Editing Nazi concentration camp badge

{{short description|Cloth emblems; part of the system of identification in Nazi camps}}
{{use dmy dates|date=January 2015}}

[[File:Concentration Camp Badges.png|thumb|Schematic of the triangle-based badge system in use at most Nazi concentration camps.]]

'''Nazi concentration camp badges''', primarily triangles, were part of the system of [[Identification of inmates in German concentration camps|identification in German camps]]. They were used in the [[Nazi concentration camps|concentration camps]] in the [[German-occupied Europe|German-occupied countries]] to identify the reason the prisoners had been placed there.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/holocaust/h-dach-early.htm|title=The History Place – Holocaust Timeline: Nazis Open Dachau Concentration Camp|website=historyplace.com|access-date=27 March 2018}}</ref> The triangles were made of fabric and were sewn on jackets and trousers of the prisoners. These mandatory [[badge of shame|badges of shame]] had specific meanings indicated by their colour and shape. Such emblems helped guards assign tasks to the detainees. For example, a guard at a glance could see if someone was a convicted criminal (green patch) and thus likely of a tough temperament suitable for ''[[Kapo (concentration camp)|kapo]]'' duty.

Someone with an escape suspect mark usually would not be assigned to work squads operating outside the camp fence. Someone wearing an F could be called upon to help translate guards' spoken instructions to a trainload of new arrivals from France. Some historical monuments quote the badge-imagery, with the use of a triangle being a sort of visual shorthand to symbolize all camp victims.

The modern-day use of a [[pink triangle]] emblem to symbolize gay rights is a response to the camp identification patches.

== Badge coding system ==
[[File:Wikpedia system of identification German camps.png|thumb|right|Prisoners' distinguishing badges]]
The system of badges varied between the camps and in the later stages of [[World War II]] the use of badges dwindled in some camps and became increasingly accidental in others. The following description is based on the badge coding system used before and during the early stages of the war in the [[Dachau concentration camp]], which had one of the more elaborate coding systems.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}

Shape was chosen by analogy with the common [[Warning sign|triangular road hazard signs]] in Germany that denote warnings to motorists. Here, a triangle is called inverted because its base is up while one of its angles points down.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}

=== Single triangles ===
[[File:Kennzeichen_für_Schutzhäftlinge_in_den_Konzentrationslagern.jpg|thumb|Marking codes used by the Nazis.]]
{{Multiple issues
| section=y |collapsed=November 2024| {{more sources|date=November 2024}}
Main problem: '''all demographics listed for each color need a source.'''

This section has multiple sources, but most key points don't have a clear attribution. Please put sources at the end of each dot point or sentence, if a sentence or dot point has multiple sources add a list or quote to each reference to clearly indicate which points it supports. 

