| Three Arrows | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Versions | |
 The version used as the emblem of theIron Front | |
| Adopted | 1932 |
| Use | An official emblem of theSocial Democratic Party of Germany and its paramilitary wing the Iron Front; anti-fascist symbol designed to deface theNaziswastika |
TheThree Arrows (German:Drei Pfeile) is apolitical symbol associated with theSocial Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), used in the late history of theWeimar Republic. First conceived for the SPD-dominatedIron Front as a symbol of the social democratic resistance againstNazism in 1932, it became an official symbol of the Party during theNovember 1932 German federal election, representing their opposition towardsmonarchism, Nazism, andcommunism.[1]
Since its inception, the symbol has been used in many different contexts by a variety ofanti-fascist,social democratic andsocialist organisations.
TheSocial Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) was opposed by both theNazi Party (NSDAP) and theCommunist Party (KPD). In this setting, the SPD organizerCarlo Mierendorff recruited Russian exiled physiologistSergei Chakhotin as the propagandist of the paramilitary Iron Front, and together they developed propaganda initiatives to counter the NSDAP and the KPD in early 1932. The two launched the Three Arrows as a symbol for the social democrat militancy.[2] The Iron Front was regarded as a "social fascist terror organisation" by the KPD.[3]
Mierendorf and Chakhotin launched the Three Arrows against the Swastika (Dreipfeil gegen Hakenkreuz) campaign.[4] Chakhotin authored a book by the same name. The Three Arrows were thought to represent the struggle of thesocial democratic movement againstreaction (referring tomonarchism),communism andfascism.[5][6] On a widely used and publicized SPD election poster for the6 November 1932Reichstag elections, the Three Arrows were used to represent opposition to theCommunist Party, the monarchist parties, and theNazi Party, accompanied by the slogan "AgainstPapen,Hitler,Thälmann".[1][7] The three arrows also represented the three agents of working class strength: political (represented by the SPD), economic (represented by thetrade unions) and physical (represented by theReichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold).[8][9][10] Chakhotin provides an even wider range of meanings, including the three elements of the movement (political/intellectual power, economic force, physical force), the three qualities demanded of fighters (activity, discipline, union), as well as the ideals of theFrench Revolution (liberté, égalité, fraternité). He also noted that "the figure 3 appears so often in human life, in thoughts, in personal life, and in history, that it has become a sort of 'sacred figure'."[11]
The aesthetic of the campaign and the Three Arrows symbol as such drew inspiration fromSoviet-Russian avant-garde revolutionary artwork.[4] According to Chakhotin, his inspiration for the Three Arrows was aswastika that had been crossed over with chalk inHeidelberg. Per Chakhotin's argument, the Three Arrows and the swastika would always appear as if the three lines were imposed over the swastika rather than the other way around.[2] The Three Arrows were adopted as an official social democrat symbol by the SPD leadership and the Iron Front by June 1932.[2] Iron Front members would carry the symbol on their arm bands.[12] The slogan "neither Stalin's slaves nor Hitler's henchmen" was also used by the SPD in connection with the symbol.[1]
In August 1932, theAustrian Social Democrats adopted the Three Arrows as their combat symbol.[6] The Austrian socialist poet Karl Schneller dedicated the poemDrei Pfeile to the 1932 Austrian Social Democratic Party congress.[6] The symbol was banned in Austria in 1933.[5] During theNazi regime, the symbol appeared on pamphlets of the Revolutionary Socialists of Austria and was used in graffiti.[6] During 1932–1935, it was also used in Belgium, Denmark and the United Kingdom.[2][4]
After Chakhotin had been forced into exile to France, the symbol became used by theFrench Section of the Workers' International.[2] The Three Arrows remained the symbol of theFrench socialists until the 1970s, when it was substituted with thefist and rose symbol.[13] AfterWorld War II, the Three Arrows became the official party logo of theSocial Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) in 1945. The symbol had been modified to include a circle, and the symbolism changed to represent the unity of industrial workers, farm workers and intellectuals.[5] The Three Arrows remained a prominent symbol of the Social Democratic Party of Austria until the 1950s.[5] According to the modern SPÖ, the Three Arrows represent opposition against fascism, capitalism andclericalism.[14]
The PortugueseDemocratic People's Party, created in 1974 in the aftermath of theCarnation Revolution, which put an end to the48-year-long dictatorship in Portugal, and renamed itself theSocial Democratic Party in 1976, uses an adaptation of the Three Arrows as its logo since its foundation. However, its arrows are pointing upwards, and each have a different colour (previously black, red and white; the white having been replaced by orange). According to party members involved in the discussions about the choice of symbols, the Arrows were chosen as a way to differentiate the party from its main rivals' easily recognizable logos: TheSocialist Party'sraised fist androse (fist and rose), and theCommunist Party'shammer and sickle. It is also supposed to stress the resistance to and rejection of fascism and Nazism.[15]
The Three Arrows were adopted by socialist and antifascist organizations in Poland. In the 1930s the symbol became an emblem of two political parties:Polish Socialist Party (Polska Partia Socjalistyczna) andGeneral Jewish Labour Bund in Poland (Algemejner Jidiszer Arbeter Bund in Pojln).[citation needed]
The Three Arrows symbol is popularly used within theantifa movement in the United States, along with flags based on the symbol ofantifa in Germany. Sections of theAmerican Left, including theYoung People's Socialist League, have adopted the Three Arrows as a logo.[16]
Drei Pfeile waren das "Eisernen Front", die sich von der "Harzburger Front" und den Nationalsozialisten, von den Monarchisten und von den Kommunisten absetzen volte.[The Three Arrows were the symbol of the "Iron Front", which wanted to distance itself from the "Harzburg Front" and the National Socialists, from the monarchists and from the communists.]
Thälmann hatte die SPD als „Hilfspolizei für den Faschismus", als „verräterische und volksfeindliche Partei", ihre Führer als „berufsmäßige Arbeiterverräter", „Kapitalsknechte" und „Todfeinde des Sozialismus", die Eiserne Front als „Terrororganisation des Sozialfaschismus" beschimpft und die „Liquidierung der SAJ als Massenorganisation" gefordert.[Thälmann had insulted the SPD as "auxiliary police for fascism", as a "treacherous and anti-people party", its leaders as "professional traitors", "servants of capital" and "mortal enemies of socialism", the Iron Front as "terrorist organization of social fascism" and that the "Liquidation of the SAJ as a mass organization" was required.]
