History Main / IconOfRebellion

* Communists have the red star and the hammer and sickle, originating in [[RedOctober Soviet]] iconography. However, the color red as a symbol of revolution and/or socialism is [[OlderThanTheyThink much older than Marxist-Leninism]].

->''"[[FolkHero The Champion]]'s name became a rallying cry, a reminder the mighty templars could be defied."''

* ''VideoGame/{{Half-Life 2}}'' has Gordon Freeman, who certainly becomes a [[MessianicArchetype Messiah]]-type figure to the ragtag human rebellion in City 17, and the Lambda symbol itself becomes a common symbol to denote rebels and the caches they hide around the city and surrounding countryside.

* Invoked by the campaign of [[PresidentEvil The Smiler]] in ''ComicBook/{{Transmetropolitan}}''. While campaigning to be president, he has his campaign manager Vita, who is also the most visible, [[TokenGoodTeammate decent]], and publicly admired member of his campaign, become this as they campaign against the current [[OurPresidentsAreDifferent highly corrupt and widely hated President]]. It even goes to the extent of having her adopt the buns on the side of the head hairstyle of [[BadassPrincess Princess Leia]] from ''Franchise/StarWars'' to get people subconsciously thinking of her as fighting against the EvilEmpire. She later lampshades this to Spider.

* The inverted cross is often used as a symbol of rebellion. Generally, however, people forget it is actually the symbol of St Peter (who, it is said, asked to be crucified upside-down out of respect for his Rabbi, [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation and/or]] as a "screw you" to the Romans, with his request one-upping them in power), and as such is often used by the Catholic Church as a specific symbol representing him and the Pope.

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** In occupied UsefulNotes/{{Norway}} people used the monogram H7 (Standing for Haakon VII, the Norwegian head of state during and after the war) as a symbol of resistence
** the ''Croix de Lorraine'' (Cross of Lorraine) of the Free French forces, also painted onto walls in occupied UsefulNotes/{{France}}, often in combination with the [[GratuitousFrench V pour Victoire]]. [[LaResistance French resistance]] members liked to sing the ''Chant des partisans''.

* UsefulNotes/CheGuevara's face has been made the the symbol of rebellious communists. [[TheManStickingItToTheMan Ironically, it's also been utilized as icon to sell products by capitalism, which Che opposed.]]

* UsefulNotes/CheGuevara's face has been made the the symbol of rebellious communists. Ironically, it's also been utilized as icon to sell products by capitalism, which Che opposed.

* ''Literature/BasLagCycle''
** Jack-half-a-prayer from ''Literature/PerdidoStreetStation''.
** The Perpetual Train in ''Literature/IronCouncil''.
*** Benjamin Flex from the same book.
*** Spiral Jacobs, the vagabond, roams around the city of [[WretchedHive New Crobuzon]] and spends his days vandalizing the city with drawings of spirals. This occurs during a time of political unrest, and the masses of New Crobuzon adopt it as a symbol of the rebellion, wearing it on their clothing and making the marks themselves. Subverted in that [[spoiler: Jacobs is actually the ambassador of an enemy city and the spirals are part of an extremely powerful and intricate magic that would completely destroy the New Crobuzon, sending ripples of destruction backwards through time.]]

** After the ContinuityReboot, ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'' gave a new origin for the symbol as a creation of [[GraffitiOfTheResistance rebel artist]] Sabine Wren, who based it on a phoenix as a symbol of the rebel alliance rising from the ashes of their defeats, burning despite the Empire's attempts to stamp it out.

* Sabine Wren of ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'' specializes in GraffitiOfTheResistance, and after a couple of tries with different icons her phoenix symbol is the one that catches on and later becomes the symbol of the Rebel Alliance.

** Rebels against the Lunar Authority wore red caps called Liberty Caps. Heinlein got the idea from the French Revolution example in Real Life
below.