When ''most'' of the key points have a source, remove this notice and use {{citation needed|date=November 2024}} or {{verification needed|date=November 2024}} to mark any that remain unsourced. }}
* Red triangle – [[political prisoner]]s: occupied country resistance members ([[Partisan (military) |partisans]]), [[social democracy|social democrats]], [[Liberalism|liberals]], [[Socialism|socialists]], [[communism|communists]], [[anarchism|anarchists]],{{verify source| reason = these are the examples usually listed, and are probably supported by sources elsewhere in the page or on linked pages |date=November 2024}} [[Rescue of Jews during the Holocaust|gentiles who assisted Jews]], [[trade union]]ists,  and [[Suppression of Freemasonry|Freemasons]].{{citation needed| reason = these are not often listed in sources I have read previously about these symbols, particularly Freemasons |date=November 2024}}
* Green triangle – convicts and criminals (often working as ''[[kapo]]s'').{{citation needed| reason = many sources list green for criminal and elsewhere that criminals worked as kapos, but needs a citation for direct connection of Kapos + green |date=November 2024}}
* Blue triangle – foreign forced laborers and [[emigrants]]. This category included [[statelessness|stateless]] people ("''apatrides''"),{{citation needed|date=November 2024}} Spanish refugees from [[Francoist Spain]] whose citizenship was revoked and emigrants to countries which were occupied by Nazi Germany or were under German sphere of influence.<ref>Gabriele Hammermann, Stefanie Pilzweger-Steiner (2018) KZ-Gedenk·stätte Dachau: Ein Rund·gang in Leichter Sprache. p. 72</ref>
* [[Purple triangle]] – primarily [[Jehovah's Witnesses]] (over 99%) as well as members of other small pacifist religious groups.<ref group=notes>Johannes S. Wrobel (June 2006). "Jehovah's Witnesses in National Socialist Concentration Camps, 1933–45". ''Religion, State & Society''. Vol. 34. No. 2. pp. 89–125. "The concentration camp prisoner category 'Bible Student' at times apparently included a few members from small Bible Student splinter groups, as well as adherents of other religious groups which played only a secondary role during the time of the National Socialist regime, such as Adventists, Baptists and the New Apostolic community (Garbe 1999, pp. 82, 406; Zeiger, 2001, p. 72). Since their numbers in the camps were quite small compared with the total number of Jehovah's Witness prisoners, I shall not consider them separately in this article. Historian Antje Zeiger (2001, p. 88) writes about Sachsenhausen camp: 'In May 1938, every tenth prisoner was a Jehovah's Witness. Less than one percent of the Witnesses included other religious nonconformists (Adventists, Baptists, pacifists), who were placed in the same prisoner classification.'"</ref>
* [[Pink triangle]] – primarily [[homosexual men]] and those who were identified as such at the time (e.g., [[Bisexuality|bisexual]] men, [[male prostitutes]], and those deemed '[[Transvestism|transvestites]]'{{efn|The concept of an official transgender identity did not exist at this time. A majority of these people would likely identify as transgender if they lived in the modern era. See [[Transvestite pass]] for more information on how they were classified.}})<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tgdor.org/holocaust.shtml|title=2008 Houston Transgender Day of Remembrance: Transgenders and Nazi Germany|author=Cristian Williams|website=tgdor.org|access-date=27 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180916185919/http://tgdor.org/holocaust.shtml|archive-date=16 September 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://arcspace.com/feature/canadian-national-holocaust-monument/|title=Canadian National Holocaust Monument / Studio Libeskind|website=arcspace.com|access-date=30 August 2018|archive-date=27 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191227233549/https://arcspace.com/feature/canadian-national-holocaust-monument/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.outsmartmagazine.com/2012/11/illuminating-the-darkness/|title=Illuminating the Darkness|website=outsmartmagazine.com|date=November 2012|access-date=30 August 2018}}</ref> and sexual offenders as well as [[Pedophilia|pedophiles]] and [[zoophiles]].<ref>Richard Plant (1988). ''The Pink Triangle: The Nazi War Against Homosexuals''. Owl Books. {{ISBN|0-8050-0600-1}}.</ref> Many in this group were subject to forced sterilization.<ref name="jewishvirtuallibrary.org">{{Cite web|title=Nazi Persecution of the Mentally & Physically Disabled|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/nazi-persecution-of-the-mentally-and-physically-disabled|access-date=2021-12-29|website=www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org}}</ref>
* [[Black triangle (badge)|Black triangle]] – people who were deemed asocial elements ({{lang|de|asozial}}) and work-shy ({{lang|de|arbeitsscheu}}), including the following:
** [[Romani people|Roma]] and [[Sinti]]. They wore the black triangle with a Z notation (for {{lang|de|Zigeuner}}, meaning Gypsy) to the right of the triangle's point. Roma were later assigned a brown triangle.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/glossB.html|title=Glossary|website=jewishvirtuallibrary.org|access-date=27 March 2018}}</ref>
** [[Mentally ill]] and [[Developmental disability|developmentally disabled]]. Their triangles were additionally inscribed with the word {{lang|de|Blöd}}, meaning stupid.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.holocaustrevealed.org/badges.htm|title=Badges|website=holocaustrevealed.org|access-date=27 March 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Edelheit|first1=Abraham J.|last2=Edelheit|first2=Hershel|date=2018-10-08|title=History of the Holocaust |location=New York |publisher=Routledge |doi=10.4324/9780429493737|isbn=9780429493737|s2cid=160553505}}</ref> This category included, notably, [[Autism|autistic]] people among this group.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}} Though many others including [[Schizophrenia|schizophrenic]] and [[Epilepsy|epileptic]]<ref name="jewishvirtuallibrary.org"/> people were forcibly sterilized, shot, or gassed in psychiatric institutions as opposed to at the Nazi camps.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Torrey|first1=E. Fuller|last2=Yolken|first2=Robert H.|date=2010-01-01|title=Psychiatric Genocide: Nazi Attempts to Eradicate Schizophrenia|url=https://doi.org/10.1093/schbul/sbp097|journal=Schizophrenia Bulletin|volume=36|issue=1|pages=26–32|doi=10.1093/schbul/sbp097|pmid=19759092|pmc=2800142|issn=0586-7614}}</ref>
** [[Alcoholism|Alcoholics]] and [[addiction|drug addicts]].
** [[Homelessness|Vagrants]] and [[beggars]].
** [[Pacifism|Pacifists]] and [[Conscientious objector|conscription resisters]].
** [[Sex worker|Sex workers]].<ref>Claudia Schoppmann (1990). ''Nationalsozialistische Sexualpolitik und weibliche Homosexualität''. Dissertation, FU Berlin. Centaurus, Pfaffenweiler 1991 (revisited 2nd edition 1997). {{ISBN|3-89085-538-5}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|access-date=2 February 2008|date=1 February 2001|url=http://www.oxfordstudent.com/ht2001wk3/Columns/black_triangle_women|title=Black triangle women|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090212113936/http://www.oxfordstudent.com/ht2001wk3/Columns/black_triangle_women|archive-date=12 February 2009}}</ref>
** [[Lesbian]]s.<ref name="Elman">{{cite journal|last1=Elman PhD|first1=R. Amy|title=Triangles and Tribulations: The Politics of Nazi Symbols|journal=[[Journal of Homosexuality]]|date=1996|volume=30|issue=3|pages=1–11|doi=10.1300/J082v30n03_01|pmid=8743114|issn=0091-8369}}</ref>
**Other [[Disability|disabled]] people, such as people with [[diabetes]] (as "Diabetes was conceptualized as a Jewish disease not necessarily because its prevalence was high among this population, but because medicine, science, and culture reinforced each other"<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Tuchman|first=Arleen Marcia|date=January 2011|title=Diabetes and Race: A Historical Perspective|journal=American Journal of Public Health|volume=101|issue=1|pages=24–33|doi=10.2105/AJPH.2010.202564|issn=0090-0036|pmc=3000712|pmid=21148711}}</ref>). 
* Brown triangle – Assigned to Roma later on in the [[Romani Holocaust]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=23 November 2023 |title=Prisoner groups in the concentration camp: How the Nazis stigmatized their victims |url=https://arolsen-archives.org/en/news/prisoner-groups-in-the-concentration-camp-how-the-nazis-stigmatized-their-victims/ |access-date=23 February 2025 |website=Arolsen Archives}}</ref>
* Uninverted red triangle – an enemy [[Prisoner of war|POW]] ({{lang|de|Sonderhäftling}}, meaning special detainee), a spy or traitor ({{lang|de|Aktionshäftling}}, meaning activities detainee), or a military [[deserter]] or criminal ({{lang|de|Wehrmachtsangehöriger}}, meaning [[Wehrmacht|Armed Forces]] member).

