During World War II, Nazi Germany fielded nearly 40 divisions of the so-called Waffen (or armed) SS, creating a private army for SS leader Heinrich Himmler.  These divisions fought on every front of the war in Europe, often committing war crimes and atrocities.  After the war, the Nuremburg Tribunal declared the SS a criminal organization.  However, neo-Nazis and other white supremacists glorified the Waffen SS and eventually began to use the various divisional insignia of these…

Stormfront is the oldest and largest white supremacist website on the Internet. Its logo consists of a squarish Celtic Cross encircled by the phrase "White Pride World Whide."

The Sturmabteilung (or SA) symbol is the emblem of Hitler's brownshirted stormtroopers (Sturmabteilung or "storm units" in German).  The Sturmabteilung were paramilitary formations used by Hitler to intimidate political opponents and Jews before and after his rise to power in Germany.  It declined after 1934 when its leaders were murdered at Hitler's orders and was largely supplanted by the SS.  After World War II, some neo-Nazis, especially in Europe, turned to the…

The Supreme White Alliance (SWA) is a hardcore racist skinhead gang based primarily in the Midwest. The gang has used a variety of symbols but the most common include a shield symbol with a laurel wreath and a dog or wolf; and a shield symbol containing a Wolfsangel, a Triskele and the number 43.

The Supreme White Alliance is a hardcore racist skinhead gang based primarily in the Midwest. Members sometimes use a two-handed handsign in which four fingers from one hand and three fingers from the other hand are used to represent the number 43. The gang uses 43 as a numeric symbol because the alphanumeric equivalents of the gang's initials (19 for S, 23 for W, and 1 for A), when added together, equal 43.

The swastika is an ancient symbol used in many cultures that was adopted by Adolf Hitler and turned into a symbol of hatred. Since then, the swastika has become perhaps the most notorious hate symbol in Western culture.

ALTERNATE NAMES: Supreme White PowerSWP is an acronym for the white supremacist slogan "Supreme White Power." It seems to have originated on the West Coast, probably in California's prison system, though it has spread from there. Supreme White Power and SWP are both common prison tattoos. One popular version displays the words "Supreme White Power" in a circle around a swastika made up of battle-axes. Usually, below the swastika is a Viking ship. Additional Images:

The Order was an American white supremacist terrorist group from the early to mid-1980s which committed assassinations, armored car robberies and bombings for several years before being brought down by law enforcement.

The Thor's Hammer or Hammer of Thor is an ancient Norse symbol. In Norse mythology, Thor is the god of thunder and his hammer (called Mjölnir) has the power of lightning. During the era of Viking ascendancy, miniature Thor's Hammers were often used as religious amulets. Today, the Hammer is a major symbol for those who follow neo-Norse religions such as Asatru. Although its traditional origins are non-racist, and although most Asatruers today are not racist, the Thor's Hammer…

ALTERNATE NAMES: Death's Head"Totenkopf" is German for "death's head" or skull and typically refers to a skull-and-crossbones image.  During the Nazi era, Hitler's Schutzstaffel (SS) adopted one particular Totenkopf image as a symbol.  Among other uses, it became the symbol of the SS-Totenkopfverbande (one of the original three branches of the SS, along with the Algemeine SS and the Waffen SS), whose purpose was to guard the concentration camps.  Many original members of this…

The triangular Ku Klux Klan symbol looks like a triangle within a triangle but is actually three letter K's aligned in a triangle and facing inwards.

ALTERNATE NAMES: TriskelionThe triskele (or triskelion) is an ancient symbol originating in pre-Christian Europe. The symbol consists of three curved or jointed segments spiraling from a common center. One version of the triskele, with three human legs, has been used in the coat of arms for the Isle of Man and the Kingdom of Naples. An abstracted triskele appears on the seal of the United States Department of Transportation. The triskele appears in many different variations, from a form that…

The Tyr rune is one of many ancient European symbols appropriated by the Nazis in their attempts to create an idealized "Aryan/Norse" heritage. This gave symbols such as the Tyr rune a new, racist significance that they did not originally have. Nazi Germany used the Tyr rune as a symbol for a number of Nazi entities, including the leadership schools (Reichsführerschulen) of Hitler's brownshirts, the Sturmabteilung, and a Waffen SS infantry division, among others. Since World War II,…

The Unforgiven are a large white supremacist prison gang based in the Florida prison system. Their main symbol consists of an interlocking Iron Cross and swastika, with SS lightning bolts in the center.

The Universal Aryan Brotherhood is a white supremacist prison gang based in the Oklahoma prison system, one of several such gangs that have used "brotherhood" in their title. Despite the gang's name, it has no connection to the original Aryan Brotherhood, which is based in the California and federal prison systems.

The United Society of Aryan Skinheads (USA) is a white supremacist gang active in the prisons and on the streets. Although it originated in Oregon, it is essentially based in California. USAS members primarily use one or more of three symbols: the white power fist, the Valknot, and bindrunes.

The Valknot or "knot of the slain" is an old Norse symbol associated with the afterlife that has been appropriated by white supremacists as a racist symbol. Non-racist pagans may also use this symbol, so it should be carefully examined in context.

The Vinland Flag was designed in the 1990s by gothic metal musician Peter Steele for an album for his band, Type O Negative. "Vinland" was the name given by Viking explorers to the area of North America that they discovered in the Middle Ages. In the early 2000s, white supremacists (most notably, the Vinlanders Social Club, a racist skinhead gang) began to appropriate the flag as a white supremacist symbol. Common variants involve adding one or more other hate symbols to the flag. Despite its…