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Hate on Display™ Hate Symbols Database

 

This database provides an overview of many of the symbols most frequently used by a variety of white supremacist groups and movements, as well as some other types of hate groups.

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Topic

  • General Hate Symbols
  • Hate Acronyms/Abbreviations
  • Hate Group Symbols/Logos
  • Ku Klux Klan Symbols
  • (-) Neo-Nazi Symbols
  • Numeric Hate Symbols
  • Racist Hand Signs
  • White Supremacist Prison Gang Symbols
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Seen a Hate Symbol?

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26 Results

88

Hate Symbol
88
88 is a white supremacist numerical code for Heil Hitler. Read more about the meaning behind the numbers, as well as how it’s used in non-extremist forms.
Read more about 88

Blut und Ehre

Hate Symbol
Blut und Ehre
"Blut und Ehre" is a German phrase that translates into "Blood and Honor;" it was popularized by the Nazi Party (as a Hitler Youth slogan and elsewhere). Since World War II, this German phrase (and even more so for its English translation) has commonly been used by white supremacists in Europe, the United States, and elsewhere.
Read more about Blut und Ehre

Burning Neo-Nazi Symbols

Hate Symbol
Burning Neo-Nazi Symbols
Neo-Nazis have adopted the Ku Klux Klan practice of symbolic burnings, substituting swastikas, othala and life runes, triskeles and the Celtic cross for the traditional cross burned by Klan members.
Read more about Burning Neo-Nazi Symbols

Crossed Grenades

Hate Symbol
Crossed Grenades
The crossed grenade emblem originated with the infamous Dirlewanger Brigade of World War II, a Waffen SS unit that engaged in a number of atrocities.
ALTERNATE NAMES: Dirlewanger
Read more about Crossed Grenades

German Phrases

Hate Symbol
German Phrases
A number of white supremacists, especially neo-Nazis and racist skinheads, may use various German (or German-like) words or phrases, often derived from Nazi Germany or earlier German ultranationalists, but also sometimes more modern (such as "Weiss Macht" for "White Power").
Read more about German Phrases

Hitler Salute (hand sign)

Hate Symbol
Hitler Salute (hand sign)
The Nazi or Hitler salute debuted in Nazi Germany in the 1930s as a way to pay homage to Adolf Hitler. It consists of raising an outstretched right arm with the palm down. In Nazi Germany, it was often accompanied by chanting or shouting "Heil Hitler" or "Sieg Heil." Since World War II, neo-Nazis and other white supremacists have continued to use the salute, making it the most common white supremacist hand sign in the world.
ALTERNATE NAMES: Nazi Salute
Read more about Hitler Salute (hand sign)

Imperial German Flag

Hate Symbol
Imperial German Flag
Because Germany has banned use of the swastika and other Nazi imagery, some German neo-Nazis use an older flag, taken from Imperial Germany, as a substitute for the Nazi flag. Nazis elsewhere, such as in the United States, sometimes do the same.
ALTERNATE NAMES: Imperial War Ensign, Reichskriegsflagge
Read more about Imperial German Flag

Life Rune

Hate Symbol
Life Rune
The Life (also Elhaz or Algis) rune is an ancient runic symbol appropriated by the Nazis to help create an idealized "Aryan/Norse" heritage, which led to its adoption by later white supremciasts. Because the life rune is also used by many non-racists, it should carefully be judged in context.
ALTERNATE NAMES: Elhaz Rune, Algis Rune
Read more about Life Rune

Meine Ehre Heisst Treue

Hate Symbol
Meine Ehre Heisst Treue
"Meine Ehre Heisst Treue" is a German phrase that translates roughly to "My Honor Is Loyalty." This phrase was used as a motto of the Waffen SS in Nazi Germany; as a result, many neo-Nazis and other white supremacists around the world use this German phrase, or English equivalent.
ALTERNATE NAMES: My Honor Is Loyalty, My Honor is Called Loyalty, Unser Ehre Heisst Treue
Read more about Meine Ehre Heisst Treue