<gallery class="center" caption="Some period examples of the single triangle design at Nazi camps" widths="180px" heights="180px">
File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-78612-0007, KZ Sachsenhausen, Häftlinge bei Zählappel.jpg|Single-triangle badges in various colors visible on [[Sachsenhausen concentration camp]] detainees
File:Prisoners in the concentration camp at Sachsenhausen, Germany, December 19, 1938. Heinrich Hoffman Collection. - NARA - 540177.jpg|Single-triangles visible on [[Sachsenhausen concentration camp|Sachsenhausen]] detainees
File:Purple Triangle.JPG|Specimen indicating a [[Jehovah's Witnesses|Jehovah's Witness]]
File:Prisoners' Uniforms with Red Triangles of Political Prisoners - Museum Exhibit - Dachau Concentration Camp Site - Dachau - Bavaria - Germany.jpg|Red emblems of a political enemy on a [[Dachau concentration camp|Dachau]] detainee's clothing.{{note|Photo by Adam Jones.}}
File:Prisoners in the concentration camp at Sachsenhausen, Germany, 12-19-1938 - NARA - 540175.jpg|More [[Sachsenhausen concentration camp|Sachsenhausen]] detainees
File:Bundesarchiv Bild 152-27-11A, Dachau, Konzentrationslager.jpg|[[Black triangle (badge)|Black triangles]] visible on the trousers of [[Romani people|Romani]] detainees at [[Dachau concentration camp|Dachau]]
File:Benedikt Kautsky.jpg|United States Army photo of Austrian economist and financial specialist {{ill|Benedikt Kautsky|de}}, a political prisoner, who was liberated from [[Buchenwald]] 
File:A sick Polish survivor in the Hannover-Ahlem concentration camp receives medicine from a German Red Cross worker.jpg|Liberated [[Neuengamme concentration camp|Neuengamme]] survivor standing on the right has a triangle patch with a top-bar
File:Numer obozowy KL Stutthof 29659.JPG| German concentration camp badge for Polish (non-Jewish) political prisoner in Stutthof.ID 29659 – {{ill|Lidia Główczewska|pl}}
</gallery>

