'Had to look it up... That's the anarchist flag.
One of the many. Red and black is used by anarcho-communists/anarcho-syndicalists.
I also had to look it up. To be more precise, it's the anarcho-communist flag. Where red stands for communism and black for anarchy.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_symbolism#Red_and_black_flag
Isn't having a flag kind of antithetical to anarchism?
No. In politics, Anarchism doesn’t mean ‘no rules, everyone for themselves!’, more like everyone for each other. Well, unless you take AnCaps seriously…
But regardless, it’s an ideology, not a lack of ideology, and it helps Anarchists to identify and spread their message to use symbols like the flag.
Anarchism is a complex web of horizontal structures, not the absence of it. Having uniting symbolism is perfectly fine.
You know, as a vanilla anarchist, I think it's kinda offensive somehow that there's an anarchist flag. Like why does anarchism need a flag? Isn't that like.. the opposite of anarchy?
The concept of an official symbol for anarchy seems antithetical
It's for one specific strain of anarchism: Anarcho-communism (anarcho-syndicalism uses these colors, too, but it's usually used for AnCom).
There are several designs for the different kinds of anarchism. Usually, it's diagonal-black and some other color (e.g.: violet: anarcho-feminism, green: eco-anarchism, ...).
Yellow doesn't count, since ancaps aren't anarchist.
Edit: typo
Doesn't look like an official symbol, and it's also used for signaling. Libertarian socialism?
Cool quote about the black flag, another traditional anarchist flag:
The black flag is the negation of all flags. It is a negation of nationhood ... Black is a mood of anger and outrage at all the hideous crimes against humanity perpetrated in the name of allegiance to one state or another ... But black is also beautiful. It is a colour of determination, of resolve, of strength, a colour by which all others are clarified and defined ... So black is negation, is anger, is outrage, is mourning, is beauty, is hope, is the fostering and sheltering of new forms of human life and relationship on and with this earth
Doesn't look like an official symbol, and it's also used for signaling. Libertarian socialism?
It has been used by the spanish CNT/FAI, so at least since the 1930s.
Libertarian socialism is just another term for anarcho-communism.
The fact that "libertarian" is mostly connotated with ancaps goes back to Murray Rothbard, who "stole" the term. Before him, "libertarian" was a synonym for "anarchist".
Arkhos (as in an-arkhos = anarchy) means "chief" (anarchy = no chief).
Anarchy, loosely, is governance without a figurehead or centralized leadership. I'd argue the stars and stripes doesn't mean "Biden" or even "the executive branch", the union jack doesn't mean "Rishi Sunak" and the tricolor doesn't mean "Macron"
I'd argue you could radically amend the system of government and still keep the flag.
I reject your
realityflag and substitute my own.Anarchism isn't the absence of structure, but the presence of a complex web of horizontal organization.
It's the pride flag for those really really wanting to fuck the government.
Or roleplaying that the government is fucking them... while they refuse to participate in or cooperate with that government...
