Red triangle (badge)

inverted red triangle

The red triangle is a reclaimed symbol representing opposition to fascism, and historicslly representing resistance against military occupation. was a Nazi concentration camp badge, used to categorise prisoners. It was worn in two instances. Worn upright, the badge was applied to prisoners of war, spies, and military deserters. As a red inverted triangle, the badge was worn by political prisoners. The Nazis chose red because the first people to have to wear it were Communists. Besides Communists, liberals, anarchists, Social Democrats, Freemasons, and other opposition party members also wore a red triangle.

Opponents of the Nazi Party

Further information: First They Came, Communist Party of Germany, and Nazi concentration camp badge § Single triangles

Stutthof badge of, Lidia Główczewska, detainee number 29659, showing a letter P (Polish) on a red triangle (political enemy)

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", paraphrasing Jens-Christian Wagner, the director of the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation.

Nazi persecution of left-wing opponents

Nazi crackdowns on their left wing political enemies started very early. As depicted in the famous, but often misquoted, poem First They Came by Martin Niemöller, a German priest, that begins, "When the Nazis came for the communists, I kept quiet; I wasn't a communist", (German: Als die Nazis die Kommunisten holten). The opening is often paraphrased as, "first they came for the communists".

German text Als die Nazis die Kommunisten holten, habe ich geschwiegen; ich war ja kein Kommunist. Als sie die Gewerkschafter holten, habe ich geschwiegen; ich war ja kein Gewerkschafter. Als sie die Sozialdemokraten einsperrten, habe ich geschwiegen; ich war ja kein Sozialdemokrat. Als sie die Juden einsperrten, habe ich geschwiegen; ich war ja kein Jude. Als sie mich holten, gab es keinen mehr, der protestieren konnte.

English translation When the Nazis came for the communists, I kept quiet; I wasn't a communist. When they came for the trade unionists, I kept quiet; I wasn't a trade unionist. When they locked up the social democrats, I kept quiet; I wasn't a social democrat. When they locked up the Jews, I kept quiet; I wasn't a Jew. When they came for me, there was no one left to protest.

The original German language poem, by Martin Niemöller, as preserved by Martin-Niemöller-Haus Berlin-Dahlem.

Reichstag fire

A pivotal moment was the 27 February 1933 Reichstag fire, a terrorist attack on the German parliament building.

The red triangle badge in Nazi concentration camps

Further information: Nazi concentration camp badge, Nazi concentration camps, and Buchenwald Resistance

A red inverted triangle was worn by political prisoners in Nazi concentration camps.

Many red triangle wearers were interned at Dachau concentration camp.

Examples of red triangles with nationality-letter marking at Nazi camps

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  Sachsenhausen-issued red F emblem for a French political enemy
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  F on red triangle on Buchenwald clothing of Dr. Joseph Brau
  (photo by Dominique Brau)
• 
  F on red triangle on Buchenwald clothing of Dr. Joseph Brau
  (photo by Dominique Brau)
• 
  Nazi concentration camp markings

After WWII

Logo of the Association of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime – Federation of Antifascists

Association of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime – Federation of Antifascists

Main article: Association of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime – Federation of Antifascists

See also: International Federation of Resistance Fighters – Association of Anti-Fascists

The Association of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime – Federation of Antifascists (German: Vereinigung der Verfolgten des Naziregimes – Bund der Antifaschistinnen und Antifaschisten, VVN-BdA) is a German political confederation founded in 1947 and based in Berlin. The VVN-BdA, formerly the VVN, emerged from victims' associations in Germany founded by political opponents to Nazism after the Second World War and the end of the Nazi rule in Germany.

With the end of World War II, self-help groups of former resistance fighters were founded in "anti-fascist committees", known as "Antifas", involving working class militants, in particular but not only Communists which were banned immediately by the military administrations of each of the British and American occupation zones for being far politically left. By June 26, 1945, an "association of political prisoners and persecutees of the Nazi system" had been founded in Stuttgart, and in the following weeks and months, there were regional groups of ex-political prisoners and other persecuted individuals formed with the permission of the allied forces, in each of the four occupation zones.

Committee of Antifascist Resistance Fighters

Use in East Germany (Deutsche Demokratische Republik)

From 1975 onwards, the Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR, also known as East Germany) released a medal for the "Committee of Anti-Fascist Resistance Fighters" German: Komitee der Antifaschistischen Widerstandskämpfer of the GDR that included a red triangle.

Service medals

Further information: Nazi concentration camps; Poland in World War II; and Orders, decorations, and medals of Belgium § World War II

Political Prisoner's Cross 1940–1945

B-triangle incorporated into the Belgian Political Prisoner's Cross. These examples also replicate the striped fabric of some uniforms.

Auschwitz Cross

Front and reverse of the Auschwitz Cross, a Polish medal for camp victims. Like the Belgian Auschwitz Cross, the medal shows the red triangle with a nationality indicator, and the ribbon replicate the striped fabric of some camp uniforms.

