Political uniform

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A number of political movements have involved their members wearing uniforms, typically as a way of showing their identity in marches and demonstrations. The wearing of political uniforms has tended to be associated with radical political beliefs, typically at the far-right or far-left of politics, and can be used to imply a paramilitary type of organization.

Contents

A number of countries have legislation banning the wearing of political uniforms. In Germany, political uniforms are forbidden. [1] Political uniforms were forbidden in Sweden during the period 1933–2002. The law existed to prevent Nazi groups from wearing uniforms. [2] [3] In the United Kingdom, the Public Order Act 1936, passed to control extremist political movements in the 1930s such as the British Union of Fascists, banned the wearing of political uniforms during marches. Attempts to legislate against the wearing of political uniform were difficult to implement, due to problems with defining what constitutes political uniform, but also in determining which groups were a threat to public order. [4] Though this has rarely arisen in recent decades, in January 2015 the Leader of Britain First Paul Golding was convicted for wearing a political uniform. Later in November 2016 the deputy leader of Britain First Jayda Fransen was convicted for wearing a political uniform.

List of parties with political uniforms

Members of the Sturmabteilung (SA), the paramilitary street thugs of the German Nazi Party, were called "brown shirts" after the color of the party uniform. Propaganda poster showing SA uniforms from the Freikorps movements after World War I, through the party ban 1923-25, the uniform ban 1930-1931 up to 1933 when Hitler became Chancellor. 1933 Unser der Sieg! Heil Hitler! Sturmabteilung SA Braunhemden SA-Mann Plakat Postkarte Nazi Germany propaganda poster postcard Color drawing of brownshirts uniforms 1918-33 Swastika flag salute Unidentified artist No known copyright.jpg
Members of the Sturmabteilung (SA), the paramilitary street thugs of the German Nazi Party, were called "brown shirts" after the color of the party uniform. Propaganda poster showing SA uniforms from the Freikorps movements after World War I, through the party ban 1923–25, the uniform ban 1930–1931 up to 1933 when Hitler became Chancellor.

Notable uniformed political groups have included:

"Blackshirts"
"Blueshirts"
"Greenshirts"
"Redshirts"

Other:

Political uniforms have sometimes taken the form of headwear:

Other uniformed movements:

The youth sections of some political movements have also been uniformed:

See also

Related Research Articles

The Sturmabteilung was the original paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party. It played a significant role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and early 1930s. Its primary purposes were providing protection for Nazi rallies and assemblies, disrupting the meetings of opposing parties, fighting against the paramilitary units of the opposing parties, especially the Roter Frontkämpferbund of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and the Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), and intimidating Romani, trade unionists, and especially Jews.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blueshirts</span> Irish Free State paramilitary organisation

The Army Comrades Association (ACA), later the National Guard, then Young Ireland and finally League of Youth, but best known by the nickname the Blueshirts, was a paramilitary organisation in the Irish Free State, founded as the Army Comrades Association in Dublin on 9 February 1932. The group provided physical protection for political groups such as Cumann na nGaedheal from intimidation and attacks by the IRA. Some former members went on to fight for the Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War after the group had been dissolved.

Column 88 was a neo-Nazi paramilitary organisation based in the United Kingdom. It was formed in the early 1970s, and disbanded in the early 1980s. The members of Column 88 undertook military training under the supervision of a former Royal Marine Commando, and also held regular gatherings attended by neo-nazis from all over Europe. The name is code: the eighth letter of the alphabet 'HH' represents the Nazi greeting 'Heil Hitler'. Journalist Martin Walker described Column 88 as a "shadow paramilitary Nazi group".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Social Credit Party of Great Britain and Northern Ireland</span> Political party in the United Kingdom

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The term "Blue Shirts", when used by itself, can refer to several organizations,

The National Corporate Party was a fascist political party in Ireland founded by Eoin O'Duffy in June 1935 at a meeting of 500. It split from Fine Gael when O'Duffy was removed as leader of that party, which had been founded by the merger of O'Duffy's Blueshirts, formally known as the National Guard or Army Comrades Association, with Cumann na nGaedheal, and the National Centre Party. Its deputy leader Colonel P.J. Coughlan of Cork. Its secretary was Captain Liam D. Walsh of Dublin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zoltán Meskó</span> Hungarian Nazi politician

Zoltán Meskó de Széplak was a leading Hungarian Nazi during the 1930s. He led his own Nazi movement during the early 1930s but faded from the political scene when Hungary became a member of the Axis powers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black Front (Netherlands)</span> Dutch fascist movement active before the Second World War

The Black Front, later known as the National Front was a Dutch Greater Netherlands and fascist movement active before and during the first years of the Second World War.