* During the [[UsefulNotes/{{Japan}} Japanese]] Colonization, Koreans used the flag [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_South_Korea TaeGeukgi]](now UsefulNotes/SouthKorea's national flag) as the symbol of resistance. One of the most notable event was [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_First_Movement March First Movement of the 1919]], when approximately ''two million people'' protested against the Japanese rule, all waving Taegeukgis and shouting "Long live Korean Independence!".
** Apparently Taegeukgis also became associated with democracy and freedom as well; they were used in countless South Korean democracy movements against its totalitarian governments(which, ironically enough, made bowing to Taegeukgi mandatory for all Koreans).

Certain icons, hand gestures being the most common, tend to be reused across media and history alike. The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V_sign "V" gesture]] (Index and middle fingers pointing upwards with the rest of the hand held in a fist and facing away from the user) is a symbol in the ''Series/{{V}}'' miniseries, was used to represent the anti-war movement of TheSixties, and also stood for the '''V'''ictory of the Allies in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.

* ''[[Series/{{V}} V: the Miniseries]]'': The "V" hand gesture, and as spray-painted graffiti.

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** Rebels against the Lunar Authority wore red caps called Liberty Caps. Heinlein got the idea from the French Revolution example in [[AC:RealLife]] below.

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* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': In a story arc, Bajor is threaten by a nationalistic group called the Circle. These extremists would spray paint their symbol as vandalism or in their headquarters. When a beloved war hero from the resistance returns to Bajor, the Circle makes sure to keep him isolated and out of the political scene, lest he become an Icon of Unity as they try to destabilize the existing government in the lead up to their coup-d'etat.

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* Le Diamant ("The Diamond") and L'Épurateur ("The Purifier"), two famous figures of the alternate French Revolution in ''Literature/LookToTheWest''. While Le Diamant was a figure with well known beliefs that went on to influence radical thought for years after his death, L'Épurateur was an unknown soldier who posed dramatically atop the Bastille with a bloodied, upside-down flag and the decapitated head of a reactionary leader. [[note]]In-universe history books note that nobody knows who L'Épurateur really was, and for all they know he could have been a simple thug who went to fight for the royalists the next day when they offered him more money.[[/note]] They inspired a stylised diamond symbol and a red flag with an upside-down fleur-de-lys respectively.

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** Songs like ''Ca ira'', the ''Carmagnole'', the ''Chant du départ'' and the ''Marseillaise''.
*** There is an UrbanLegend about when they announced at the Mexico City Theater that France had invaded Mexico at 1839, the audience, out of PatrioticFervor, stand out to sing ''La Marseillaise''. At that time, Mexico still didn’t have a National Anthem, and the Mexican audience felt ''La Marseillaise'' was a song about [[UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution heroes fighting for Liberty]], and they felt the song represented them better than TheEmpire France was at that time. It's also important to note that "La Marseillaise" was suppressed at the time by the French government. Authoritarian French governments saw that song as too revolutionary for a national anthem and it would take years before they embraced it.

* The popular song ''Le temps des cérises'' (The Season of Cherries) for the supporters of the Paris Commune of 1870/71.

* The "L" sign used in the uprising that brought down the Marcos régime in the UsefulNotes/{{Philippines}}.

* The Clenched Fist Salute is still a popular symbol of rebellion. It has socialist/communist connotations - it was used, for example, by Republican forces in the UsefulNotes/SpanishCivilWar. In America, it is also associated with the UsefulNotes/CivilRightsMovement.

** Guy Fawkes masks have also become synonymous with the Occupy Wallstreet protests. [[TheManIsStickingItToTheMan Amuisngly these masks are copyrighted themselves]] and MegaCorp [[{{Irony}} Time Warner has made a significant profit selling them to protesters.]]

* UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo
** The Dutch would wear Orange in defiance to the Nazis. Orange was the symbol of the Dutch ruling family - The House of Orange.

