What Does the Anarchy Symbol Mean?

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Learn the history and social significance of the circle-A
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The anarchy symbol (or the circle-A) can be found all over the world, but what does it really mean? The history of this symbol isn’t completely clear, but most people think it was probably inspired by the International Workingmen's Association and the struggle for worker’s rights in the 1860s. Now, the symbol represents youth culture and the anti-government and anti-capitalist mindset of anarchists around the world. Keep reading to learn more about this widespread symbol.

What is the Circled Letter A?

The circle-A symbol means “society seeks order through anarchy,” with the “O” in “order” forming the circle and the “A” in “anarchy” in the middle. This symbol for anarchism may have come from the symbol for Spain’s International Workingmen's Association, a group that created unions and fought for working-class rights.

Section 1 of 5:

What does the anarchy symbol mean?

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    The circle-A symbol is one of the most recognizable symbols of anarchy and has been used in youth culture since the 1970s. Many anarchists believe that the circle is the letter “O,” standing for order or organization, and the “A” represents anarchy. [1]
    • This comes from Pierre-Joseph Proudhon's 1840 definition of anarchism, where he says “as man seeks justice in equality, so society seeks order in anarchy.” [2]
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Section 2 of 5:

History of the Anarchy Symbol

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    Spain’s International Workingman’s Association (IWA or IWMA) was a group formed around the 1860s that worked to create unions and fought for working-class rights. [3] Their logo was a circle with an A in the middle that looked like a measuring tool, representing the working class.
    • The IWA in London was created in 1864 and led by Karl Marx, who wrote essays that inspired Communist political theory. [4]
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    The circle-A became the perfect symbol for punk frustration and rage with mainstream society in the U.S. and U.K. [5] It was spray painted onto buildings, sewn into jackets, tattooed, and included in zines, creating a feisty new movement in youth culture.
    • The symbol also appealed to punk’s anti-establishment, anti-capitalism, and anti-conformist views. [6]
    • This version of the symbol became more hand-made and slashed compared to the previous circle-A symbols, matching punk “break the system” attitudes of the time.
    • In the 1980s, Crass, a political anarcho-punk (anarchism-punk) band, explained the ideology of anarchism and brought it to the center of the punk movement. [7]
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Section 3 of 5:

Is the anarchy symbol a hate symbol?

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    In 2022, the U.S. government released a new Domestic Terrorism Symbols Guide that includes “Anarchist Violent Extremism” symbols like the circle-A, the black cat, and the red and black flag. However, using these symbols doesn't automatically mean you’re engaging in illegal activity. [8]
    • For example, some people use these symbols to reference their original, historic meaning or for other non-violent purposes. [9]
    • These symbols aren’t automatically hate symbols, because only anarchist extremists, a small group of anarchists, believe in and commit violent revolution. [10]
Section 4 of 5:

What is anarchy?

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    Anarchy comes in all different forms, but most anarchists believe that the government restricts the choices of individuals when the point of society is to widen them. Anarchists push for a society where people can do whatever they’d like, except stop others from doing what they’d like. [11]
    • Anarchy became a movement in the 1870s, however, anarchist thought has existed since the mid-1600s.
    • Anarchy is also used to criticize larger systems like racism, sexism, ableism, anti-LGBTQ+, ageism, capitalism, colonialism, and imperialism. [12]
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Section 5 of 5:

Other Anarchy Symbols and Flags

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    The origin of the black cat (or sabo-tabby) symbol is unclear, but most people believe it was created by Ralph Chaplin, an American organizer for the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). [13] The black hissing cat was meant to symbolize striking for better workers’ rights, but it later became a code for direct action and sabotage. [14]
    • Today, the IWW doesn’t endorse the use of the black cat or condone sabotage by workers. [15]
    • The Swiss anarchist Théophile Steinlen used the black cat (Le Chat Noir) in some of his most famous paintings, which inspired anarchists in other countries like France. [16]
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    The black flag is the opposite of all other colored flags, representing the absence of government. The black also symbolizes determination, strength, anger, beauty, and hope. [17] Although anarchy’s history is shared with socialism and communism, the black flag is a way for anarchists to separate these ideologies. [18]
    • The black flag has been associated with anarchy since the 1880s when many anarchist journals and organizations adopted the name “black flag.”
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    Black and red have been used by anarchists since the late 1800s, and the diagonally divided black and red flag was first used by anarchists in Spain during the Spanish Civil War. [19] In Western Europe, the flag represents bringing together the red of Communism and the black of anarchism. [20]
    • Others believe the red represents the blood that every human has while the black symbolizes the suffering of those who are starving, unemployed, or without worker’s rights. [21]
    • In countries like Ukraine, fascist movements also used a red and black flag, but theirs was divided horizontally. This often caused confusion at protests. [22]
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      References

      1. ↑ https://stevenklett.medium.com/deconstructing-anarchy-part-1-reading-proudhon-and-what-is-property-7fa7b213603a
      2. ↑ https://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/economics/proudhon/property/ch05.htm
      3. ↑ https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/cambridge-history-of-socialism/international-working-mens-association-186418767/2281A0998F3503B74962A4D960FF1D52
      4. ↑ https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/marx/
      5. ↑ https://time.com/3799113/anarchy-attitude-and-outrage-when-punk-was-young-and-dangerous/
      6. ↑ https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/history-and-civilisation/2022/07/what-was-punk-and-why-did-it-scare-people-so-much
      7. ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2009/jul/08/crass-punk-band-anarchy
      8. ↑ https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2022-10/22_1025_strategic-intelligence-assessment-data-domestic-terrorism.pdf
      9. ↑ https://vault.fbi.gov/domestic-terrorism-symbols-guide/domestic-terrorism-symbols-guide-part-01
      1. ↑ https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/stories/2010/november/anarchist_111610/anarchist_111610
      2. ↑ https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/donald-rooum-and-freedom-press-ed-what-is-anarchism-an-introduction
      3. ↑ https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/anarchism/
      4. ↑ https://www.lombardhistory.org/blog/2021/12/18/ralph-chaplin-labor-activisim
      5. ↑ https://archive.iww.org/history/icons/black_cat/
      6. ↑ https://archive.iww.org/history/icons/sabotage/
      7. ↑ https://www.metmuseum.org/blogs/now-at-the-met/2017/theophile-alexandre-steinlen-cats-socialism-world-war-i
      8. ↑ https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/howard-j-ehrlich-why-the-black-flag
      9. ↑ https://libcom.org/article/history-black-flag-black-flag
      10. ↑ https://library.ucsd.edu/speccoll/visfront/sindicatos.html
      11. ↑ https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/anarchism-in-makhnos-homeland-adventures-of-red-and-black-flag/
      12. ↑ https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/1886-lucy-parsons-i-am-anarchist/
      13. ↑ https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/anarchism-in-makhnos-homeland-adventures-of-red-and-black-flag/

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