=== Double triangles ===
{{See also|Yellow badge}}
{{ multiple issues | {{ more sources |date=November 2024}}
The current source(s) support(s) only a small part of the text. When most of the points information has a source, please remove this notice and use {{citation needed|date=November 2024}} to mark any information that remains unsourced. | section = yes |collapsed=November 2024}}
Double-triangle badges resembled two superimposed triangles forming a [[Star of David]], a Jewish symbol.
* Red inverted triangle superimposed upon a yellow one representing a Jewish political prisoner.
* Blue inverted triangle superimposed upon a red one representing foreign forced labour and political prisoner (for example, Spanish Republicans in Mauthausen).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://entomelloso.com/de-tomelloso-a-mauthausen/|title=De Tomelloso a Mauthausen|website=entomelloso.com|date=12 January 2017|access-date=27 March 2018}}</ref>
* Green inverted triangle superimposed upon a yellow one representing a Jewish habitual criminal.
* Purple inverted triangle superimposed upon a yellow one representing a Jehovah's Witness of Jewish descent.
* Pink inverted triangle superimposed upon a yellow one representing a Jewish "sexual offender", typically a gay or bisexual man.
* Black inverted triangle superimposed upon a yellow one representing an "asocial" or work-shy Jew.
* Voided black inverted triangle superimposed over a yellow triangle representing a Jew convicted of [[miscegenation]] and labelled as a {{lang|de|Rassenschänder}} (race defiler).
* Yellow inverted triangle superimposed over a black triangle representing an "[[Aryan]]" woman convicted of miscegenation and labelled as a {{lang|de|Rassenschänder}} (race defiler).
Like those who wore pink and green triangles, people in the bottom two categories would have been convicted in criminal courts.

