The anarchy movement comes from groups and individuals that wish to peacefully establish local self-government cooperatives to those that violently lash out at any government. Anarchists have employed specific symbols for their cause, including most prominently the symbol of capital “A” inside of a circle, although they have historically largely denied the importance of symbols to a political movement. The “A” means anarchy and the “O” means order. Together they stand for “Anarchy is Order.” This symbol is more likely to be used in some type of antigovernment vein than in the infrequent usage that it receives from white supremacists.
Since the comeback of anarchism around the beginning of the 21st century and coinciding with the rise of the anti-globalization movement, the anarchist cultural symbols were mostly present.
The origin of the symbol is relatively modern, maybe going back to its use in the Spanish Civil War which happened between 1936 and 1939. However, this symbol took hold in a much broader community when it was adopted after the 1968 general strike in France.
As a tattoo symbol, the anarchy symbol has been high ranking with people and groups whose members think of themselves as being on the verge of the society, because of their belief systems or their lifestyles. Various times, the anarchy symbol has been embraced by punks, skinheads, and the gay community as well. It has been used to protest globalism – as in global-capitalism or industrialization, global warming, and environmental activists have embraced it. Political anarchists obtained the rights of the individual and minorities over the potential tyranny of the majority.
The fact that in many languages in the world the word for anarchy starts with the letter “A” and the direct and straightforward appeal of the circle used as a framing element has helped in keeping this symbol in use even today.
