White supremacists use the letter/number combination H8 to mean "hate." This usage dates back at least to the 1990s and may originally derive from the punk subculture, but it has become more common in recent years, with the spread of text-message abbreviations. Common motifs for the word include playing cards and billiards balls. Additional Images:

It is common for white supremacists to deny being racists or to claim to that the groups to which they belong are not hate groups, but in fact the word "hate" itself is commonly used as a white supremacist symbol for tattoos and clothing. Many white supremacists use the word to openly proclaim their hatred of people unlike them.  It is particularly common as a tattoo across the fingers of a hand. Additional Images:

ALTERNATE NAMES: NS Straight EdgeHate Edge (also known as NS or National Socialist Straight Edge) is a small white supremacist offshoot of the non-racist Straight Edge movement, which emerged from the punk subculture in the 1980s. Straight Edgers eschew drugs, alcohol, meat, and often casual sex. The most common Straight Edge symbols are "sXe" or "XXX."  Hate Edgers tend to appropriate these symbols but often add white supremacist twists or enhancements.  In Europe, the term National…

ALTERNATE NAMES: Imperial War Ensign, ReichskriegsflaggeBecause Germany has banned use of the swastika and other Nazi imagery, some German neo-Nazis use an older flag, taken from Imperial Germany, as a substitute for the Nazi flag. The imperial flag never originally had any racist or anti-Semitic meaning. Although most common in Germany, this usage of the imperial flag can also be found elsewhere in Europe and in the United States. Additional Images:

Learn how white supremacists adopted the neo-Nazi Iron Cross, and the new meanings (both positive and negative) that came from the new adaptation.

ITSUB is a Ku Klux Klan acronym for "In The Sacred Unfailing Being," a reference to God. It is one of many Klan acronyms created by the Second Ku Klux Klan that emerged in 1915. That Klan did not survive, but subsequent Ku Klux Klan groups continued many of its rituals and codes. Today, ITSUB has no real meaning or particular purpose and is typically used by Klan group members in on-line messages or posts solely as a way to identify themselves with the Ku Klux Klan. This has been the fate of a…

KABARK is a Ku Klux Klan acronym for "Konstantly Applied By All Regular Klansmen." It is one of many acronyms and codes developed by the Second Ku Klux Klan in the early 20th century. The Second Ku Klux Klan did not survive, but later Klan groups continued many of its codes and rituals. Today, KABARK is essentially meaningless and only used as a "sign off" in on-line messages by Klan group members, along with several other similar archaic acronyms. Additional Images:

KIGY is Ku Klux Klan shorthand for "Klansman I Greet You." It is one of many acronyms developed by the Second Ku Klux Klan that emerged in 1915. Although the Second Ku Klux Klan did not survive, much of its terminology and many of its rituals did, and later Klan groups freely used them. Additional Images:

KLASP is a Ku Klux Klan acronym for "Klannish Loyalty, A Sacred Principle." It is one of many Klan acronyms created by the Second Ku Klux Klan that emerged in 1915. That Klan did not survive, but subsequent Ku Klux Klan groups continued many of its rituals and codes. Today, KLASP has no real meaning or particular purpose and is typically used by Klan group members in on-line messages or posts solely as a way to identify themselves with the Ku Klux Klan. This has been the fate of a number of…

From its beginnings in the 1860s, the Ku Klux Klan has employed a variety of salutes and hand signs both public and private. Most of the hand signs and gestures used by the first and second Ku Klux Klans have fallen by the wayside over the years, except for the Klan salute, which dates back to 1915. It resembles a Nazi salute (which some Klan members will also use), except that it is performed with the left arm. Often Klan members will separate the fingers of their hand when making the salute …

The hood and robes of Ku Klux Klan members are the most visible Klan symbol of all. Read about the history and current meanings behind the Klan’s robes.

ALTERNATE NAMES: Elhaz Rune, Algis RuneNazi Germany appropriated many pre-Roman European symbols, such as runic symbols, in an attempt to glorify an idealized "Aryan/Norse" heritage. One of these was the so-called "life rune" (from the German Lebensrune), also known as the Elhaz or Algis rune. Elhaz means "elk" and in early Europe this symbol had meanings related to stags or hunting, as well as honor, nobility, or protection. The Nazis used the symbol in various contexts, including the SS's…

LOTIE is a Ku Klux Klan abbreviation for a "Lady Of The Invisible Empire," i.e., a female Klan member. It is one of many codes, phrases and rituals created by the Second Ku Klux Klan in the early 20th century. The Second Klan did not survive, but later Klan groups adopted many such codes and rituals, including LOTIE. Additional Images:

"Love Your Race" is a white supremacist slogan originally popularized by the neo-Nazi National Alliance. In white supremacist literature and fliers, the phrase is often accompanied by an idealized image of a beautiful and/or maternal white woman. It is often used as an indirect means of promoting the so-called "Fourteen Words" slogan: "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children." Additional Images:

White supremacists fear and hate the concept of multiracial couples, relationships or families, believing that such relationships "pollute" the "pure" white race. As a result, a fairly common white supremacist symbol depicts a multiracial couple or family, with a red circle/bar superimposed over the depiction, indicating that such relationships ought to be prohibited. Additional Images:

ALTERNATE NAMES: NSSANon Silba Sed Anthar is a Ku Klux Klan slogan intended to mean "Not Self, But Others." It looks like Latin but is a mix of Latin and Gothic. Occasionally it appears in acronym form as NSSA. The phrase is one of many phrases, codes and rituals developed by the Second Ku Klux Klan in the early 20th century. The Second Klan did not survive, but later Klan groups adopted many of its trappings. This is one of the more commonly used Klan slogans. Additional Images:

The hangman's noose has come to be one of the most powerful visual symbols directed against African-Americans, comparable in the emotions that it evokes to that of the swastika for Jews. Its origins are connected to the history of lynching in America, particularly in the South after the Civil War, when violence or threat of violence replaced slavery as one of the main forms of social control that whites used on African-Americans. The noose quickly became associated with the Ku Klux Klan. …

The "Northwest American Republic" is a fictional construct created by Harold Covington, a long-time fringe figure in the neo-Nazi movement. It is based on the so-called "Northwest Imperative," a longstanding call by some white supremacists for White people to move to the Pacific Northwest and establish their own country.

ALTERNATE NAMES: Othal Rune, Othila Rune, Odal Rune, Norse RuneThe othala rune is part of the runic alphabet system, a system of writing used (with many variations) across pre-Roman Europe. In the 20th century, Nazis in Germany adopted the othal rune, among many other similar symbols, as part of their attempt to reconstruct a mythic "Aryan" past. Nazi uses of the symbol included the divisional insignia of two Waffen SS divisions during World War II. Following World War II, white supremacists…

ALTERNATE NAMES: Wood, Woodpile, PWThe word "peckerwood" originated as an African-American slang term for "woodpecker" in the 1800s, but by the early 1900s began to be applied as a racial epithet against whites, with a meaning similar to the term "white trash." In the second half of the 20th century, in prison environments in Texas, California, and possibly elsewhere, the word peckerwood, originally used to refer to white prisoners generally, began to develop a more specific association with…