Inspired by a friend’s blogging about the Time Magazine Top 10 Photos of Protest- what are some famous symbols (either tangible objects or visual images) that represent protest to you?
Some I thought of include–
Sabots (the wooden clogs used to ‘clog’ looms and thereby sabotage them [by some accounts, there are different versions])
The Confederate Naval Jack(or rebel flag), though of course what it’s protesting varies from person to person
Most recently the teabags used in the Fox Astroturf Tea Paries
What are some others? (It doesn’t matter what they’re protesting or if you agree with them or if they’re obscure- or even if they’re real or fictional).
You said fictional was okay, so the stories about King Christian of Denmark wearing the yellow star. He did not actually do that, but he was viewed as pretty anti-Nazi so who knows, maybe he would have if push came to shove.
The American flag flying upside down, which I know is a signal for distress, but blurs over into protest as well.
I’m a little torn over the wire coat hanger, I can’t decide if it’s more a symbol FOR the pro choice movement, or if it was specifically protesting illegal and dangerous abortions.
In Navarra there’s some people who believe we should join one of our neighboring regions, Euskadi (Basquist parties). They fly the flag of Euskadi. Recently, some town councilors tired of seeing members of one of those Basquist parties flouncing Euskadi’s flags all over the place, brought flags of their sports clubs, their kids’ schools, you name it. Suddenly, the flag of Osasuna FC has become a symbol of protesting against the protest…
The “War Is Not Healthy” poster which I saw often as a kid during the Vietnam War.
Scenes from the Little Rock Central High desegregation crisis, such as the image on this page (protest can be reactionary as well as progressive, after all).
Any image of Nelson Mandela, Gandhi, Michael Moore, Abbie Hoffman, or Martin Luther King;
Crowds of picketers;
The “peace” sign;
The confederate flag;
A burning American flag (Why is this illegal? Making this form of political protest illegal is like cherishing a picture frame but throwing away the picture inside!)
Martin Luther’s list being nailed to a church door
The “darwin fish” (a Jesus fish with feet)
An American flag with corporate logos instead of the stars
A closeup of the signatures on the Declaration of Independence
The AK-47 is a perennial symbol of rebels/terrorists/freedom fighters - whatever you want to call them. An AK-47 and a balaclava or ski mask is an even stronger sign of protest, and an AK-47 and an Arab headscarf even more so. The image of a masked fighter with an AK-47 is adopted by guerrillas from the Middle East to Northern Ireland; the AK-47’s curved magazine is part of what makes this image unmistakable.
I can’t help but note that Time is using a doctored version of the Kent State picture at that link. In the original, there’s a fence post behind her head.
That’s actually something that drives me crazy. Christian X and the Danish gov’t did a lot to help Jews–not only the ones who escaped, but also the Danish Jews that did get taken into the camps. Why is there focus on something that didn’t actually happen instead of the brave and noble things they actually did? Because it makes a nice picture and there’s no complicated thinking involved? [/soapbox]
While his list was an act of protest , nailing something to a church door at that time was apparently the regular method for offering a topic for debate.
This is probably the best known in this province. Originally symbolizing the Patriotes Revolt of 1837-38, it’s been adopted by the more intense separatist groups.