** The audio equivalent of the V for Victory sign was the "da-da-da daaa" opening notes of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, which form the Morse Code symbol for the letter "V", three dots followed by a dash.
** In occupied Denmark people took to wearing knitted red, white and blue caps; it took a while for the Germans to recognize that their design was based on the roundels of the Royal Air Force.
** the ''Croix de Lorraine'' (Cross of Lorraine) of the Free French forces, also painted onto walls in occupied France, often in combination with the [[GratuitousFrench V pour Victoire]]. French resistance members liked to sing the ''Chant des partisans''.
** For anti-fascist Italian partisans the song ''Bella Ciao''.
* During the French Revolution, wearing the bonnet rouge (red Phrygian cap) was a symbol of Revolutionary sympathies that later became a national symbol.

* During the Jewish Revolts, the Jews would mint their own money and mark it with nationalistic/religious references as a sign of loyalty to the cause.

** A similar phenomenon can be observed with the revival of Irish Gaelic.

* Symbols of anarchism, including but not limited to: the Black Flag, the Red/Black Flag (used in ''VideoGame/EuropaUniversalis III'', even!), the A within a circle and the Black Cat.

* During the Japanese Colonization, Koreans used the flag [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_South_Korea TaeGeukgi]](now SouthKorea's national flag) as the symbol of resistance. One of the most notable event was [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_First_Movement March First Movement of the 1919]], when approximately ''two million people'' protested against the Japanese rule, all waving Taegeukgis and shouting "Long live Korean Independence!".

* Keffiyeh for Palestinian, and the Palestine solidarity movements. TheOtherWiki has [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keffiyeh a long and comprehensive history]] of how it came to be an icon, which might be useful to clear some confusion in regards of [[ParanoiaFuel its image in the west]].
* The black, red and gold tricolor of Germany goes back to the barricade fighters of the revolution of 1848.
* The Polish national anthem, originally written for a Polish legion serving in exile for the French Republic.
* The "L" sign used in the uprising that brought down the Marcos régime in the Philippines.

* Easter Lilies are worn in Ireland every Easter to commemorate the Easter Rising and the following revolution against the British government. In [[UsefulNotes/NorthernIreland Stroke Country]], the phoenix is also used as a symbol of revolution against British rule.
* Che Guevara's face has been made the the symbol of rebellious communists, ironically however its has been utilized as icon to sell products by capitalism, to which Che opposes.
* Ayatollah Khomeini's posters during the Islamic Revolution in Iran.

* The main character in the GreenDay song "She's A Rebel" actually calls the subject of the song this:

Whenever a revolution is taking place, when people rebel against an authority, certain motifs often come to be associated with the uprisings. This can take the form of many things such as gestures, songs, objects, figureheads, phrases or even landmarks. Basically anything that can be used to symbolize a societal/political upheaval. The nature of the IconOfRebellion means that it frequently becomes [[MemeticMutation memetic]] among supporters of the rebellion.

Certain icons, hand gestures being the most common, tend to be reused across media and history alike. The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V_sign "V" gesture]] (Index and middle fingers pointing upwards with the rest of the hand held in a fist and facing away from the user) is a symbol in the ''Series/{{V}}'' miniseries, was used to represent the anti-war movement of TheSixties, and also stood for the '''V'''ictory of the Allies in UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo.

Because the IconOfRebellion is usually something that is fairly innocuous, it can be displayed openly amongst rebels as a subversive sort of "Screw you" to the people in power. Only in the most [[BigBrotherIsWatching Orwellian]] of societies is this ever punished.

* Franchise/{{Gundam}} provides several examples:

* The [[Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann Team (Dai-)Gurren]] symbol and flag.

** Jack-half-a-prayer from ''PerdidoStreetStation''.

** The sign of the turtle in 'Discworld/SmallGods'', symbolising the rejection of the Omnian dogma that the world is spherical.

* Boko Berikuka in the Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse short story "Walkin' City Blues" is both a nickname for the walking city of the title, and a symbol of injustice for the city's working classes. It turns out [[spoiler: that the city is PoweredByAForsakenChild, and Boko Berikuka was the name of that child]].

