ancap "logo"
For those few of you who
Dollarsign says Market and Circle A says Anarchism.
But isn't the dollarsign a US government symbol?
That's what I used to think. But in fact, the symbol preceded the existence of the United States. It was used on Spanish silver coins -- the unofficially preferred currency in colonial America. The word "dollar" comes from Germany, where the thaler was Europe's preferred coinage. By calling Spanish silver coins "dollars" and using the Spanish symbol as what we now call the dollarsign, early Americans established the word and the symbol as designations for free-market money. At least, that's my current, somewhat informed opinion.
The colors, by the way, have a double meaning: they are based on the old Austrian flag, which makes them an indirect reference to the Austrian School, but more directly, black and gold represent the black flag of anarchy and the gold standard of a true free market (where, yes, some commodity money other than gold might emerge, but for now, gold represents free-market money).
www.cafepress.com/ancap
- embrace market anarchism, but
- do not want to display a bomb logo
Dollarsign says Market and Circle A says Anarchism.But isn't the dollarsign a US government symbol?
That's what I used to think. But in fact, the symbol preceded the existence of the United States. It was used on Spanish silver coins -- the unofficially preferred currency in colonial America. The word "dollar" comes from Germany, where the thaler was Europe's preferred coinage. By calling Spanish silver coins "dollars" and using the Spanish symbol as what we now call the dollarsign, early Americans established the word and the symbol as designations for free-market money. At least, that's my current, somewhat informed opinion.
The colors, by the way, have a double meaning: they are based on the old Austrian flag, which makes them an indirect reference to the Austrian School, but more directly, black and gold represent the black flag of anarchy and the gold standard of a true free market (where, yes, some commodity money other than gold might emerge, but for now, gold represents free-market money).
www.cafepress.com/ancap
3 Comments:
Wouldn't the icons be better represented in the ying-yang style of the sacred chao, rather than an old flag that signified tribal allegiance to a regional rulership?
While I appreciate the sentiment, of course, it seems a little overly ornate and perhaps, sorry, contrived (in esthetic terms).
Why not a simple gold circle-A on plain black? Or why not the half-and-half flag minus the icons?
On another level, why not a simple plain black flag with nothing on it?
We are different, true. Also, I know the anarcha-feminists and the green anarchists have done their own half-and-half flags (black and pink, black and green).
My point is that we should be looking for common ground with other anarchists, IMO, and I can't help but wonder if adding gratuitous stylistic differences might get in the way of that. Sorry.
I agree with Brad and William, a plain black flag is sufficient, but I do appreciate the thought behind the idea.
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