The Political Prisoner's Cross 1940–1945 (French: Croix du Prisonnier Politique 1940–1945, Dutch: Politieke Gevangenkruis 1940–1945) was a Belgian war medal established by royal decree of the Regent on 13 November 1947 and awarded to Belgian citizens arrested and interned by the Germans as political prisoners during the Second World War. The award's statute included provisions for posthumous award should the intended recipient not survive detention, and the right of the widow, the mother or the father of the deceased to wear the cross.

Service medals awarded to prisoners of war and other camp inmates after WWII feature the triangle thar was used on prisoners' uniforms. The Auschwitz Cross (Polish: Krzyż Oświęcimski), instituted on 14 March 1985, was a Polish decoration awarded to honour survivors of Nazi German concentration camps, including Auschwitz (Auschwitz is a German name for the Polish town Oświęcim, where the camps were built by Nazi Germans). It was awarded generally to Poles, but it was possible to award it to foreigners in special cases. It could be awarded posthumously. It ceased to be awarded in 1999. An exception was made in the case of Greta Ferušić, who was awarded it in February 2004. Some of the people awarded the medal were Jewish, including Szymon Kluger (Shimson Kleuger).

War memorials

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  A Dora Todesmarsch (death march) roadside tablet marked only with the date and a red triangle
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  On a Buchenwald Todesmarsch (death march) route historical marker
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  On a Sachsenhausen death march route historical marker
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  Monument (in the village of Grabow-Below) for Ravensbrück death march victims
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  On a Wöbbelin memorial stone
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  Boulder (in Lindenring) for 2,000 women victims of Ravensbrück
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  On a Cap Arcona incident memorial
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  At the Neustadt-Glewe concentration camp memorial
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  P-triangle at a Zgorzelec memorial
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  This VVN (Association of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime) memorial in Teltow shows a red triangle to symbolize political prisoners
• 
  At Sachsenhausen

21st Century usage

Trump campaign advertisements against antifa

Further information: Antifa (United States), Fascism in the United States, and Donald Trump presidential campaign

In his second term Trump again tried to use terrorist designations very broadly, to target drug cartels in Central America.

In 2020, Donald Trump's election campaign included an advertisement on social media saying that he would make "Antifa" (short for anti-fascism) a "designated terrorist" group. The advertisement showed the red triangle as an antifa symbol. In his second term Trump again tried to use terrorist designations very broadly, to target drug cartels in Central America.

In June 2020, the re-election campaign of Donald Trump posted an advertisement on Facebook stating that "Dangerous MOBS of far-left groups are running through our streets and causing absolute mayhem" and identifying them as "ANTIFA", accompanied by a graphic of a downward-pointing red triangle. The ads appeared on the Facebook pages of Donald Trump, the Trump campaign, and Vice President Mike Pence. Many observers compared the graphic to the symbol used by the Nazis for identifying political prisoners such as communists, social democrats and socialists. Many noted the number of ads – 88 – which is associated with neo-Nazis and white supremacists.

As an example of the public outcry against the use of the downward-pointing red triangle, as reported by MotherJones, the Twitter account (@jewishaction), the account of Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, a Progressive Jewish site stated:

"The President of the United States is campaigning for reelection using a Nazi concentration camp symbol.

Nazis used the red triangle to mark political prisoners and people who rescued Jews. Trump & the RNC are using it to smear millions of protestors.

Their masks are off. pic.twitter.com/UzmzDaRBup"

Facebook removed the campaign ads with the graphic, saying that its use in this context violated their policy against "organized hate". The Trump campaign's communications director wrote, "The red triangle is a common Antifa symbol used in an ad about Antifa." Historian Mark Bray, author of Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook, disputed this, saying that the symbol is not associated with Antifa in the United States.

Other uses

There have been other uses of similar symbols thar are not closely connected to World War Two:

• A red triangle symbol has been used to indicate family planning services.
• The red triangle outline used by the YMCA. It is part of the "Y" in their usual logo, but was also used by itself on a badge for "Red Triangle Day" in about 1917.
• The red triangle pointing upwards was used by the Iraqi Republican Guard that existed from 1969 until 2003.

See also

• Anti-fascism – Opposition to fascism
• Antifa (United States) – Anti-fascist political activist movement
• Anti-antisemitism in Germany
• Anti-Germans (political current)
• Association of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime – Federation of Antifascists
• Bundism – Secular Jewish socialist movement
• Communist Party of Germany – Political party in Germany (1919–1946/1956)
• Identification in Nazi camps – Prisoners' camp identification numbers, cloth emblems, and armbandsPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
• Nazi concentration camp badge § Single triangles
• P (Nazi symbol) – Sign for polish workers during the NS-Regime in Nazi Germany
• Pink triangle – Symbol for the LGBTQIA+ community
• Yellow badge – Badge forced to be worn by Jews at various times in history

External links

• LangLаngС (pen name) (26 June 2020). "Have Antifa members used an inverted red triangle as a symbol?". Skeptics Stack Exchange. Archived from the original on 5 July 2025.
• "Tales of Antifascism: International Survivors' Organizations during the Cold War". Fascism. 9 (1–2): 244–271. 21 December 2020. doi:10.1163/22116257-09010009. ISSN 2211-6249.