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.

233 Results

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Peckerwood (hand sign)

Hate Symbol

The term "peckerwood" originated as a racial epithet directed at whites. Today, it has been adopted by adherents of the white supremacist prison gang subculture, especially in southern and western states, to refer to themselves. The handsign for "peckerwood" consists of forming the thumb, index finger and middle finger of one hand to form the letter "P," and the four fingers of the other hand to form the letter "W." This is especially common in California, where peckerwood street…

Peckerwood Midwest

Hate Symbol

Peckerwood Midwest is a white supremacist gang based primarily in Missouri, active both in prisons and on the streets. The gang's "patch" tattoo consists of a diamond-shaped swastika inside a larger Iron Cross. Inside the swastika are SS bolts; outside the Iron Cross are the numbers 23/16.

PENI

Hate Symbol

Public Enemy Number 1 is a large white supremacist gang based in the prisons and on the streets of California. Its most common symbol is simply a shortened version of its own name, such as PENI or PEN1. Members may also refer to the gang as the Peni Death Squad or PDS, thus PDS is also a common tattoo.

ALTERNATE NAMES: Peni Death Squad, PDS, Peni, PEN1, Public Enemy Number 1

Pepe the Frog

Hate Symbol

Pepe the Frog is a popular internet meme used in a variety of contexts. In recent years it has also been appropriated by white supremacists, particularly those from the "alt right," who use in racist, antisemitic or other hateful contexts.

ALTERNATE NAMES: Sad Frog

Phineas Priesthood

Hate Symbol

ALTERNATE NAMES: Phinehas PriesthoodThe concept of the Phineas Priesthood (or Phinehas Priesthood) comes from a 1990 book by white supremacist and Christian Identity follower Richard Kelly Hoskins, Vigilantes of Christendom: The Story of the Phineas Priesthood. Christian Identity is a racist and anti-Semitic sect whose adherents believe that white people are descended from the Lost Tribes of Israel. In his book, Hoskins describes a continuous priesthood of "avengers" who, throughout the…

ALTERNATE NAMES: Phinehas Priesthood

Pit Bull

Hate Symbol

The pit bull has long been used as a skinhead symbol, presumably because of its reputation as a "fighting" dog. Many racist skinheads and other white supremacists own or even raise pit bulls. White supremacists use one specific pit bulll graphic so often that it has become a white supremacist symbol itself. One racist skinhead group, the Keystone State Skinheads (at one time known as Keystone United) even adopted it as part of their logo. Additional Images:

RAHOWA

Hate Symbol

RAHOWA is an acronym for "Racial Holy War," a term created by the Creativity Movement, a white supremacist pseudo-religion, as a rallying cry for the white supremacist cause.

Rhodesian Flag

Hate Symbol

White supremacists have embraced the flag of Rhodesia, a former British colony whose white-controlled government fought an unsuccessful war to suppress the majority black population of what is today known as Zimbabwe.

Right Wing Death Squad/RWDS

Hate Symbol

The term “right-wing death squads” (RWDS), originally a reference to violent groups associated with 1970s/80s-era regimes in Latin American countries, has been embraced today by white supremacists and other extremists.

Rise Above Movement

Hate Symbol

The Rise Above Movement (RAM) is a California-based alt right white supremacist group with a fitness and martial arts emphasis. Its logo features a sword stuck into a boulder; the sword also serves as the trunk of a tree.

ROA

Hate Symbol

ROA is an acronym for the white supremacist slogan "Race Over All," popularized by the neo-Nazi/racist skinhead gang Volksfront. Additional Images:

Rock Against Communism

Hate Symbol

ALTERNATE NAMES: RACRock Against Communism (RAC) is a euphemism used to refer to several types of white power/hate music (typically Oi! or hatecore punk). Despite its name, RAC more often than not contains no references to "Communism" at all, but focuses on racism and anti-Semitism. The term emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s, after rock music promoters in Great Britain put on a series of "Rock against Racism" concerts. In response, various white supremacist bands led by Ian Stuart and…

ALTERNATE NAMES: RAC

Runic Writing (racist)

Hate Symbol

Runic alphabets are pre-Roman alphabets used widely across Europe, easily recognizable because of their angular characters. There are many different varieties of runic alphabets, of which the most well known is the so-called Elder Futhark (the name is derived from the sounds of the first six characters). Runic alphabets are still used today in many mainstream and non-racist contexts. However, white supremacists have also appropriated the runic alphabet, in large part because Nazi Germany often…

Sacred Separatist Group

Hate Symbol

The Sacred Separatist Group (SSG) is a Missouri-based white supremacist prison gang. The group's "patch" tattoo consists of a shield over a crossed sword and battleaxe, with the initials SSG inside. Typically, the letters SS in those initials are rendered as lightning bolts.

ALTERNATE NAMES: SSG

Sadistic Souls

Hate Symbol

Sadistic Souls is a small white supremacist outlaw biker gang active primarily in the Midwest. It is also a faction of the neo-Nazi group Aryan Nations. Sadistic Souls members may sport Aryan Nations symbology, as well as biker jackets and rockers that depict a Totenkopf image and the group's name, with the first "S" in each word of its name rendered as lightning bolts.

Saxon Knights

Hate Symbol

The Saxon Knights are a large, Indiana-based white supremacist prison gang. Their primary symbol is a shield tattoo, with a shield emblem superimposed over a sword, a warhammer, and a battleaxe. The shield has four sections, two of which include the letters "S" and "K." A third section usually contains a knight's helmet. The fourth section is sometimes left blank and sometimes contains one of a number of other symbols.

Shield Wall Network

Hate Symbol

The Shield Wall Network (SWN) is a small, Arkansas-based white supremacist group that uses a Greek lambda (an upside-down V) as its symbol.

Sieg Heil

Hate Symbol

"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 (often used to accompany the Nazi salute). As a result, after World War II, white supremacists in Europe, North America, and elsewhere adopted the phrase as well. Additional Images:

Silent Aryan Warriors

Hate Symbol

The Silent Aryan Warriors (SAW) are a large white supremacist gang based in Utah. Their primary tattoo consists of an Iron Cross with SS lighting bolts and a curved swastika at the center. Four Totenkopfs surround the Iron Cross, while around the image are the German phrases "für immer weiss" and "für immer stolz," which translate to "forever white" and "forever proud."

ALTERNATE NAMES: SAW

Six Gorillion

Hate Symbol

“Six Gorillion” is an antisemitic phrase used by white supremacists to refer to the Jews who died during the Holocaust (typically thought to be around six million). They replace “million” with “gorillion” to give the impression that Jews wildly exaggerate Holocaust-related deaths.

ALTERNATE NAMES: Muh Six Gorillion

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