<gallery class="center" caption="Some period examples of the double triangle design at Nazi camps" widths="180px" heights="180px">
File:Prisoners in the concentration camp at Sachsenhausen, Germany, December 19, 1938. Heinrich Hoffman Collection. - NARA - 540178.tif|[[Sachsenhausen concentration camp|Sachsenhausen]] detainee with glasses in the foreground wears a two-color ID-emblem
File:Buchenwald Disabled Jews 13132 crop.jpg|Disabled Jews with a black triangle on a yellow triangle, meaning asocial Jews, [[Buchenwald]], 1938.
File:Bundesarchiv Bild 152-27-13A, Dachau Konzentrationslager, Häftlinge beim Appell.jpg|Part of a [[Dachau concentration camp|Dachau]] roll call – day badges visible on detainees
File:SarahEwart-066.jpg|[[Sachsenhausen concentration camp|Sachsenhausen]] detainee's red political enemy triangle atop a yellow Jew triangle (lower left)
</gallery>

=== Distinguishing marks ===
{{unsourced section |date=November 2024}}
In addition to color-coding, non-German prisoners were marked by the first letter of the German name for their home country or ethnic group. Red triangle with a letter, for example:

* B ({{lang|de|Belgier}}, [[Belgium|Belgians]])
* E ({{lang|de|Engländer}}, "English"; in practice used for all British)
* F ({{lang|de|Franzosen}}, French)
* I ({{lang|de|Italiener}}, Italians)
* J<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.politika.rs/rubrike/vesti-dana/U-Aushvicu-na-vest-o-oslobodjenju-Beograda.sr.html |title=У Аушвицу, на вест о ослобођењу Београда |author=J. Beoković |website=politika.rs |date=19 October 2009 |language=sr |access-date=26 October 2018 }}</ref> ({{lang|de|Jugoslawen}}, [[Yugoslavia|Yugoslavs]])
* N  ({{lang|de|Niederländer}}, Dutch)
* No ({{lang|de|Norweger}}, Norwegian)
* [[P (Nazi symbol)|P]] ({{lang|de|Polen}}, [[Polish people|Poles]])
* S ({{lang|de|republikanische Spanier}}, [[Second Spanish Republic|Republican Spanish]])
* T ({{lang|de|Tscheche}}, [[Czechs]])
* U ({{lang|de|Ungarn}}, [[Magyars|Hungarians]])
* Z notation next to a black triangle ({{lang|de|Zigeuner}}, [[Romani people|Gypsy]]).


Polish emigrant laborers originally wore a purple diamond with a yellow backing. A letter P (for {{lang|de|Polen}}) was cut out of the purple cloth to show the yellow backing beneath.

Furthermore, repeat offenders ({{lang|de|rückfällige}}, meaning recidivists) would receive bars over their stars or triangles, a different colour for a different crime.
* A political prisoner would have a red bar over their star or triangle.
* A professional criminal would have a green bar.
* A foreign forced laborer would not have a blue bar (as their impressment was for the duration of the war), but might have a different coloured bar if they were drawn from another pool of inmates.
* A Jehovah's Witness would have a purple bar.
* A homosexual or sex offender would have a pink bar.
* An asocial would have a black bar.
* Roma and Sinti would usually be incarcerated in special sub-camps until they died and so would not normally receive a repeat stripe.

Later in the war (late 1944), to save cloth Jewish prisoners wore a yellow bar over a regular point-down triangle to indicate their status. For instance, regular Jews would wear a yellow bar over a red triangle while Jewish criminals would wear a yellow bar over a green triangle.

==== Special marks ====
{{More citations needed|section|date=October 2019}}
Many various markings and combinations existed. A prisoner would usually have at least two and possibly more than six.

Limited preventative custody detainee ({{lang|de|Befristete Vorbeugungshaft Häftling}}, or BV) was the term for general criminals (who wore green triangles with no special marks). They originally were only supposed to be incarcerated at the camp until their term expired and then they would be released. However, when the war began they were confined indefinitely for its duration.

