Research & Analysis

Group Status: Legacy (the group is no longer active but some symbols may remain as tattoos, graffiti, etc.) The Advanced White Society is a small white supremacist group formed by a defector from the neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement. It is active primarily in the Mid-Atlantic region and in Ohio. Additional Images:

AKIA is Ku Klux Klan shorthand for "A Klansman I Am." It is related to another Klan acronym, AYAK ("Are You A Klansman?"). These are among the many acronyms developed by the Second Ku Klux Klan that emerged in 1915. Although the Second Ku Klux Klan did not survive, much of its terminology and many of its rituals did, and later Klan groups freely used them. Additional Images:

Group Status: Active The Alabama Aryan Brotherhood is one of many racist prison gangs that have adopted the Aryan Brotherhood name. It is an independent gang and has no connection to the "original" Aryan Brotherhood present in the California and federal prison systems. The primary Alabama Aryan Brotherhood tattoo or "patch" is in the popular "shield" format and consists of a shield-like emblem sporting four images, which could include the initials AB, SS lightning bolts, a swastika, an…

Group Status: Active The American Front is one of the oldest continuously existing racist skinhead groups in the United States, dating back to the 1980s. In recent years, most of its members have been from California and Florida. Additional Images:

"Anti-Racist is a Code Word for Anti-White" is a racist slogan that became popular among white supremacists in the mid-2000s. It is derived from a short essay commonly referred to as "The Mantra," popularized by long-time white supremacist Bob Whitaker. "The Mantra" attempts to rebut accusations of racism by claiming that people who profess to be anti-racist are actually trying to destroy the white race and that the term "anti-racist" is equivalent to "anti-white." Whitaker's followers have…

Racist skinheads view anti-racist skinheads (typically known as SHARPs, an acronym for Skin Heads Against Racial Prejudice) as enemies and frequently attack them (and vice versa). Racist skinheads also commonly create anti-SHARP imagery that typically demeans SHARPs or implies violence should be used against them. Additional Images:

The Arrow Cross symbol derives from the Hungarian fascist political party known as the Arrow Cross Party that was active during 1935-45. Since then, various neo-Nazis and white supremacists have used the symbol themselves, either generically or as part of the logo of a specific hate group.

ALTERNATE NAMES: AB, The BrandThe Aryan Brotherhood is the oldest and most notorious racist prison gang in the United States, having started in California in the 1960s. It is present primarily in the California and federal prison systems. Many other prison gangs now also use "Aryan Brotherhood" as part of their name, such as the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas, but they are independent and unrelated to the "original" Aryan Brotherhood. Because of its longevity, Aryan Brotherhood members have…

The Aryan Brotherhood of Texas (ABT), a large and violent racist prison gang, uses a hand symbol consisting of a raised index finger and raised ring and little fingers (or the reverse), signifying the numbers 1 and 2. Substituting letters for numbers 1 and 2 stand for A and B, or Aryan Brotherhood. Sometimes ABT members may use a two-handed variation in which one hand "throws up" one digit and the other hand (belonging to the same or a different person) "throws up" two digits, again signifying…

ALTERNATE NAMES: AC, The DiamondGroup Status: Active The Aryan Circle is the second-largest white supremacist prison gang in Texas and one of the largest such gangs in the United States. Its most common tattoo, known as a "shield" or "patch," consists of a square oriented to form a diamond shape. Inside the diamond is typically a swastika and the initials AC; it is also common to include SS lightning bolts. Because of this symbol, Aryan Circle members often refer to their gang as "The…

The Aryan Circle is one of the largest white supremacist prison gangs in the United States. Its primary hand sign consists of holding up the thumb and the middle, ring, and little fingers of one hand, signifying the numbers 1 and 3 (which stand for AC). One can also hold up the little finger and the middle and index fingers, plus the thumb.

Group Status: Active The Aryan Cowboy Brotherhood is a small white supremacist prison/street gang based primarily in Minnesota and Kentucky. Its main symbol consists of a helmeted and winged skull with the initials ACB. Additional Images:

The Aryan Fist symbol is a white supremacist symbol adopted from the "black power fist" used by black nationalist groups in the 1960s and 1970s.

Group Status: Active The Aryan Knights are a white supremacist prison gang based primarily in Idaho. They often use the initials AK to identify themselves with tattoos or writing. Additional Images:

ALTERNATE NAMES: Church of Jesus Christ ChristianGroup Status: Active Aryan Nations is a longstanding neo-Nazi group in the United States that dates back to the 1970s. It is unusual in that it is also a Christian Identity group (Christian Identity is a small, virulently racist and anti-Semitic religious sect prominent in the extreme right in the United States). Its logo consists of a Wolfsangel symbol with a crown-topped sword replacing the cross-bar. Typically this image appears on a blue…

ALTERNATE NAMES: Bolts Up, Bolts to the SkyThe largest white supremacist prison gang in Tennessee is Aryan Nations (a different group than the neo-Nazi group of the same name). Aryan Nations gang members use a hand sign they sometimes refer to as "bolts up" or "bolts to the sky," consisting of forming the hand into a pistol shape and pointing it upwards or outwards. Additional Images:

Group Status: Active The largest white supremacist prison gang in Tennessee calls itself Aryan Nations.  The gang borrowed its title from the older neo-Nazi group of the same name, though the two are separate groups with few connections.  The "gang" Aryan Nations is also far larger than the "neo-Nazi" Aryan Nations.  The main symbol for this racist prison gang consists of a rounded Celtic Cross image with different symbols in each of the quadrants formed by the circle and…

Group Status: Active The Aryan Renaissance Society is a small but long-lived white supremacist group that has resembled both a racist skinhead group and a prison clique at times. It has had members from a variety of places, but many came from Texas and New Jersey. Its logo is a phoenix image superimposed with a lightning bolt and a runic symbol. Additional Images:

Group Status: Legacy (the group is no longer active but some symbols may remain as tattoos, graffiti, etc.) The Aryan Terror Brigade is a racist skinhead group formed in 2009 that today has members in the United States, South America and Europe, though it is not very large. Much of the group's activities take place over the Internet, though members do sometimes engage in real world activities, mostly in the mid-Atlantic states. The logo of the group appears in the form of a Waffen SS…

Group Status: Active The Aryan Warriors are a longstanding racist prison gang based in the Nevada prison system. Members have created a variety of tattoos, but many of them consist of the gang's name or initials, or have some sort of Viking-related imagery, such as horned helmets or axes.   Some Aryan Warriors members may have shield tattoos containing the runic letters corresponding to A and W.    Additional Images: