Raised fist

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This article is about the salute and symbol. For the Swedish band, see Raised Fist.
Nelson Mandela walks free from prison in 1990 with a raised fist
Nelson Mandela walks free from prison in 1990 with a raised fist

The raised fist (also other names, including clenched fist) is a salute most often used by political and social activists of a leftist, anti-fascist, or simply "anti-establishment" orientation, such as communists, anarchists, socialists, leftists, pacifists, and trade unionists. Generally the fist is regarded as an expression of solidarity, strength or defiance.

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[edit] Other names

The salute has also been known as the clenched fist or closed fist. Additionally, different movements sometimes use different terms to describe the raised fist salute: amongst communists and socialists it is sometimes called the red salute, whereas amongst black rights activists, especially in the United States of America it has been called the black power salute. During the Spanish Civil War, it was sometimes known as the anti-fascist salute.

[edit] Symbol

The fist may represent union, as "many weak fingers can come together to create a strong fist", and is also used to express solidarity, generally with oppressed peoples. This symbolism may have sprung from usage by trade unions.

Stencilled symbol of the autonomist movement Autonome
Stencilled symbol of the autonomist movement Autonome

[edit] Groups that have used the symbol

Groups that have used some form of the raised fist as a symbol:

Additionally, the fist with a red rose (e.g., as used by the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) is a symbol of social democracy.

[edit] Salute

The salute consists of raising the arm with a clenched fist, at an angle of 90 degrees or greater. There is no uniformity as to which arm is raised; in general, anarchists use the right arm while Marxists use the left arm,[citation needed] but this rule is not adhered to very strictly. The salute contrasts with the Roman Salute, used by fascists in the 20th century, in which the arm is held stiff and the hand is held palm downward with the fingers together and extended outward. The Roman salute is generally directed toward another person or a symbol such as a flag or standard, which the clenched fist salute generally is not.

The clenched fist gesture is sometimes mistakenly thought to have originated in the Spanish Civil War. A letter from the Spanish Civil War explained,

“ ...the raised fist which greets you in Salud is not just a gesture—it means life and liberty being fought for and a greeting of solidarity with the democratic peoples of the world."[1] ”

The raised fist was used as the salute of the Black Panther Party. At the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, medal winners John Carlos and Tommie Smith gave the raised fist salute during the American national anthem as a sign of black power and protest on behalf of the Olympic Project for Human Rights. For this, they were barred from further Olympic activities.

Loyalists in Northern Ireland often use a clenched fist on murals depicting the Red Hand of Ulster.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Rolfe, Mary. Letter to Leo Hurwitz and Janey Dudley, 25 November 1938. Reprinted in Cary Nelson and Jefferson Hendricks, eds. "Madrid 1937: Letters of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade from the Spanish Civil War," Routledge: 1996. Reprinted online [1]
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