Symbols of hate on street posters
TOWNSVILLE Free Corps, a group putting posters around the city with phrases including “White youths patrol this area for your security”, has been linked to the neo-nazi movement.
Founded this year, the group says its goal is “to cultivate the youth so that they are fully equipped to defend and preserve their people, their community and their way of life in the face of adversity”.
Two of their posters have neo-nazi symbols – the Wolfsangel and Fasces.
According to the Anti-defamation League, a leading antihate organisation, the Wolfsangel is an ancient runic symbol that was believed to be able to ward off wolves.
“Historically, the Wolfsangel appeared in Germany in many places, ranging from guidestones on the sides of roads to heraldic use in the coats of arms of various towns; there is even a German city called Wolfsangel,” the ADL website says.
“Along with many other runic symbols, Nazi Germany appropriated the Wolfsangel. It appeared as part of the divisional insignia of several Waffen-ss units, including the notorious 2nd SS ‘Das Reich’ Panzer Division.
“As a result, it became a symbol of choice for neo-nazis in Europe and the US. In the US, the neo-nazi group Aryan Nations incorporated the Wolfsangel into their logo.”
The Fasces symbols consists of bound bundles of sticks or rods into which an axe is inserted or tied.
“The symbol dates to ancient Rome, whose leaders used it as a symbol of authority and power,” the ADL website says.
“However, the Fasces came to be associated with right-wing extremism in the early 20th century when it was adopted by Benito Mussolini for his fascist movement. The Fasces became the most well-known symbol of fascist Italy, and thus of fascism itself.
“Beginning in the late 2000s, more American white supremacists turned to the Fasces as a symbol, possibly because it did not have the strong negative connotations of the swastika and because extremists could defend their use of the Fasces by pointing to its role in the symbology of the US government.
“White supremacist groups such as Youth for Western Civilisation, Southern White Alliance, Vanguard America, Patriot Front and the National Socialist Movement have all used the Fasces as part of their group logos at various times.”