HOIST THE BLACK FLAG WINDOWS

Apparently, you can have your anarchy in any color you like - as long as itвЂ™s black.

HOIST THE BLACK FLAG WINDOWS

Most recently, Occupy Wall StreetвЂ™s anarchist wing styled itself after the вЂњBlack BlocвЂќ of 1980s German autonomism and took to smashing windows and looting. They channeled Nestor Makhno, whose anarchist вЂњBlack ArmyвЂќ carried black flags into battle during the Russian Revolution, and the Mexican revolutionist Emiliano Zapata, who chose a black flag as his armyвЂ™s marching accessory in the 1910 uprising. In the 20th century, Parisian students carried black flags during the 1968 General Strike, and were echoed in Chicago by protesters at the Democratic National Convention. вЂњBlack,вЂќ she averred, вЂњis the flag of strikes and the flag of those who are hungry.вЂќ She made no mention of violence, but then such types tend not to. Such was its success that Louise Michel, the вЂњFrench grande dame of anarchy,вЂќ resurrected it during the second Paris Commune of 1871. During the French Revolution, the black pennant was the symbol of the Paris Commune, and it waved happily over such atrocities as the September Massacres, the Reign of Terror, and the Assault on the Tuileries.

This secular black-flag tradition has a long - and bloody - heritage. Indeed, the audiences at Black Flag concerts got the message and behaved accordingly, to an extent sufficient to encourage a significant police presence each time the band played and to prompt the lead singer to say that the establishment вЂњprobably had reason to be scared.вЂќ Such symbolism became popular in the punk-rock movement, with bands such as Black Flag and Anti-Flag using black banderoles to present themselves as rebels and, in the case of the former, as haters of the police. Except in Islam, the black flag is, perhaps, the absence of a flag as much as a flag itself a sly means by which someone indicates that he renounces the established order and submits to no authority. The black flag stands in contrast to the colorful insignia of the nation state, purposively setting its adherents outside the international order and its conventions. He will think nothing of hoisting the black flag and slitting throats, and it behooves him to convey that to his enemies.ДЄs men unconstrained by laws or by the Rules of Engagement are dangerous, so are men without nations. To paraphrase James Baldwin, the most dangerous creation of any society is the man who has nothing to lose. As outlaws, they often had little to obtain in surrender but execution, and to broadcast that fact could be efficacious in convincing their enemies to retreat or to give up without a struggle.

Pirates and anarchists thus employed their pennons primarily as a warning sign. Whereas the white flag denotes immediate surrender, the black flag signifies that its bearer will fight to the death. In this instance, black flags are primarily designed to contrast with other flags. That the black flag spells trouble is a rule that applies also to pirates and anarchists, although it should be admitted that their choice of color is less divinely inspired and more practical. As well as linking it to the end of days, the Hadiths also hold that armies sporting the black flag will be called upon to fight the вЂњMasih-ad-DajjalвЂќ - or вЂњfalse messiah.вЂќ Put bluntly, if you see black flags coming from the east, you might well want to run like hell. Most Shiite Muslims believe that it signifies the impending coming of the вЂњMahdiвЂќ - loosely translated as вЂњmessiahвЂќ - a redeemer who will arrive in the world to rule for an uncertain amount of time and then, eschewing a second term, end the world on the Day of Judgment. In certain traditions, the Hadiths provide it with a more eschatological role. In Islam, the black flag runs the gamut, forecasting events from war to the apocalypse.

Hoist the black flag