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 oppressed peoples. The black fist is a variation of the logo generally associated with the Black Power movement. Its most widely known usage is by the Black Panther Party, a Black Marxist group in the 1960s.
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"