Research & Analysis

Group Status: Active Bound for Glory is the name of a longstanding white power music band (dating back to 1989) from Minneapolis. It is popular among white supremacists. The main symbol associated with the band is a Thor's Hammer containing the band's initials. Also common are the band's initials in or superimposed over an Iron Cross. Both images derive from albums released by the group. The phrase "bound for glory" is a relatively common phrase that can be used in non-racist contexts,…

The image of the burning cross is one of the most potent hate symbols in the United States, popularized as a terror image by the Ku Klux Klan since the early 1900s. Cross-burnings (called "cross-lightings" by Ku Klux Klan groups, to make it seem as if they are not destroying a Christian cross) have long been used as a traditional symbol by Klan groups, used both in Klan rituals as well as in attempts to intimidate and terrorize victims of Klan groups. So widely associated with racial…

ALTERNATE NAMES: Odin’s Cross, Sun Cross, Wheel CrossThe white supremacist version of the Celtic Cross, which consists of a square cross interlocking with or surrounded by a circle, is one of the most important and commonly used white supremacist symbols. Although usually called a Celtic Cross by white supremacists, its origins date to the pre-Christian "sun cross" or "wheel cross" in ancient Europe. Norwegian Nazis used a version of the symbol in the 1930s and 1940s. After World War II,…

The Confederate flag is a common white supremacist symbol. Learn more about its use by non-extremists, as well as its recognition as a hate symbol.

The term "Crazy White Boy" (as well as its initials, CWB) is a phrase used generically by some white supremacists (often in tattoo form) to identify themselves.  It is also commonly used as a name for white gangs.  There have been a number of Crazy White Boy/s gangs in different places around the United States, in the streets or in prisons, over the years.  Most are small, locally-oriented, and unconnected to other, similarly named groups.  Variants of this term include…

The crucified skinhead image is a longstanding symbol used by the entire skinhead subculture (i.e., both racist and non-racist or anti-racist skinheads). Skinheads often use it to convey a sense of persecution or alienation or that society is arrayed against them. In isolation, the crucified skinhead symbol itself cannot be described as a hate symbol. But racist skinheads often adorn their versions of the crucified skinhead with other hate symbols or, in many cases, replace the cross with some…

The "echo," as it is sometimes called, is the online use by antisemites of multiple parentheses around a person's name to indicate that they are Jewish or, when used around a phrase or term, such as (((banker))), to imply that the word "Jewish" should be added to it.

Since World War II, neo-Nazis and some other white supremacists have adopted the image of a World War II-era German soldier as a symbol.  In particular, images of Waffen SS soldiers (perceived as Hitler's elite "supermen") are popular.  A popular variation is a tattoo depicting a Viking warrior, a Waffen SS soldier, and a racist skinhead side by side; such images associate the modern racist skinhead with his perceived "white warrior" forebears. Additional Images:

White supremacists use the letter/number combination H8 to mean "hate." This usage dates back at least to the 1990s and may originally derive from the punk subculture, but it has become more common in recent years, with the spread of text-message abbreviations. Common motifs for the word include playing cards and billiards balls. Additional Images:

It is common for white supremacists to deny being racists or to claim to that the groups to which they belong are not hate groups, but in fact the word "hate" itself is commonly used as a white supremacist symbol for tattoos and clothing. Many white supremacists use the word to openly proclaim their hatred of people unlike them.  It is particularly common as a tattoo across the fingers of a hand. Additional Images:

ALTERNATE NAMES: NS Straight EdgeHate Edge (also known as NS or National Socialist Straight Edge) is a small white supremacist offshoot of the non-racist Straight Edge movement, which emerged from the punk subculture in the 1980s. Straight Edgers eschew drugs, alcohol, meat, and often casual sex. The most common Straight Edge symbols are "sXe" or "XXX."  Hate Edgers tend to appropriate these symbols but often add white supremacist twists or enhancements.  In Europe, the term National…

ALTERNATE NAMES: Imperial War Ensign, ReichskriegsflaggeBecause 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. The imperial flag never originally had any racist or anti-Semitic meaning. Although most common in Germany, this usage of the imperial flag can also be found elsewhere in Europe and in the United States. Additional Images:

Learn how white supremacists adopted the neo-Nazi Iron Cross, and the new meanings (both positive and negative) that came from the new adaptation.

The hood and robes of Ku Klux Klan members are the most visible Klan symbol of all. Read about the history and current meanings behind the Klan’s robes.

ALTERNATE NAMES: Elhaz Rune, Algis RuneNazi Germany appropriated many pre-Roman European symbols, such as runic symbols, in an attempt to glorify an idealized "Aryan/Norse" heritage. One of these was the so-called "life rune" (from the German Lebensrune), also known as the Elhaz or Algis rune. Elhaz means "elk" and in early Europe this symbol had meanings related to stags or hunting, as well as honor, nobility, or protection. The Nazis used the symbol in various contexts, including the SS's…

"Love Your Race" is a white supremacist slogan originally popularized by the neo-Nazi National Alliance. In white supremacist literature and fliers, the phrase is often accompanied by an idealized image of a beautiful and/or maternal white woman. It is often used as an indirect means of promoting the so-called "Fourteen Words" slogan: "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children." Additional Images:

White supremacists fear and hate the concept of multiracial couples, relationships or families, believing that such relationships "pollute" the "pure" white race. As a result, a fairly common white supremacist symbol depicts a multiracial couple or family, with a red circle/bar superimposed over the depiction, indicating that such relationships ought to be prohibited. Additional Images:

The hangman's noose has come to be one of the most powerful visual symbols directed against African-Americans, comparable in the emotions that it evokes to that of the swastika for Jews. Its origins are connected to the history of lynching in America, particularly in the South after the Civil War, when violence or threat of violence replaced slavery as one of the main forms of social control that whites used on African-Americans. The noose quickly became associated with the Ku Klux Klan. …

The "Northwest American Republic" is a fictional construct created by Harold Covington, a long-time fringe figure in the neo-Nazi movement. It is based on the so-called "Northwest Imperative," a longstanding call by some white supremacists for White people to move to the Pacific Northwest and establish their own country.

ALTERNATE NAMES: Othal Rune, Othila Rune, Odal Rune, Norse RuneThe othala rune is part of the runic alphabet system, a system of writing used (with many variations) across pre-Roman Europe. In the 20th century, Nazis in Germany adopted the othal rune, among many other similar symbols, as part of their attempt to reconstruct a mythic "Aryan" past. Nazi uses of the symbol included the divisional insignia of two Waffen SS divisions during World War II. Following World War II, white supremacists…