Voluntaryist Symbolism

Symbols associated with voluntaryism, freedom and property rights

Table of contents

V for Voluntary

The V for Voluntary symbol was created in 2007 in search for a new symbol that would capture the essence of the anarcho-capitalist movement and also carry a more positive message than other existing symbols.

The name is a play on the phrase 'V for Vendetta'. But where Vendetta stresses vengeance and violence, Voluntary stresses peace and looking forwards, not backwards.

The colors of the symbol are yellow (or gold) and black. Yellow is a reference to gold, which was the market chosen money. So it's a reference to free market money, and by extension the free market and capitalism. Black is a reference to anarchy. Anarchy, or an-archy, means no rulers. This means that no person should have forceful control over the life of another person.

The shape at the top of the symbol represents a handshake, which is the most typical expression of a voluntary agreement.

For light backgrounds		For dark backgrounds
vforvoluntary_normal_small.png	500 px	vforvoluntary_dark_small.png	500 px
vforvoluntary_normal_large.png	3000 px	vforvoluntary_dark_large.png	3000 px
vforvoluntary_normal.svg *	vector	vforvoluntary_dark.svg *	vector

* make sure to adjust the width of the edge if you resize

These files are released into the public domain. In case this is not legally possible: there are no conditions on use, unless such conditions are required by law.

Anarcho-capitalist flag

By Murray Rothbard, as appeared in: The Betrayal of the American Right, page 188.

In the winter of 1963-64, [Robert] LeFevre organized a winter-and-spring long "Phrontistery" at Colorado to pave the way for transforming Freedom School into a Rampart College. To the Phrontistery flocked some of the nation's leading young libertarians, including Smith, Gaskins, Jackman, Peter Blake, and Mike Helm, many of whom formed for the first time in public an aggressive "Rothbardian" block that stunned the visiting conservative and laissez-faire dignitaries who had been invited to teach there. For the first time in public some of the group also unfurled the "black-and-gold flag," the colors of which we had all decided best represented anarcho-capitalism: black as the classic color of anarchism and gold as the color of capitalism and hard money.

Wikimedia commons (png and svg)

Libertatis Æquilibrias

By Per Bylund in The Libertatis Æquilibritas

The anarcho-capitalist symbol combines three well-known symbols: the Circle-A, the dollar sign and the Yin & Yang symbol. The Circle-A is a universal symbol of anarchism, being a definition of an ideology based on non-oppression, i.e. no government and no ruler/ruling class. [..]

The dollar sign is famous as a symbol of capitalism. I don't think the dollar sign is a very good symbol of capitalism, since it is a symbol of a government currency. It is, however, nowadays a global symbol of capitalism and is to most people symbolizing a system where production and consumption are unhindered, where there is unlimited competition, and every man is allowed to make a profit. [..]

The third part of the anarcho-capitalist symbol is the Yin & Yang symbol. It is originally an Asian symbol for the balance between good and evil, light and darkness. In the anarcho-capitalist symbol, it gets to symbolize the natural balance in the free marketplace. Since the free market is balanced in itself, there is no need for rule or rulers in a society based on individualism and capitalism.

See also: The New Symbol of Anarchism

libertatis_1_small.png 500 px
libertatis_2_small.png 500 px
libertatis_3_small.png 350 px

Ama-gi

From: Ama-gi on Wikipedia

Ama-gi is an ancient Sumerian word thought to denote "freedom" or "liberty." It is believed to be the first expression of the concept in writing. Literally translated, it means "return to the mother," inasmuch as former slaves were "returned to their mothers," (i.e., freed).

The Ama-gi cuneiform symbol has been adopted by several liberty-oriented groups. The journal of the Hayek Society at the London School of Economics, the largest libertarian student group in England, is titled Ama-gi. The symbol is used as a logo by the Institucion Politica para la Libertad of Peru, and another version is a trademarked logo of the publishing firm Liberty Fund.

Wikipedia (png and svg)

Gadsden flag

From: Gadsden flag on Wikipedia

In fall 1775, the United States Navy was established to intercept incoming British ships carrying war supplies to the British troops in the colonies. To aid in this, the Second Continental Congress authorized the mustering of five companies of Marines to accompany the Navy on their first mission. The first Marines that enlisted were from Philadelphia and they carried drums painted yellow, depicting a coiled rattlesnake with thirteen rattles, and the motto "Don't Tread On Me." This is the first recorded mention of the future Gadsden flag's symbolism.

At the Congress, Continental Colonel Christopher Gadsden was representing his home state of South Carolina. He was one of three members of the Marine Committee who were outfitting the first naval mission. It is unclear whether Gadsden took his inspiration from the Marines' drums, or if he inspired them himself.

Before the departure of that first mission, the newly appointed commander-in-chief of the Navy, Commodore Esek Hopkins, received the yellow rattlesnake flag described above from Gadsden to serve as his distinctive personal standard.

[..]

In December 1775, Benjamin Franklin published an essay in the Pennsylvania Journal under the pseudonym American Guesser in which he suggested that the rattlesnake was a good symbol for the American spirit:

I recollected that her eye excelled in brightness, that of any other animal, and that she has no eye-lids: -She may therefore be esteemed an emblem of vigilance. -She never begins an attack, nor, when once engaged, ever surrenders: She is therefore an emblem of magnanimity and true courage. -As if anxious to prevent all pretensions of quarreling with her, the weapons with which nature has furnished her, she conceals in the roof of her mouth, so that, to those who are unacquainted with her, she appears to be a most defenseless animal; and even when those weapons are shewn and extended for her defense, they appear weak and contemptible; but their wounds however small, are decisive and fatal: -Conscious of this, she never wounds till she has generously given notice, even to her enemy, and cautioned him against the danger of treading on her. -Was I wrong, Sir, in thinking this a strong picture of the temper and conduct of America?

Wikipedia (png and svg)

V for Voluntary : The Voluntaryist Wiki : VoluntaryistSymbolism