The LGBT Pink Triangle: From Badge of Shame to Reclaimed Power

For this year’s LGBT history month, we explore the history behind one of the most powerful symbols associated with the queer community.   

When you think about LGBTQ+ symbolism, it’s quite likely that you will think of rainbows & the original pride flag, and with good reason.  The rainbow has become hugely synonymous with the Queer community, but before pride and the gay liberation movement there was another symbol that, despite its dark past, should not be overlooked.  

The pink triangle. 

Queer Persecution

To understand where the pink triangle came from as a queer symbol of rebellion, we have to look at Germany during 1871. It was then that Paragraph 175 of the German Criminal Code was passed stating that men who engaged in any acts of “unnatural indecency” would be sent to jail.  

The law was only enforced at times, and, as you would imagine, it was almost impossible for any convictions to be made. Instead, the police were asked to keep watch of the local gay bars and events.  

This changed when the Nazis came into power in 1930s.  Hitler saw gay men as a threat to the purity of Germany that he so craved and not only began enforcing Paragraph 175 but also revised it to mean that men only had to be acting in a way that was “sexually suggestive”, not necessarily with physical contact, for them to be arrested (this also included rumours of any acts).  It was at this time that any gay bars or clubs that the community had used were shut down and it is estimated that over 100,000 gay men were arrested.

 To keep a log of these “offenders”, the pink list was created.

When the Nazi’s began moving people into concentration camps, it was decided that the pink triangle would be used along with this list, to identify and shame those who were openly gay. They believed that the inverted pink triangle, which they called Rosa Winkel, showed that every single gay person that wore it was the lowest of the low.  According to many concentration camp survivors, the estimated 5,000 - 15,000 gay men placed there were among the most abused groups.  

The Aids Pandemic 

Fast forward to the 1980s and the pink triangle reappeared in the now infamous Silence = Death poster as part of the fight against the aids pandemic.  

Rather than being inverted as it had been in Nazi Germany, the triangle was turned onto its flat base.  It’s believed this may have initially been a mistake but was then embraced to show that queer people (and in particular, those that were living with Aids) had power and that they should be proud and stand tall.  The poster was later adopted by ACT UP, who have continued to use it till this day in the fight against AIDS.

The Happy Queer Pink Triangle 

Here at Happy Queer, we are dedicated to ensuring that all members of the queer community feel proud to be exactly who they are, however they identify.  We know that we take our power to be ourselves from those that came before us and fought so bravely for us to exist freely.  

This is why we chose to include the pink triangle as a core component of our logo. Reclaimed in it’s original format, it is a reminder of how strong & resilient we are as a community.