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.

70 Results

Fasces

Hate Symbol

Fasces are an ancient Roman symbol for authority and government coopted by Mussolini’s Fascist movement in Italy. Some white supremacists in the United States have recently adopted the symbol both because of its fascist connections and because it is more publicly acceptable than the swastika.

German Soldier

Hate Symbol

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:

H8

Hate Symbol

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:

Hate

Hate Symbol

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:

Hate Edge

Hate Symbol

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: NS Straight Edge

Identitarian Lambda

Hate Symbol

The Identitarian lambda is a symbol used by people who identify with Identitarianism, a racist and anti-immigrant European far right movement loosely analogous to the alt right in the United States.

Imperial German Flag

Hate Symbol

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:

ALTERNATE NAMES: Imperial War Ensign, Reichskriegsflagge

Iron Cross

Hate Symbol

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

Jera Rune

Hate Symbol

The Jera rune is an ancient European runic symbol and part of the runic alphabet. It is one of a number of runic symbols that white supremacists have appropriated but is also commonly used by non-racist modern Norse pagans, so care needs to be taken in its evaluation.

ALTERNATE NAMES: Jeran Rune

Ku Klux Klan Robes

Hate Symbol

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.

League of the South

Hate Symbol

The League of the South is a longstanding neo-Confederate white supremacist group that advocates for an independent, white-dominated South. Its symbol is intended to resemble the St. Andrew’s Cross on the Confederate flag.

ALTERNATE NAMES: Southern Nationalist Flag, Black Cross

Life Rune

Hate Symbol

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…

ALTERNATE NAMES: Elhaz Rune, Algis Rune

Love Your Race

Hate Symbol

"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:

Moon Man

Hate Symbol

“Moon Man” is a meme derived from a character in 1980s McDonald’s restaurant commercials that was appropriated by white supremacists, especially from the alt right, who attach it to racist songs, language and imagery.

Nazi Party Flag

Hate Symbol

ALTERNATE NAMES: Nazi FlagThe flag of Nazi Germany has become one of the most potent hate symbols worldwide. It consists of a black swastika in a white circle over a red background (the colors are the same as the Imperial German flag). Originally developed as the flag of the Nazi Party in 1920, it also became the flag of Germany itself after the Nazis took power in 1933. Various elements of the Nazi government and Nazi Party developed many variations and forms of the basic Nazi flag. Since…

ALTERNATE NAMES: Nazi Flag

No Race Mixing

Hate Symbol

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:

Noose

Hate Symbol

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. …

Northwest American Republic

Hate Symbol

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.

Not Equal

Hate Symbol

Some white supremacists have adopted the mathematical sign "≠" (Not Equal or Not Equal To) as a white supremacist symbol. The use of this symbol is an attempt to claim that different races are not equal to each other (and to imply that the White race is superior).

ALTERNATE NAMES: Unequal, Not Equal To

Othala Rune

Hate Symbol

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…

ALTERNATE NAMES: Othal Rune, Othila Rune, Odal Rune, Norse Rune

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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.