Red triangle (badge)

The red triangle, also known as the red wedge, was a required badge worn by left-wing dissidents incarcerated in Nazi concentration camps during World War Two. The red triangle patch pointing upwards designated prisoners within the jurisdiction of the Wehrmacht, including prisoners of war, spies, and military deserters. An inverted red triangle was worn by political prisoners, including resistance fighters. The political ideologies designated by the red triangle included communists, liberals, anarchists, Social Democrats, and Freemasons. After the war, the inverted red triangle symbol was reclaimed by anti-fascists in Europe, similar to the way that the pink triangle used to mark gay prisoners became a symbol of LGBTQ pride. The reclaimed red triangle symbol has been used as the logo for the Association of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime – Federation of Antifascists in Germany and numerous other post-war remembrances and memorial groups. It has also been worn as a lapel pin by left-wing politicians from Belgium, France, and Spain.

Other left-wing, anti-fascist, and resistance groups have used red triangle or red wedge symbols that reference images and symbols from before WWII. One of these is Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge, a 1919 propaganda poster by El Lissitzky. An earlier image recalled by some labour movements is an equilateral triangle representing eight-hours of work, eight-hours of leisure, and eight hours of sleep in a 24-hour day.

In 2020, Donald Trump's presidential re-election campaign attracted controversy by using the symbol in social media advertisements attacking his far-left opponents, whom he described as "Antifa."

Before Nazi Germany

Eight-hour workday

The red triangle has been a left-wing political symbol since the 19th century.