Red & Black Raised Fist

The raised fist, or the clenched fist, is a long-standing image of activism, often a symbol of social revolution and political solidarity. It is also a common symbol of anarchism and communism, but can also be used as a salute to express unity, strength, or resistance. The origin of the raised fist as a symbol is unclear. Its use in trade unionism, anarchism, and the labor movement had begun by the 1910s. William "Big Bill" Haywood, a founding member of the Industrial Workers of the World, used the metaphor of a fist as something greater than the sum of its parts during a speech at the 1913 Paterson silk strike. The raised fist logo may represent unity or solidarity, generally with…   Read more

The colors black and red have been used by anarchists since at least the late 1800s, though generally used by anarcho-communists. The flag was used as the symbol of the anarcho-syndicalists by the CNT during the Spanish Civil War. The black represents anarchism and the red represents leftist and socialist ideals. George Woodcock writes that the bisected black-and-red flag symbolized a uniting of "the spirit of later anarchism with the mass appeal of the First International"