{{lang|de|Erziehungshäftlinge}} (reformatory inmates) wore E or EH in large black letters on a white square. They were made up of intellectuals and respected community members who could organize and lead a resistance movement, suspicious persons picked up in sweeps or stopped at checkpoints, people caught performing conspiratorial activities or acts and inmates who broke work discipline. They were assigned to hard labor for six to eight weeks and were then released. It was hoped that the threat of permanent incarceration at hard labor would deter them from further action.

{{lang|de|Polizeihäftlinge}} (police inmates), short for {{lang|de|Polizeilich Sicherungsverwahrte Häftlinge}} (police secure custody inmates), wore either PH in large black letters on a white square or the letter S (for {{lang|de|Sicherungsverwahrt}} – secure custody) on a green triangle. To save expense, some camps had them just wear their civilian clothes without markings. Records used the letter PSV ({{lang|de|Polizeilich Sicherungsverwahrt}}) to designate them. They were people awaiting trial by a police court-martial or who were already convicted. They were detained in a special jail barracks until they were executed.

Some camps assigned {{lang|de|[[Nacht und Nebel]]}} (night and fog) prisoners had them wear two large letters NN in yellow.

Soviet prisoners of war ({{lang|de|russische Kriegsgefangenen}}) assigned to work camps ({{lang|de|Arbeitslager}}) wore two large letters SU (for {{lang|de|sowjetischer Untermensch}}, meaning Soviet sub-human){{Citation needed|date=October 2019}} in yellow and had vertical stripes painted on their uniforms. They were the few who had not been shot out of hand or died of neglect from untreated wounds, exposure to the elements, or starvation before they could reach a camp. They performed hard labor. Some joined [[Andrey Vlasov]]'s [[Russian Liberation Army|Liberation Army]] to fight for the Germans.

Labor education detainees ({{lang|de|Arbeitserziehung Häftling}}) wore a white letter A on their black triangle. This stood for {{lang|de|Arbeitsscheuer}} ("work-shy person"), designating stereotypically "lazy" social undesirables like Gypsies, petty criminals (e.g. prostitutes and pickpockets), alcoholics/drug addicts and vagrants. They were usually assigned to work at labor camps.

{{lang|de|Asoziale}} (anti-socials) inmates wore a plain black triangle. They were considered either too "selfish" or "deviant" to contribute to society or were considered too impaired to support themselves. They were therefore considered a burden. This category included pacifists and conscription resisters, petty or habitual criminals, the mentally ill and the mentally and/or physically disabled. They were usually executed.

The {{lang|de|Wehrmacht|italic=no}} {{lang|de|[[Strafbattalion]]}} (punishment battalion) and SS {{lang|de|Bewährungstruppe}} (probation company) were military punishment units. They consisted of {{lang|de|[[Wehrmacht]]|italic=no}} and SS military criminals, SS personnel convicted by an Honor Court of bad conduct and civilian criminals for which military service was either the assigned punishment or a voluntary replacement of imprisonment. They wore regular uniforms, but were forbidden rank or unit insignia until they had proven themselves in combat. They wore an uninverted (point-upwards) red triangle on their upper sleeves to indicate their status. Most were used for hard labor, "special tasks" (unwanted dangerous jobs like defusing landmines or running phone cables) or were used as [[forlorn hope]]s or [[cannon fodder]]. The infamous [[Dirlewanger Brigade]] was an example of a regular unit created from such personnel.

A {{lang|de|Strafkompanie}} (punishment company) was a hard labor unit in the camps. Inmates assigned to it wore a black roundel bordered white under their triangle patch.

Prisoners "suspected of [attempting to] escape" ({{lang|de|Fluchtverdächtiger}}) wore a red roundel bordered white under their triangle patch. If also assigned to hard labor, they wore the red roundel under their black {{lang|de|Strafkompanie}} roundel.

