# Examples of symbols of protest **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 23, 2009, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-symbols-of-protest/500746 "2009-06-23T18:42:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-symbols-of-protest/500746/1 "2009-06-23T18:42:09Z")
Inspired by a friend’s blogging about the [Time Magazine Top 10 Photos of Protest](http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1906434_1861266,00.html?imw=Y)- what are some famous **symbol** s (either tangible objects or visual images) that represent protest to you? Some I thought of include– [Sabots](http://www.7ehussards.org/outfitting/images/sabot.JPG) (the wooden clogs used to ‘clog’ looms and thereby _sabot_age them [by some accounts, there are different versions]) The [Confederate Naval Jack](http://www.confederatecolonel.com/southernicons/images/250px-Conf_Navy_Jack.svg)(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). ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-symbols-of-protest/500746/2 "2009-06-23T18:49:12Z")
The daisies in guns pic from the 60s. I’m surprised it’s not in the album. [http://www.ecopolis.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/flower-power.jpg](http://www.ecopolis.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/flower-power.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-symbols-of-protest/500746/3 "2009-06-23T19:27:39Z")
Picket signs. Could the peace sign be considered a symbol of protest against war? ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-symbols-of-protest/500746/4 "2009-06-23T19:50:42Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-symbols-of-protest/500746/5 "2009-06-23T19:58:54Z")
An A surrounded by a circle. Bra-burning. 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… ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-symbols-of-protest/500746/6 "2009-06-23T20:33:59Z")
Mahatma Gandhi [gathering salt](http://livinggallery.oneindia.in/d/32635-2/picking-up-salt-dandi.jpg) as the culmination of a march in the [Salt Satyagraha](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_Satyagraha) campaign. The [“War Is Not Healthy”](http://www.peace-tech.com/store/prod_cards_warnothealthy.php) 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](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazel_Massery) (protest can be reactionary as well as progressive, after all). ---
**Author:** ![sethness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aca169/32.png) [@sethness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sethness)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-symbols-of-protest/500746/7 "2009-10-06T08:01:28Z")
An A with a circle around it is the symbol for anarchy (the political system), which is not a protest per se. ---
**Author:** ![sethness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aca169/32.png) [@sethness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sethness)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-symbols-of-protest/500746/8 "2009-10-06T08:07:16Z")
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 A monkeywrench tossed into large clockworks A sit-in ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-symbols-of-protest/500746/9 "2009-10-06T08:23:08Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-symbols-of-protest/500746/10 "2009-10-06T14:41:21Z")
A lone man standing in front a column of tanks ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-symbols-of-protest/500746/11 "2009-10-06T15:59:58Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > The daisies in guns pic from the 60s. I’m surprised it’s not in the album. > > [http://www.ecopolis.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/flower-power.jpg](http://www.ecopolis.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/flower-power.jpg) Good but I preferred a simple FTA on someone’s field gear. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-symbols-of-protest/500746/12 "2009-10-06T16:21:36Z")
a bare butt, moon those you oppose (smart if done at a safe distance) ---
**Author:** ![filling\_pages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9bd4f/32.png) [@filling\_pages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filling_pages)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-symbols-of-protest/500746/13 "2009-10-06T16:39:41Z")
I can’t help but note that Time is using a doctored version of the Kent State picture at that link. In [the original](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kent_State_massacre.jpg), there’s a fence post behind her head. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-symbols-of-protest/500746/14 "2009-10-06T16:45:43Z")
> [@delphica](#): > > 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. 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] ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-symbols-of-protest/500746/15 "2009-10-06T18:48:50Z")
[Liberty Leading the People](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Eug%C3%A8ne_Delacroix_-_La_libert%C3%A9_guidant_le_peuple.jpg), Eugène Delacroix. The original and still the best. One thing I have to ask, though - what happened to that guy’s pants? ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-symbols-of-protest/500746/16 "2009-10-06T19:15:15Z")
> [@sethness](#): > > Martin Luther’s list being nailed to a church door 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. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-symbols-of-protest/500746/17 "2009-10-06T19:21:51Z")
I love [this image](http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2006/10/09/carlos_narrowweb__300x365,0.jpg)so much, it still gets me all hot everytime I see it! ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-symbols-of-protest/500746/18 "2009-10-06T20:13:30Z")
[The Last Great Act of Defiance](http://www.ussschenectadylst1185.org/media/LastGreatActOfDefiance-1.gif). ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-symbols-of-protest/500746/19 "2009-10-06T21:10:59Z")
> [@Sternvogel](#): > > Scenes from the Little Rock Central High desegregation crisis, such as the image on [this page](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazel_Massery) (protest can be reactionary as well as progressive, after all). I find [this](http://cache.boston.com/resize/bonzai-fba/Globe_Photo/2009/01/30/1233359914_4347/539w.jpg) image similar to yours, a striking portrayal of reactionary protest. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-symbols-of-protest/500746/20 "2009-10-06T21:27:05Z")
[This](http://www.phmc.gc.ca/cmh/book_images/high/v2_c5_s09_ss02_01.jpg) 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. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-symbols-of-protest/500746.md?page=2)