The Guy Fawkes mask is a stylised depiction of Guy Fawkes, the best-known member of the Gunpowder Plot, an attempt to blow up the House of Lords in London in 1605.
The use of a mask on an effigy has long roots as part of Guy Fawkes Night celebrations. A stylised portrayal of a white face with a subtle smile and red cheeks, a wide moustache upturned at both ends, and a thin vertical pointed beard, designed by illustrator David Lloyd, came to represent broader protest after it was used as a major plot element in V for Vendetta, published in 1982, and its 2006 film adaptation. After appearing in internet forums, the mask became the trademark symbol for the online hacktivist group Anonymous. Time Warner owns the rights to the image and is paid a licensing fee for the sale of each mask.
Read more about Guy Fawkes Mask: Origins, V For Vendetta, Anonymous, Use in Popular Protest, Views of Moore and Lloyd, Sales and Corporate Ownership of Rights
Famous quotes containing the words guy, fawkes and/or mask:
“The way I see it, God gave me the body, so I intend to use it. It’s a big ego trip.... You know, you look around a bar, you pick out a guy and you say, that’s the one: I’m going to take all of his money tonight.”
—Teresa Beaty (b. c. 1975)
“to these
Hale dead and deathless do the women of the hill
Love for ever meridian through the courters’ trees
And the daughters of darkness flame like Fawkes fires still.”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)
“But today I set the bed afire
and smoke is filling the room,
it is getting hot enough for the walls to melt,
and the icebox, a gluey white tooth.
I have on a mask in order to write my last words,
and they are just for you....”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)