Nazi Eagle

Hate Symbol
Nazi Eagle
The Nazi Eagle is a symbol developed by the Nazi Party in the 1920s. Read how neo-Nazis and white supremacists continue to use the symbol worldwide.
ALTERNATE NAMES: Nazi War Eagle
Read more about Nazi Eagle

Nazi Party Flag

Hate Symbol
Nazi Party Flag
The flag of Nazi Germany has become one of the most potent hate symbols worldwide.
ALTERNATE NAMES: Nazi Flag
Read more about Nazi Party Flag

Othala Rune

Hate Symbol
Othala Rune
The othala rune is part of several runic alphabet systems that were common in pre-Roman Europe. The Nazis adopted this rune, among others, into their symbology, causing it to be a favorite symbol among white supremacists ever since.
ALTERNATE NAMES: Othal Rune, Othila Rune, Odal Rune, Norse Rune
Read more about Othala Rune

Sieg Heil

Hate Symbol
Sieg Heil
"Sieg Heil" is a German phrase that translates to "Hail Victory." The Nazi Party in Germany adopted the phrase, which became one of its most widely used and notorious slogans. As a result, after World War II, white supremacists in Europe, North America, and elsewhere adopted the phrase as well.
Read more about Sieg Heil

Skrewdriver

Hate Symbol
Skrewdriver
Skrewdriver, long defunct, is the British white power music band that essentially created white power music as a genre. The band, and its deceased leader, Ian Stuart Donaldson, remain held in the highest esteem by white supremacists.
Read more about Skrewdriver

Sonnenrad

Hate Symbol
Sonnenrad
The sonnenrad or sunwheel is an ancient Indo-European symbol appropriated by Nazi Germany, which has led modern day white supremacists to use it as a hate symbol.
ALTERNATE NAMES: Sunwheel, Black Sun
Read more about Sonnenrad

SS Bolts

Hate Symbol
SS Bolts
White supremacy and the SS Bolts. Find out the history of the neo-Nazi SS Bolts, and the current usage of one of the most powerful hate symbols in history.
ALTERNATE NAMES: Cracker Bolts, SS Lightning Bolts, Lightning Bolts
Read more about SS Bolts

SS Divisional Insignia

Hate Symbol
SS Insignia
During World War II, the SS fielded a private army of nearly 40 divisions that fought on every front, often committing war crimes and atrocities. Following the war, neo-Nazis and other white supremacists began to use the various divisional insignia of these military formations as hate symbols.
Read more about SS Divisional Insignia

SS (hand sign)

Hate Symbol
SS (hand sign)
In the 2000s, white supremacists created a handsign intended to memorialize the Schutzstaffeln or SS of Nazi Germany, Hitler's secret police, political army, and concentration camp guards. The handsign utilizes both hands to make a lightning bolt symbol, as a pair of lightning bolts was the main symbol of the SS.
Read more about SS (hand sign)

Sturmabteilung

Hate Symbol
Sturmabteilung
The Sturmabteilung (or SA) emblem was used by Hitler's so-called "Brownshirts," paramilitary formations utilized by Hitler to intimidate political opponents before and after his rise to power in Germany. Now it is used by neo-Nazis and other modern-day white supremacists.
Read more about Sturmabteilung

Swastika

Hate Symbol
Swastika
The swastika is an ancient symbol used in many cultures that was adopted by Adolf Hitler and turned into a symbol of hatred. Since then, the swastika has become perhaps the most notorious hate symbol in Western culture.
Read more about Swastika

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Are we missing something?

Submit a Hate Symbol to ADL at hate-symbols@adl.org

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, the Confederate Flag is a symbol that is frequently used by white supremacists but which also has been used by people and groups that are not racist. 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.

Hate on Display is a trademark of the Anti-Defamation League. 

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