* ''GIJoe'': COBRA, naturally enough, has a red cobra's head with its hood open.

* Guy Fawkes masks were worn by members of the anti-Scientology movement, Project Chanology. The masks have become more heavily associated with Internet vigilante/hacker group {{Anonymous}}, though. This was inspired by the film/comic book, ''ComicBook/VForVendetta''. Creator/AlanMoore himself is quite proud of this, but is slightly disappointed that the inspiration likely comes more from the film than the comic.

* Le Diamant ("The Diamond") and L'Épurateur ("The Purifier"), two famous figures of the alternate French Revolution in ''LookToTheWest''. While Le Diamant was a figure with well known beliefs that went on to influence radical thought for years after his death, L'Épurateur was an unknown soldier who posed dramatically atop the Bastille with a bloodied, upside-down flag and the decapitated head of a reactionary leader. [[labelnote:*]]In-universe history books note that nobody knows who L'Épurateur really was, and for all they know he could have been a simple thug who went to fight for the royalists the next day when they offered him more money.[[/labelnote]] They inspired a stylised diamond symbol and a red flag with an upside-down fleur-de-lys respectively.

* Some continuities of ''{{Transformers}}'' have the Autobot symbol be their slave brand until they threw off their shackles and turned it into a badge of honor.

* In the ''Literature/DaughterOfTheLioness'' series by TamoraPierce, the symbol for the cultural uprising of an ethnic group enslaved and kept on the bottom rung of society was a crude broken manacle: three small circles as a chain attached to a larger broken circle. This tiny sign of the underground rebellion could be seen anywhere--vegetable stands, scratched into the corners of glass windows.

** ''Literature/{{Discworld}}''

* In the prequel ''LegendsOfDune'' novels, Serena Butler's infant son Manion becomes the symbol of what becomes known as the Butlerian Jihad against the tyranical [[AIIsACrapshoot Thinking Machines]], after he is thrown from a balcony by the robot Erasmus. He becomes the first martyr in the fight as Manion the Innocent. "Saint" Serena herself joins the ranks of martyrs after she lets herself be taken and killed by the machines to invigorate the masses.

* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', due to their actions at the Gallows, Hawke's name becomes a rallying cry for oppressed Mages to rise up, ultimately leading to the Mage-Templar War engulfing Thedas. This is despite Hawke having very little to do with the actual ''reason'' for those events having occured, ultimately simply being the RightManInTheWrongPlace, who was forced to use all of their badassery to ride out the wave.

** Which in and of itself is rather...ironic. Yes, Fawkes was trying to depose the Protestant Regime...but only so a Catholic one could rise.

* The inverted cross is often used as a symbol of rebellion. Generally, however, people forget it is actually the symbol of St Peter (who, it is said, asked to be crucified upside-down out of respect for his Rabbi, [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation and/or]] as a "screw you" to the romans, with his request one-uping them in power), and as such is often used by the Catholic Church as a specific symbol representing him and the Pope.

** the ''Croix de Lorraine'' (Cross of Lorraine) of the Free French forces, also painted onto walls in occupied France, often in combination with the [[GratuitousFrench V pour Victoire]]. French resistants liked to sing the ''Chant des partisans''.

*** There is an UrbanLegend about when they announced at the Mexico City Theater that France had invaded Mexico at 1839, the audience, out of PatrioticFervor, stand out to sing ''La Marseillaise''. At that time, Mexico still didn’t have a National Anthem, and the mexican audience felt ''La Marseillaise'' was a song about [[UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution heroes fighting for Liberty]], and they felt the song represented them better than TheEmpire France was at that time. It's also important to note that "La Marseillaise" was suppressed at the time by the French government. Authoritarian French governments saw that song as too revolutionary for a national anthem and it would take years before they embraced it.

* Easter Lillies are worn in Ireland every Easter to commemorate the Easter Rising and the following revolution against the British government. In [[UsefulNotes/NorthernIreland Stroke Country]], the phoenix is also used as a symbol of revolution against British rule.