbols were reclaimed by those who opposed the Nazis' oppression of those groups.[3] The red triangle became a symbol of resistance against the German occupation of Europe during the war, and the pink triangle used to mark gay prisoners became a symbol of LGBTQ pride.[3] Like the pink triangle, the red also was used in some broader contexts, not just directly related to memorializing the victims of Nazi Germany. Some of the broader usage referenced the El Lissitsky poster.[2]
Various anti-fascist and left wing groups in Europe have used red triangles referencing the reclaimed political prisoners' symbol or the Soviet red wedge. In the United Kingdom in the 1980s Anti-Fascist Action sometimes used the symbol.[16][62] For example, they produced a badge that showed a red triangle / red wedge symbol aggressively attacking a black swastika and smashing it.[16] In the dandruff era, the Red Wedge we a left wing pop group in the UK who took their name from the soviet poster.[63]
Symbols at protests
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Red triangle and red wedge symbols often feature at protests against far-right political movements, particularly in Germany.[64]
The German protest group NIKA (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.) was started in response to the rise of Germany's far-right party, the AfD (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.).[1]
The same protest banner saying "crash the party" was also used by NIKA in 2017.[1]
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VVN-BdA flags at a protest against Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Hannover in Lower Saxony in 2022.
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A Jewish anti-fascist symbol [lower-alpha 11] on a banner in New York City at a rally against the Christchurch mosque massacre and other fascist violence on 16 March 2019 [lower-alpha 12][65]
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NIKA logo in the corner of a banner saying in Script error: The function "langx" does not exist., in Spandau in 2018 [lower-alpha 13]
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Women with symbols of all persecuted groups on International Women's Day at the Ravensbrück monument in Amsterdam in 1985.[66]
Political discourse
Political discussions often include comparisons to Nazi Germany or fascism more broadly, the analogy is often criticised and particularly controversial when applied to Israel (the self-described "Jewish State" in the Levant).
Red triangle lapel pins in European politics
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Red triangle lapel pins are widely distributed Western European countries. Red triangle pins are worn by socialist, communist, and other left-wing or far-left politicians in countries such as Belgium, Spain, and France.[67][68][69] Left-wing French presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon wore a red triangle lapel pin during his campaign, the message was particularly aimed at diffentiating himself from far-right National Front candidate Marine Le Pen (daughter of the party's even more controversial founder, Jean-Marie Le Pen).[67]
Jean-Luc Mélenchon explained the meaning of the symbol, "I have been compared to the National Front. I was outraged. I said to myself, what could I wear? And someone, a Belgian, a comrade, said to me, 'Listen, I'll give you mine, it's the insignia of the communist deportees in the Nazi concentration camps'. And so I said: 'now I'm putting it on, I'm not taking it off' ... We forget this moment in history. But the first to be deported and massacred were the communists..."[67]
French politician Ugo Bernalicis, from the Left Party (previously from the Socialist Party), represents the department of Nord, in the French National Assembly.[70][71] Bernalicis was born into a family close to the communist movement, with a militant father, an elected grandfather and a great-grandfather who was deported to the Dachau concentration camp because of his political convictions.[72]
Modern persecution of leftists and criticism of the far-right
In 2020, Donald Trump's presidential re-election campaign attracted controversy by using the symbol in social media adversisements attacking his own far-left opponents, whom he described as "Antifa". Facebook banned the ad on the basis of the historical use by the Nazi Party in their persecution of their political opponents.[8] A spokesperson for the campaign claimed it was not a hate symbol on the basis that it was not in the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) database of hate symbols. ADL's CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, pointed out the database only included symbols used in the United States, not historical or foreign symbols.[8] "Gigafact" published a fact check with the question "Does Antifa commonly use an inverted red triangle symbol once used by Nazis?" and their headline answer was "NO", but they did point out that the red triangle has been used by some European anti-fascist groups.[62]
