Three Arrows symbol

Categories: art, design, history, my creative projects, pearls of wisdom, typography

The three arrows emblem was designed in 1932 in Weimar Germany for the anti-N@zi political group the Iron Front. I’ve adopted it as a general Anti-F@scist symbol, for these troubled times.

The image above is a photograph of a pewter pin which I wear clipped to my jacket. I also have a black embroidered patch with the same symbol attached to the front of my go-bag, and a sticker on my water bottle.

Photo of round pewter pin against a background of black denim. Pin is medium silver gray, slightly weathered, and has three parallel black arrows debossed across it. Arrows are pointing down and to the left at a 45-degree angle. — Pewter pin

Photo of a round black embroidered patch fastened to the velcro-type strip of a tan canvas bag. Patch has parallel black arrows pointing down and to the left. — Embroidered patch

Closeup photo of gray transparent water bottle on wooden surface, against cream-colored wall. On the bottle is a round sticker with a thick white border and black interior, and three parallel white arrows across it, pointing down and to the left at a 45-degree angle. — Vinyl sticker

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Arrows:

The Three Arrows (German: Drei Pfeile) is a social democratic political symbol associated with the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), used in the late history of the Weimar Republic. First conceived for the SPD-dominated Iron Front as a symbol of the social democratic resistance against N@zism in 1932, it became an official symbol of the Party during the November 1932 German federal election, representing their opposition towards monarchism, N@zism, and commun1sm.

The Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) was opposed by both the N@zi Party (NSD@P) and the Commun1st Party (K@PD). In this setting, the SPD organizer Carlo Mierendorff recruited Russian exiled physiologist Sergei Chakhotin as the propagandist of the paramilitary Iron Front, and together they developed propaganda initiatives to counter the NSD@P and the K@PD in early 1932. The two launched the Three Arrows as a symbol for the social democrat militancy.^[2] The Iron Front was regarded as a “social f@scist terror organisation” by the K@PD.^[3]

Photograph of a book opened flat to show the back cover, spine and front cover. On the back, a black sw@stika with three red arrows covering it; on the spine, black vertical type "Dreipfeil_gegen_H@kenkreuz"; on the front cover, an illustration of a man with his right arm raised in a fist and his left hand holding a red flag with the three arrows emblem in white; behind him are ranks of other men with their fists raised. — • Cover of Russian exiled physiologist Sergei Chakhotin’s book Three Arrows against the Sw@stika
• Copyright: By ? – https://www.mpg.de/5044488/zoom.jpg, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=55836748

Square emblem: red background with black rule around the outside. Thick black arrows pointing down and to the right. — • An official emblem of the Social Democratic Party of Germany and its paramilitary wing the Iron Front; anti-f@scist symbol designed to deface the N@zi sw@stika
• By German Wikipedia user Fusslkopp, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6437613

The Three Arrows emblem remains a powerful symbol even in the present day. In 2019, fans of Major League Soccer in the US were involved in a controversy over the display of the Three Arrow emblem on flags, scarves, etc.

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/09/25/sport/anti-nazi-mls-ban-trnd/index.html

Photo: partial view of stadium with soccer fans holding a large banner with the Three Arrows emblem. — The Iron Front flag at a Seattle Sounders game. From Emerald City Sounders

How the ban began

The Emerald City Supporters [fan group] flew a flag bearing the Iron Front emblem at a Seattle Sounders match on July 21 [2019].

“The three arrows represent our commitment to equality and inclusion,” the group wrote on their website. “The three arrows have been a symbol of the fight against fascism, oppression and persecution and to this day continue to represent these important values around the world.”

After the match, the fan group received a formal warning from the Seattle Sounders, saying the emblem violated the Major League Soccer Fan code of conduct: political signage that represent an association to a political group is not allowed.

“The rights we stand for are not political, they are human rights,” the group responded.

…

[September 25, 2019]: Major League Soccer is reversing their ban on the Iron Front symbol. The decison follows fans protesting for weeks through walkouts and silent demonstrations during televised soccer games.

MLS and the Seattle Sounders said the flag is a political symbol, banned under the league’s code of conduct for fans. The Seattle Sounders fan group, The Emerald City Supporters, said in a statement on its website that the imagery is a symbol of the fight against fascism, oppression and persecution.