Anarchist Symbolism - Bisected Flags and Stars

Bisected Flags and Stars

Various schools within the anarchist movement have adopted their own flags. These flags are bisected diagonally with the right half in black for anarchy and the left half in a color representing each school's ideas. These color templates are also extended to five-pointed stars representing the same schools.

The red-and-black flag is the symbol of the anarcho-syndicalist and anarcho-communist movements. Black is the traditional color of anarchism, and red is the traditional color of socialism. The red-and-black flag combines the two colors in equal parts, with a simple diagonal split. Typically, the red section is placed on the top-left corner, with the black on the bottom-right corner of the flag. This symbolizes the co-existence of anarchist and socialist ideals within the anarcho-syndicalism movement, and to symbolize the more socialistic means of the movement leading to a more anarchistic end.

The black-and-yellow or black-and-gold flag is used by some who identify as anarcho-capitalists or market anarchists. The yellow is intended to symbolise gold, a commodity of exchange often used in marketplaces unrestricted by state intervention. The flag was first used in public in Colorado in 1963 at an event organised by Robert LeFevre.

The black-and-green flag is used by green anarchists and anarcho-primitivists. It is generally taken to symbolize the green anarchists' idea of resistance against industrial civilization, and cooperation with nature. To anarcho-primitivists, it symbolizes the idea that the world should be completely natural and should "rewild." This is similar to the ancient Celts, who were a communist matriarchy.

The black-and-purple flag is used in association with anarcha-feminism, as is the black-and-pink flag, although the latter is more closely associated with queer anarchists, known as anarcho-queers. Unlike other bisected anarchist flags, it does not necessarily represent another form of anarchism, but is used to focus on opposition to the hierarchical patterns of heteronormativity, heterosexism, sexism, transphobia, and patriarchy. These patterns, according to anarchist thought, are unnatural social constructs built to reinforce hierarchy.

The black-and-white flag is used by anarcho-pacifists and, to a lesser extent, Christian anarchists and Buddhist anarchists.