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
ALTERNATE NAMES: Black Sun
The word “Sonnenrad” is German for “sunwheel.” Generically, sunwheels constitute a large class of longstanding symbols that can vary significantly but which generally share the basic principle of several straight or crooked lines emanating from a central point or circle (thus being abstracted suns and sunrays). Examples include sun crosses, triskeles/triskelions, kolovrats and swastikas, among others. Sunwheels of various kinds appear in the traditional symbology of many countries and cultures, including Old Norse and Celtic cultures.
Most sunwheel designs are unrelated to hate or white supremacy, but some do have such associations in certain contexts, such as the swastika. One specific sunwheel design, typically referred to as a “Sonnenrad” or “Black Sun” symbol, has a very specific association with white supremacy, having been invented by the Nazis in the 1930s. It first appeared as a mosaic in a castle in Wewelsburg in Germany that was owned and remodeled by Hitler’s SS.
Following World War II, neo-Nazis in Europe and elsewhere embraced the SS’s Sonnenrad symbol, giving it a new life. In the U.S., its usage eventually spread beyond neo-Nazis to other types of white supremacists as well. This Sonnenrad or Black Sun symbol consists of two concentric circles orbiting a center solid circle, with 12 evenly spaced lightning-bolt-like rays emanating from the center point.
While the center circle of the original design was filled or solid, modern white supremacists frequently swap out the solid circle for an additional hate symbol, often a runic symbol, swastika or some other neo-Nazi symbol.
Unlike many other types of sunwheel symbols, which may have a hate-related usage only in certain contexts, or not at all, the specific Nazi-derived Sonnenrad/Black Sun symbol is almost always used as a white supremacist symbol.
Alternate Names: Terrorgram Collective, Terrorgram Network
Terrorgram emerged in the late 2010s as a loose international network of white supremacist individuals and groups, typically neo-Nazi in nature, seeking to promote violent acts in the service of white supremacist accelerationism. White supremacist accelerationism is a school of thought within the white supremacist movement that argues the only way to create a desired whites-only or white-dominated society is to destabilize and destroy current society through violence and disruption, then build a new society from its ashes. Terrorgram—taking its name from the internet platform Telegram, on which it conducted most of its activities—dedicated itself to accelerationist propaganda, glorifying white supremacist mass killers like Dylann Roof and Brenton Tarrant as “saints” and urging others to follow in their footsteps to commit terrorist attacks and hate crimes against minorities and other targets, such as infrastructure. Their propaganda efforts included producing several lengthy and distinctively illustrated manuals with motivational screeds as well as ostensibly practical advice for would-be terrorists.
In 2024, the U.S. designated Terrorgram as Specially Designated Global Terrorists; later that year, the FBI arrested two key American Terrorgram leaders on a number of charges. The arrests precipitated Terrorgram’s collapse as the network’s remaining members sought to avoid infiltration or identification. However, Terrorgram’s digital publications are still in circulation among accelerationists, meaning that people can still encounter their symbols. Terrorgram logos imitate a Waffen SS divisional shield design, though with their own distinct symbology. One simply features a paper airplane, while a different logo depicts a swastika, an infinity symbol, and a ski mask. A third version features the swastika and ski mask along with part of a Sonnenrad symbol.
