What does this logo mean?

June 4, 2013 7:24 PM

At the thrift store today, I found a hat with this logo (rattlesnake star of david curled around a skull with a spider web) and this other logo on the back. What does it mean?

My best guess is that it's a logo for some metal band, but for the life of me, I can't figure it out. Any suggestions are welcome.

posted by ladypants to Society & Culture (11 answers total)

Masonic? Apparently there's precedent for an ouroboros being depicted in conjunction with the Star of David. See also.
posted by limeonaire at 7:38 PM on June 4, 2013

The ouroboros and star also appear in the logo of something called the Theosophical Society.
posted by limeonaire at 7:43 PM on June 4, 2013

Re: the second one, I don't know about the crossbars at the bottom, but the rest of it seems to be an Algiz rune, which can have white supremacist associations.
posted by threeants at 7:56 PM on June 4, 2013

(Also, I have no idea what the star-of-david-rattlesnake dealie is, but just speaking as a Jew, if I saw it on someone I didn't know, I would feel super uncomfortable.)
posted by threeants at 7:57 PM on June 4, 2013 [4 favorites]

Ahhh yes. Here's a music video (I make no claims for the content; it looks possibly neo-Nazi?) that features an Algiz rune with a crossbar at the bottom.
posted by limeonaire at 7:59 PM on June 4, 2013

Apparently an Algiz with three crossbars is a bind rune, a protection symbol. I don't know what it means when it's bleeding/weeping and only has two bars, though.
posted by limeonaire at 8:21 PM on June 4, 2013

There was a story about a Nazi skull shirt that was posted here, and somebody had a comment about how many shirts were designed by people either taking random images or just using algorithims to mix up anything that looks vaguly cool.
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 8:24 PM on June 4, 2013

There's also a thing about algiz being an "elk-sedge," a sharp plant that draws blood, per an old poem referenced here. So maybe that explains the blood? But yeah, all of this stuff potentially goes together in a creepy neo-Nazi kind of way, in a way that feels like it goes beyond algorithms.
posted by limeonaire at 8:30 PM on June 4, 2013

Best answer: Digging around, I found this. Following that down the rabbit hole leads to all kinds of weirdness.

And more.

And more.

And more.

And Oh Dear God, make it stop!

I'm pretty sure it's less neo-Nazi and more, "I'll steal any symbolism that will look cool to kids who wana be gangsta but mostly shop at Hot Topics."
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 11:13 PM on June 4, 2013

Best answer: Skip all that and just watch this video and you'll know everything you need to know.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 11:19 PM on June 4, 2013

Oh wow, very interesting. Good job, Kid Charlemagne!

I really like some of the stuff I saw in the Mishka opening video, but the stuff that (even inadvertently or unintentionally) combines a bunch of neo-Nazi symbolism (or a skull wearing an Indian war bonnet...) is still pretty uncool.

On an unrelated note, I'm kind of fascinated that we got two Charlemagnes to comment in one thread!
posted by limeonaire at 3:40 PM on June 5, 2013