During the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

, an inverted red triangle has been used by pro-Palestinian protesters. The red triangle in the Palestinian flag represents the role the

Hashemites The Hashemites (), also House of Hashim, are the royal family of Jordan, which they have ruled since 1921, and were the royal family of the kingdoms of Hejaz (1916–1925), Syria (1920), and Iraq (1921–1958). The family had ruled the city of Me ...

played in the

Arab Revolt The Arab Revolt ( ), also known as the Great Arab Revolt ( ), was an armed uprising by the Hashemite-led Arabs of the Hejaz against the Ottoman Empire amidst the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I. On the basis of the McMahon–Hussein Co ...

. More recently, combat footage published by Hamas uses an inverted red triangle as an arrow to indicate Israeli military targets, such as

tanks A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine; t ...

, just before they are struck. Usage of the triangle has spread to the international war-related protests, with some anti-Israel protesters using the symbol.

Historical origins

Israeli police attack on worshipers at Dome of the Rock 02

The red triangle appears in the 1917 flag of the Arab Revolt, with the color red symbolizing Arab independence and unity. The red triangle also appears in the Palestinian flag, which was used during the

1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine A popular uprising by Palestinian Arabs in Mandatory Palestine against the British administration, later known as the Great Revolt, the Great Palestinian Revolt, or the Palestinian Revolution, lasted from 1936 until 1939. The movement sought i ...

against British rule and Jewish emigration. In a 1938 photograph, Palestinian rebels are seeing waving a black, white and green flag with a red triangle, with a

cross A cross is a religious symbol consisting of two Intersection (set theory), intersecting Line (geometry), lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of t ...

and a

crescent A crescent shape (, ) is a symbol or emblem used to represent the lunar phase (as it appears in the northern hemisphere) in the first quarter (the "sickle moon"), or by extension a symbol representing the Moon itself. In Hindu iconography, Hind ...

, symbolizing interreligious unity, inside the triangle. Despite older historical attestations, some theorized the symbol originates from

Nazi concentration camp badges Nazi concentration camp badges, primarily triangles, were part of the system of identification in German camps. They were used in the concentration camps in the German-occupied countries to identify the reason the prisoners had been placed th ...

. However, the Nazis used the inverted red triangle to identify prisoners with political views opposed to Nazism, not necessarily Jewish prisoners.

Use since 2023

Hamas' military wing, the

Al-Qassam Brigades Al-Qassam Brigades, also known as the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades (EQB; ), are the military wing of the Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islamist organization Hamas. Led by Mohammed Deif until his death on 13 July 2024, Al-Qassam Brigades are ...

, began using a red triangle to mark Israeli targets in propaganda videos since November 2023, at the onset of the

. Since then, the red triangle has appeared in signs and graffiti made by Palestinian supporters in Germany, Canada, the United States, Australia and elsewhere. It has sometimes been painted on private homes or businesses targeted by protesters, such as the apartment building of

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

's Chief Operating Officer, or a popular Jewish-owned bakery in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. The red triangle

emoji An emoji ( ; plural emoji or emojis; , ) is a pictogram, logogram, ideogram, or smiley embedded in text and used in electronic messages and web pages. The primary function of modern emoji is to fill in emotional cues otherwise missing from type ...

(🔻) has been widely used by Palestinian supporters on social media. In October 2024, it was reported that Meta Platforms, Meta had decided to begin removing posts that used the symbol in the context of the Israel–Palestine conflict. In July 2024, the Senate of Berlin voted to ban the symbol following an urgent Motion (legal), motion filed by the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, Christian Democratic Union and the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party. Niklas Schrader, a member of ''The Left (Germany), Die Linke'', cautioned that banning the symbol could unintentionally lead to the outlawing of other organizations. The Association of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime – Federation of Antifascists, Association of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime displays the triangle on their flag accompanied by prisoner stripes, a design that has also been seen at pro-Israel demonstrations.

References

{{Reflist Hamas Reactions to the Israel–Hamas war Red symbols Triangles Arab nationalist symbols

Historical origins

Use since 2023

See also

References