2020 Trump campaign terrorism accusations against antifa
In June 2020, Donald Trump's election campaign included an advertisement on social media saying that he would make "Antifa" (short for anti-fascism) a "designated terrorist" group. The advertisement showed the red triangle as an antifa symbol.[73]
In June 2020, the re-election campaign of Donald Trump posted an advertisement on Facebook stating that "Dangerous MOBS of far-left groups are running through our streets and causing absolute mayhem" and identifying them as "ANTIFA", accompanied by a graphic of a downward-pointing red triangle. The ads appeared on the Facebook pages of Donald Trump, the Trump campaign, and Vice President Mike Pence. Many observers compared the graphic to the symbol used by the Nazis for identifying political prisoners such as communists, social democrats and socialists. Many noted the number of ads – 88 – which is associated with neo-Nazis and white supremacists.[74][75][76]
Progressive and conservative Jewish groups both expressed public disapproval for Trump's use of the symbol. "Bend the Arc: Jewish Action", a Progressive Jewish site, stated the campaign was using the symbol "to smear millions of protestors".[77][78][79][80][81][82]
Facebook removed the campaign ads with the graphic, saying that its use in this context violated their policy against "organized hate".[83][84][85][86][87][88] The Trump campaign's communications director wrote, "The red triangle is a common Antifa symbol used in an ad about Antifa." Historian Mark Bray, author of Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook, disputed this, saying that the symbol is not associated with Antifa in the United States.[89]
Trump lost the 2020 election, but won the next, then in his second term Trump again tried to use terrorist designations very broadly, to target drug cartels in Central America.[90]
Logos of political and activist groups
Left-wing groups
Most political groups using the symbol are far-left groups in Europe.
- Anti-Fascist Action in the United Kingdom used the symbol in badges in the 80s, the one example showed the pointed red shape smashing a black swastika.[16][91]
- Anti-Racist Action (1988) use a red triangle in the form of a forked red slingshot.[92]
- The Network of Communists (RdC, Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.) is a communist political movement network, founded in Bologna, Italy on 13 September 1998.[93]
- NIKA (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.) was started in Germany in response to the rise of Germany's far-right party, the AfD (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.).[94]
- Organisation of Communist Internationalists (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.)
- Ras l'front (RLF, English: "Fed up") use an inverted red triangle in some of their modern logos. For example: RLF Voiron.[95][96]
- Revolutionary Left (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.) in Spain used a red wedge in their first logo.
- Territoires de la Mémoire (Territories of Memory) and Triangle Rouge (Red Triangle) are Belgian organisations who promote the use of the red triangle as a symbol of anti-fascism and anti-racism.[60][lower-alpha 15] (See also: Avenue Louise § World War II)
Nationalist or religious groups
- Liberté chérie (French for "Cherished Liberty") was a Masonic Lodge founded in 1943 by imprisoned freemasons at Esterwegen concentration camp. It was one of the few lodges of Freemasons founded within a Nazi concentration camp during the Second World War.[97][98][99]
- Qassam Brigades (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.) have used an inverted red triangle (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.) in their propaganda videos since November 2023.[100][101] The inverted red triangle was later included in the logo of their Military Media division.[102][103] Qassam differ from most of the other groups by being religious and nationalist. Most media have said Qassam's symbol has different orogins (see below).
The red triangle and red wedge in arts and media
Left-wing news and non-fiction
- Searchlight (magazine) use the red wedge in their current logo.[2]
- Antifaschistisches Infoblatt (AIB) is an anti-fascist publication in Berlin, Germany.[104][105]
- The People's History of Australia podcast uses a logo with a red wedge attacking a white map of Australia.[106]
Music
- The British band Red Wedge reference Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge in their name.[63][16]
- L'affiche rouge is a song by Léo Ferré commemorating victims of the Affiche rouge affair.
