ALTERNATE NAMES: AB, The BrandThe Aryan Brotherhood is the oldest and most notorious racist prison gang in the United States, having started in California in the 1960s. It is present primarily in the California and federal prison systems. Many other prison gangs now also use "Aryan Brotherhood" as part of their name, such as the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas, but they are independent and unrelated to the "original" Aryan Brotherhood. Because of its longevity, Aryan Brotherhood members have…

The Aryan Brotherhood of Texas (ABT), a large and violent racist prison gang, uses a hand symbol consisting of a raised index finger and raised ring and little fingers (or the reverse), signifying the numbers 1 and 2. Substituting letters for numbers 1 and 2 stand for A and B, or Aryan Brotherhood. Sometimes ABT members may use a two-handed variation in which one hand "throws up" one digit and the other hand (belonging to the same or a different person) "throws up" two digits, again signifying…

ALTERNATE NAMES: AC, The DiamondGroup Status: Active The Aryan Circle is the second-largest white supremacist prison gang in Texas and one of the largest such gangs in the United States. Its most common tattoo, known as a "shield" or "patch," consists of a square oriented to form a diamond shape. Inside the diamond is typically a swastika and the initials AC; it is also common to include SS lightning bolts. Because of this symbol, Aryan Circle members often refer to their gang as "The…

The Aryan Circle is one of the largest white supremacist prison gangs in the United States. Its primary hand sign consists of holding up the thumb and the middle, ring, and little fingers of one hand, signifying the numbers 1 and 3 (which stand for AC). One can also hold up the little finger and the middle and index fingers, plus the thumb.

Group Status: Active The Aryan Cowboy Brotherhood is a small white supremacist prison/street gang based primarily in Minnesota and Kentucky. Its main symbol consists of a helmeted and winged skull with the initials ACB. Additional Images:

Group Status: Active The Aryan Knights are a white supremacist prison gang based primarily in Idaho. They often use the initials AK to identify themselves with tattoos or writing. Additional Images:

ALTERNATE NAMES: Bolts Up, Bolts to the SkyThe largest white supremacist prison gang in Tennessee is Aryan Nations (a different group than the neo-Nazi group of the same name). Aryan Nations gang members use a hand sign they sometimes refer to as "bolts up" or "bolts to the sky," consisting of forming the hand into a pistol shape and pointing it upwards or outwards. Additional Images:

Group Status: Active The largest white supremacist prison gang in Tennessee calls itself Aryan Nations.  The gang borrowed its title from the older neo-Nazi group of the same name, though the two are separate groups with few connections.  The "gang" Aryan Nations is also far larger than the "neo-Nazi" Aryan Nations.  The main symbol for this racist prison gang consists of a rounded Celtic Cross image with different symbols in each of the quadrants formed by the circle and…

Group Status: Active The Aryan Warriors are a longstanding racist prison gang based in the Nevada prison system. Members have created a variety of tattoos, but many of them consist of the gang's name or initials, or have some sort of Viking-related imagery, such as horned helmets or axes.   Some Aryan Warriors members may have shield tattoos containing the runic letters corresponding to A and W.    Additional Images:

Group Status: Active Brothers of White Warriors is a New Hampshire-based white supremacist prison gang. Its most common symbol is an Iron Cross inside of which usually appear the group's initials, jail bars, and a swastika, although the swastika can also appear below the Iron Cross and there are other variations. Additional Images:

ALTERNATE NAMES: Tennessee Aryan BrotherhoodGroup Status: Active Brotherhood Forever is a racist prison gang based in Tennessee that is also known as the Tennessee Aryan Brotherhood, according to prison officials. Its symbol consists of its name above and below SS lighting bolts. Sometimes these may appear within an Iron Cross symbol or shield symbol.   Gang members may also use numeric codes such as 26 (substituting letters for numbers, the 2 and 6 stand for B and F,…

The term "Crazy White Boy" (as well as its initials, CWB) is a phrase used generically by some white supremacists (often in tattoo form) to identify themselves.  It is also commonly used as a name for white gangs.  There have been a number of Crazy White Boy/s gangs in different places around the United States, in the streets or in prisons, over the years.  Most are small, locally-oriented, and unconnected to other, similarly named groups.  Variants of this term include…

Crew 1488 (sometimes called Organization 1488) is a small racist prison gang based primarily in Alaska, though it has a small presence in Colorado. Its primary symbol consists of a swastika intertwined with an Iron Cross, with 14, 88 and SS lightning bolts inside the Iron Cross.

The European Kindred is a large white supremacist prison gang based primarily in Oregon. Its primary symbol is a "shield" tattoo containing the initials EK, often displayed on the calf.

The European Kindred is a large white supremacist prison gang based primarily in Oregon. Gang members often use a two-handed hand sign in which three fingers of one hand are spread to look like an E and two fingers of another hand are spread to resemble a K.

The term "featherwood" derives from the related term "peckerwood," a word that evolved from an old racial epithet directed at whites to a term used to refer to people associated with the racist prison gang subculture. A featherwood is the female equivalent of a (male) peckerwood. Featherwoods can sometimes be members of racist prison gangs (and, in California, of related peckerwood street gangs) but are more often associates of such gangs, often girlfriends or wives of gang members. The term…

The Georgia Aryan Brotherhood is a racist prison gang based in Georgia. It has no connection to the "original" Aryan Brotherhood (present in the California and federal prison systems). Some members sport a "shield" tattoo, but many also use a wide variety of more generic Aryan Brotherhood symbology.

The Indiana Aryan Brotherhood is a large white supremacist prison gang based in Indiana. It is active both in Indiana prisons and on the streets. Despite its name, it has no connection to the "original" Aryan Brotherhood, which is based in the California and federal prison systems.

ALTERNATE NAMES: My Honor Is Loyalty, My Honor is Called Loyalty, Unser Ehre Heisst Treue"Meine Ehre Heisst Treue" is a German phrase that translates roughly to "My Honor Is Loyalty." In Nazi Germany, the Waffen SS (the military wing of the SS) used this phrase as a motto; it is a reference to the organization's loyalty to Adolf Hitler. Since World War II, neo-Nazis and other white supremacists around the world use this German phrase (or its equivalent in English or other languages) as a hate…