Red triangle (badge)

Variations of the red triangle and red wedge have been used for over a century to represent anti-fascism and other left-wing political ideologies. In Western Europe the most well-known historical example is the inverted red triangle that represents opposition to Germany's Nazi Party and resistance to Nazi Germany's military occupation of Europe during World War Two. This inverted red triangle symbol was reclaimed by anti-fascists in Europe after being used on prisoner uniforms in concentration camps in Nazi Germany and occupied Europe. A red triangle patch pointing upwards designated prisoners within the jurisdiction of the Wehrmacht, including prisoners of war,^{[citation needed]} spies, and military deserters. Whereas an inverted red triangle was worn by political prisoners, including resistance fighters. The Nazis chose red because the first people to wear it were Communists. Besides Communists, liberals, anarchists, Social Democrats, Freemasons, and other opposition party members also wore a red triangle. After the war the red triangle symbol was reclaimed as a symbol of resistance against the German occupation of Europe during the war, similar to the way that the pink triangle used to mark gay prisoners became a symbol of LGBTQ pride. The reclaimed red triangle symbol has been used as the logo for the Association of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime – Federation of Antifascists (VVN-BdA) in Germany, and numerous other post-war remembrances and memorial groups, it has also been worn as a lapel pin by left-wing politicians from Belgium, France, and Spain. Other left-wing, anti-fascist, and resistance groups have used red triangle or red wedge symbols that reference images and symbols from before WWII. One of these is Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge, a 1919 propaganda poster by El Lissitzky. An even earlier image recalled by some labour movements is an equilateral triangle representing eight-hours of work, eight-hours of leisure, and eight hours of sleep in the 24-hours of a day. In 2020, Donald Trump's presidential re-election campaign attracted controversy by using the symbol in social media adversisements attacking his own far-left opponents, whom he described as "Antifa".

The red triangle has been a left-wing political symbol since the 19th century. On Labor Day in 1890 in France workers wore a red triangle as a symbol of the eight-hour working day they were fighting for, with the three points representing 8 hours of work, 8 hours of rest, and 8 hours of leisure. It is still used with this meaning in some parts of Europe, in conjunction with Labour Day celebrations on 8 May.

In July 1889 in Paris, at the meeting of the Second International, the workers' association bringing together European socialist and workers' parties, decided that the following year, workers would demonstrate on May 1 to demand the eight-hour day. The red leather triangle was adopted on 1 May 1890 in Paris during the workers' struggles so that the demonstrator could distinguish himself from the man in the street [fr]. The badge symbolizes workers' demand for a maximum eight-hour work day, which reserved 8 hours of sleep and 8 hours of leisure. The inscription "1 May, 8 hours of work" was sewn onto the triangle for the demonstration.

Following the immense success of the mobilization of the 1 May 1890 – in Belgium, 150,000 workers went on strike – it was decided shortly afterward to make this date a worldwide day of action, this is the creation of the International Workers' Day (French: Journée internationale des travailleurs). The eight-hour day was obtained in 1919 in France and in 1921 in Belgium.

Similar symbols were being used in far-left politics in early 20th century Russia. A red triangle or "red wedge" features on some early communist posters. A red wedge appeared in a 1919 soviet propaganda poster by constructivist artist El Lissitzky titled "Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge", referring to the anti-communist White movement, who were defeated by the Red Army during the Russian Civil War. The term "whites" referred to the White movement, a conservative, right-wing, monarchist movement whose factional colour was white. The title, allegedly recommended by Ilya Ehrenburg, is possibly a response to the pogrom slogan "Beat the Jews!" (Russian: Бей жидов!, romanized: Bej zhidov!). The full slogan was Beat the Jews - save Russia! [ru] (Russian: Бей жидов — спасай Россию!), and it was predominantly used by right wing monarchists and their militant Black Hundreds.

Numerous modern left-wing groups and publications have used symbols that reference the red wedge, or the reclamation or the red triangle badge that the Nazis used to mark their political opponents, or both. The black flag used by modern anti-fascists (Antifa) also refers back to the era of the Russian Revolution. The El Lissitzky poster was the namesake of the 1980s British left-wing musical collective Red Wedge, they opposed British conservatives but did not describe themselves as communist.

The colour of the symbol comes from the party colours of the Communist Party of Germany, one of the first groups to be detained in the Nazi concentration camps. Nazi crackdowns on their left wing political enemies started very early. As depicted in the famous poem, First They Came by Martin Niemöller, a German priest. It begins, "When the Nazis came for the communists, I kept quiet; I wasn't a communist" (German: Als die Nazis die Kommunisten holten). The most comon English version begimns, "First they came for the Communists". In a 2024 article about the origins of the red triangle symbol, Germany's public broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported, "At first, the majority of political inmates were German Social Democrats or Communists and the red of the triangle referred to their party colors.. most were non-Germans from across the political spectrum who had opposed National Socialism or Nazi Germany's occupation of their countries".

A red inverted triangle was worn by political prisoners in Nazi concentration camps. The red triangle was only used for Jewish prisoners in unusual circumstances, such as when the Nazi authorities in the prison were unaware that the prisoner was Jewish.