Visual arts
- A political cartoon by Brazilian artist Carlos Latuff depicted a Palestinian man behind the West Bank barrier in the striped uniform of a Nazi concentration camp, with a red crescent in place of the red triangle work by political prisoners, or red and yellow star worn by Jewish political prisoners. In 2006 a Latuff's cartoon won second prize in the 2006 International Holocaust Cartoon Competition in Iran.[107][108][109] The competition in Iran was started as retaliation for Western cartoonists' depictions of the Prophet Muhammed and associated claims of "free speech", by choosing the topic Western audiences would find most offensive.[110][111]
- The Russian artist Sergei Bugaev produced an "Anti-Lissitzky" series at the end of the Cold War, between 1991 and 1995, which included several derivative works based on "Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge".[112]
- Kunstverein Roter Keil (Red Wedge art and culture association) say their name is a coincidence.
Fiction
- A variant of the image by El Lissitzky is used as the logo for the "Peacekeepers" on Sci-Fi TV show Farscape.[113]
See also
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Red triangles. |
- Anti-fascism
- Black triangle (badge)
- Brown triangle
- Communist Party of Germany
- German-occupied Europe
- Historiography of German resistance to Nazism
- Identification in Nazi camps
- LGBTQ symbols § Triangle badges of Nazi Germany
- Nazi concentration camp badge § Single triangles
- P (Nazi symbol)
- Pink triangle
- Protective custody (Nazi Germany)
- Red triangle (Palestinian symbol)
- Trotskyism
- Victims of Nazi Germany § Political groups
- Yellow badge #Political groups
References
Footnotes
- ↑ Image from a protest in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony in 2021. The banner says "crash the party" (in English) with Nationalismus ist keine Alternative (NIKA, English: Nationalism is not an alternative) underneath, and had been used at earlier protests as well.[1]
- ↑ Association of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime – Federation of Antifascists (VVN-BdA) protest banner at a protest against Alternative for Germany in Frankfurt in 2025. Translation: "Ban the AfD now! Ban Nazi parties, before it's too late".
- ↑ 'Three 8' referred to 8 hours of work, 8 hours of leisure, and 8 hours of sleep.
- ↑ Media related to Workers' Soap Factory at Wikimedia Commons
- ↑ Note: Auschwitz is the German name for Oświęcim.
- ↑ In the town of Lüderitz, Saxony-Anhalt, in the former East Germany. The inscription says in Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.
- ↑ German Youth Meeting on 27-30 May 1950, in the Lustgarten, Berlin. Image from flickr.[50][additional citation(s) needed]
- ↑ The phrase in Script error: The function "langx" does not exist., is written on the middle pillar.
- ↑ Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.
- ↑ Note: as of 2023-06-08 their page-long French language definition of Anti-Semitism made no mention of either Israel or Zionism, see also: IHRA definition of antisemitism.[61]
- ↑ Similar symbols have been used elsewhere, such as by Jewish Anti Fascist Action in the UK
- ↑ March Against Racism and Fascism in New York City on 16 March 2019. More images: Media related to New York City rally in support of the victims of the Christchurch mosque shootings in Civic Center, Manhattan at Wikimedia Commons
- ↑ Protest against the party conference of the Berlin regional association of the AfD in 2018. The banner says: Script error: The function "langx" does not exist., See also: Media related to Protest against an AfD meeting in the Zitadelle Spandau on 04-09-2018 at Wikimedia Commons
- ↑ Script error: The function "langx" does not exist..
- ↑ Note: as of 2023-06-08 their page-long French language definition of Anti-Semitism made no mention of either Israel or Zionism, see also: IHRA definition of antisemitism.[61]
- ↑ (Организация Коммунистов Интернационалистов)
External links
- LangLаngС (pen name) (26 June 2020). "Have Antifa members used an inverted red triangle as a symbol?". Skeptics Stack Exchange. Archived from the original on 2025-07-05.
- Becker, Maximilian (21 December 2020). "Tales of Antifascism: International Survivors' Organizations during the Cold War". Fascism. 9 (1–2): 244–271. doi:10.1163/22116257-09010009. ISSN 2211-6249.
- "Website of the VVN-BdA (Bund der Antifaschistinnen und Antifaschisten)". vvn-bda.de (in Deutsch). Retrieved 26 July 2025.
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