Hate on Display™ Hate Symbols Database

This database provides an overview of many of the symbols most frequently used by a variety of white supremacist groups and movements, as well as some other types of hate groups.

All the symbols depicted here must be evaluated in the context in which they appear. Few symbols represent just one idea or are used exclusively by one group. For example, 100% is often used as an amount or an expression and it is also used by some by some white supremacists as shorthand for "100% white." Similarly, other symbols in this database may be significant to people who are not extreme or racist. The descriptions here point out significant multiple meanings but may not be able to relay every possible meaning of a particular symbol.

231 Results

Aryan Brotherhood

Hate Symbol

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…

ALTERNATE NAMES: AB, The Brand

Aryan Brotherhood of Texas

Hate Symbol

ALTERNATE NAMES: Texas Aryan Brotherhood, ABTGroup Status: Active The Aryan Brotherhood of Texas (ABT) is the largest white supremacist prison gang in Texas and possibly in the United States. It is also one of the most violent, having committed many murders. It is active both behind bars and on the streets across Texas and in neighboring states. Despite its name, the ABT is a group separate from and independent of the "original" Aryan Brotherhood, which is present primarily in the…

ALTERNATE NAMES: Texas Aryan Brotherhood, ABT

Aryan Brotherhood of Texas (hand sign)

Hate Symbol

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…

Aryan Circle

Hate Symbol

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…

ALTERNATE NAMES: AC, The Diamond

Aryan Circle (hand sign)

Hate Symbol

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.

Aryan Cowboy Brotherhood

Hate Symbol

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:

Aryan Fist

Hate Symbol

The Aryan Fist symbol is a white supremacist symbol adopted from the "black power fist" used by black nationalist groups in the 1960s and 1970s.

ALTERNATE NAMES: White Power Fist, White Fist

Aryan Freedom Network

Hate Symbol

The American Freedom Network is a white supremacist group that uses a logo featuring a red Waffen SS shield and a Totenkopf skull.

Aryan Knights

Hate Symbol

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:

Aryan Nations

Hate Symbol

ALTERNATE NAMES: Church of Jesus Christ ChristianGroup Status: Active In the 1970s, Richard Butler, a leader in the racist and antisemitic Christian Identity religious sect, moved to northern Idaho, where he created Aryan Nations (also known as the Church of Jesus Christ Christian), a white supremacist group that combined Christian Identity with neo-Nazism. In the 1980s, Aryan Nations became one of the most notorious white supremacist groups in the United States, thanks to its highly visible…

ALTERNATE NAMES: Church of Jesus Christ Christian

Aryan Nations (hand sign - Tennessee prison gang)

Hate Symbol

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:

ALTERNATE NAMES: Bolts Up, Bolts to the Sky

Aryan Nations (Tennessee prison gang)

Hate Symbol

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…

Aryan Renaissance Society

Hate Symbol

Group Status: Legacy (the group is no longer active, but some symbols may remain as tattoos, graffiti, etc.) The Aryan Renaissance Society is a small but long-lived white supremacist group that has resembled both a racist skinhead group and a prison clique at times. It has had members from a variety of places, but many came from Texas and New Jersey. Its logo is a phoenix image superimposed with a lightning bolt and a runic symbol. Additional Images:

Aryan Terror Brigade

Hate Symbol

Group Status: Legacy (the group is no longer active but some symbols may remain as tattoos, graffiti, etc.) The Aryan Terror Brigade is a racist skinhead group formed in 2009 that today has members in the United States, South America and Europe, though it is not very large. Much of the group's activities take place over the Internet, though members do sometimes engage in real world activities, mostly in the mid-Atlantic states. The logo of the group appears in the form of a Waffen SS…

Aryan Warriors

Hate Symbol

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:

Asatru Folk Assembly

Hate Symbol

The Asatru Folk Assembly is a white supremacist Norse pagan group that uses a logo consisting of three intertwined drinking horns against a blue background.

Atlantic City Skins

Hate Symbol

Group Status: Legacy (the group is no longer active, but some symbols may remain as tattoos, graffiti, etc.) The Atlantic City Skins are a longstanding New Jersey-based racist skinhead group. Their logo consists of a rounded Celtic Cross on top of a row of skulls, which may have the initials ACS on them. Additional Images:

Atomwaffen Division

Hate Symbol

Atomwaffen Division is a neo-Nazi group that emerged in 2016. “Atomwaffen” is the German word for atomic weapons and the group’s logo features a radiation warning symbol on a Waffen SS divisional insignia shield.

AYAK

Hate Symbol

AYAK is Ku Klux Klan shorthand for "Are You A Klansman?" It is related to another Klan acronym, AKIA ("A Klansman I Am"). These are among the 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 have freely used them. Additional Images:

Blood & Honour

Hate Symbol

Group Status: Active (see below) Blood & Honour (the British spelling is typically used, even in the United States) is an international racist skinhead umbrella group started decades ago by British white supremacist and singer Ian Stuart Donaldson. It has chapters or associated groups around the world, primarily in Europe. Several American white supremacist groups proclaim an association with Blood & Honour, as do many individual white supremacists. Because of the latter, use of…

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