Hate on Display™ Hate Symbols Database

 

This database provides an overview of many of the symbols most frequently used by white supremacist groups and movements, as well as a variety of other groups and movements. It is one of ADL's many resources related to signs, symbols and codes which also include an antizionist hate resource, a coded hate resource and the memetic violence field guide.


 

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, 100% is often used as an amount or an expression and it is also used by some by some white supremacists as shorthand for "100% white." 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.

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Blood Drop Cross

Hate Symbol
"Blood Drop" Cross
ALTERNATE NAMES: Ku Klux Klan, MIOAKGroup Status: Active (in that there are many active Ku Klux Klan groups) For the past century, the primary symbol related to Ku Klux Klan groups (other than Klan robes themselves) is what Klan members may call the MIOAK (an acronym for "Mystic Insignia of a Klansman"). It is more commonly referred to as the "Blood Drop" Cross. It appears as a square white cross in black outline against a circular red background. In the middle of the cross is what appears…
ALTERNATE NAMES: Ku Klux Klan, MIOAK
Read more about Blood Drop Cross

Burning Cross

Hate Symbol
Burning Cross
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…
Read more about Burning Cross

Ku Klux Klan Robes

Hate Symbol
Ku Klux Klan Robes
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.
Read more about Ku Klux Klan Robes

Triangular Klan Symbol

Hate Symbol
Triangle Klan
The triangular Ku Klux Klan symbol looks like a triangle within a triangle but is actually three letter K's aligned in a triangle and facing inwards.
Read more about Triangular Klan Symbol

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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, 100% is often used as an amount or an expression and it is also used by some by some white supremacists as shorthand for "100% white."  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.