Blackshirts were originally the paramilitary wing of the Kingdom of Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magyar Gárda</span>

Magyar Gárda Mozgalom, founded by Magyar Gárda Hagyományőrző és Kulturális Egyesület was a patriotic-nationalistic association somewhat mimicking an army in its organisation and paraphernalia. It was coined a paramilitary, a party-militia, or – sarcastically – an operetta-guard by its opponents and certain media outlets, even though it was never armed. It was in varyingly close relationship with the Jobbik party in Hungary. It was founded through an "oath of loyalty to Hungary" by its members in Buda Castle, Budapest, on 25 August 2007. It was dissolved by the Budapest Tribunal on 2 July 2009. The president of the Association was Gábor Vona, and it had such prominent members as former (1990–1994) defence minister Lajos Für and actor Mátyás Usztics.

Fascist movements gained popularity in many countries in Asia during the 1920s.

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Greenshirts or Green shirts can mean:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blackshirts</span> Paramilitary of the Italian National Fascist Party

The Voluntary Militia for National Security, commonly called the Blackshirts or squadristi, was originally the paramilitary wing of the National Fascist Party, known as the Squadrismo, and after 1923 an all-volunteer militia of the Kingdom of Italy under Fascist rule, similar to the SA. Its members were distinguished by their black uniforms and their loyalty to Benito Mussolini, the Duce (leader) of Fascism, to whom they swore an oath. The founders of the paramilitary groups were nationalist intellectuals, former army officers and young landowners opposing peasants' and country labourers' unions. Their methods became harsher as Mussolini's power grew, and they used violence and intimidation against Mussolini's opponents. In 1943, following the fall of the Fascist regime, the MVSN was integrated into the Royal Italian Army and disbanded.

Far-right subcultures refers to the symbolism, ideology and traits that hold relevance to various politically extreme right-wing groups and organisations. There are three kinds of subcultures within far-right movements to distinguish: subcultural parasitism, subcultural creation around ideology and subcultures that are networking with far-right movements.

References

  1. Post, Washington (5 May 2016). "'Sharia police' to face trial in Germany for violating ban on political uniforms". National Post. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  2. Zander, Patrick G. (2020-10-19). Fascism through History: Culture, Ideology, and Daily Life [2 volumes]. ABC-CLIO. p. 492. ISBN   978-1-4408-6194-9.
  3. Walker, Samuel (1994-01-01). Hate Speech: The History of an American Controversy. U of Nebraska Press. p. 50. ISBN   978-0-8032-9751-7.
  4. Pollen, A. 'The Public Order Act: Defining Political Uniform in 1930s Britain' in Tynan, J. and Godson, L. (eds) Uniform: Clothing and Discipline in the Modern World London: Bloomsbury, 2019, pp. 25-47
  5. https://www.belltower.news/junge-tat-swiss-neo-nazis-on-a-social-media-mission-141959/ [ bare URL ]
  6. https://www.parlament.ch/de/ratsbetrieb/suche-curia-vista/geschaeft?AffairId=20233391 [ bare URL ]
  7. https://ctc.westpoint.edu/the-iron-march-forum-and-the-evolution-of-the-skull-mask-neo-fascist-network/ [ bare URL ]
  8. https://extremism.gwu.edu/sites/g/files/zaxdzs5746/files/Neo-Fascist%20Skullmask%20Movement.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  9. https://www.thedailybeast.com/is-the-capitol-rioters-skull-mask-fetish-fashion-or-fascist [ bare URL ]