A prisoner-functionary ({{lang|de|Funktionshäftling}}), or ''[[kapo]]'' (boss), wore a cloth [[brassard]] (their {{lang|de|Kennzeichen}}, or identifying mark) to indicate their status. They served as camp guards ({{lang|de|Lagerpolizei}}), barracks clerks ({{lang|de|Blockschreiber}}) and the senior prisoners ({{lang|de|ältesten}}, meaning elders) at the camp ({{lang|de|lagerältester}}), barracks ({{lang|de|blockältester}}) and room ({{lang|de|stubenältester}}) levels of camp organization. They received privileges like bigger and sometimes better food rations, better quarters (or even a private room), luxuries (like tobacco or alcohol) and access to the camp's facilities (like the showers or the pool). Failure to please their captors meant demotion and loss of privileges and an almost certain death at the hands of their fellow inmates.

Detainees wearing civilian clothing (more common later in the war) instead of the striped uniforms were often marked with a prominent X on the back.<ref name=Saidel>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zglu2RvoLmgC&q=%22an+x%22+%22concentration+camp%22+-%22x-men%22+-%22x-ray%22&pg=PA77|title=The Jewish Women of Ravensbrück Concentration Camp|author=Rochelle G. Saidel|year=2006|page=76|publisher=Terrace Books |isbn=9780299198640|access-date=20 May 2013}}</ref> This made for an ''[[ersatz]]'' prisoner uniform. For permanence, such Xs were made with white oil paint, with sewn-on cloth strips, or were cut (with underlying jacket-liner fabric providing the contrasting color). Detainees would be compelled to sew their number and (if applicable) a triangle emblem onto the fronts of such X-ed clothing.<ref name=Saidel />

<gallery class="center" widths="180" heights="180" caption="Some period examples of nationality-letter marking at Nazi camps">
File:13cwik.jpg|F on red triangle (French political enemy) on [[Buchenwald]] clothing of Dr. Joseph Brau{{note|Photo by Dominique Brau.}}
File:A1vestonf.JPG|F-triangle on [[Buchenwald]] clothing of Dr. Joseph Brau{{note|Photo by Dominique Brau.}}
File:Nazi concentration camp uniform fabric sample.jpg|Specimen meaning Polish political enemy
File:Numer obozowy KL Stutthof 29659.JPG|[[Stutthof concentration camp|Stutthof]] detainee 29659 – Lidia Główczewska, which showcases the letter P on a red triangle for Polish political enemy
File:IgnacyKwarta.png|[[Auschwitz]] detainee Ignacy Kwarta wears a red P-triangle, meaning a Polish political enemy.
File:Buchenwald Prisoners 83718.jpg|Dutch Jews wearing a yellow star and the letter N for {{lang|de|Niederländer}} at [[Mauthausen]]<ref>{{Cite book|title=Konzentrationslager Buchenwald 1937-1945. Begleitband zur ständigen historischen Ausstellung|last=Stein|first=Harry|editor=Buchenwald memorial|publisher=Wallstein-Verlag|edition=5th|year=2007|isbn=978-3-89244-222-6|location=Göttingen|pages=81–83|language=de|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u2Xx4fz5K4cC}}</ref>
File:SarahEwart-069.JPG|[[Sachsenhausen concentration camp|Sachsenhausen]]-issued red F emblem for a French political enemy
File:Kazimierkiewicz georg 1 hpk.jpg|Emblems were also used on some detainee ID-cards as shown here on the [[Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp|Mauthausen]] card of Polish scientist [[Jerzy Kaźmirkiewicz]], where a P-triangle appears.{{note|The card also has an ink stamp indicating Dehomag data-entry.}}
File:Toasting Polish Dachau.jpg|[[Dachau concentration camp|Dachau]] survivors toast their liberation as the man standing in center between the bottles wears a P triangle.
File:The Liberation of Bergen-belsen Concentration Camp, April 1945 BU4010.jpg|Liberated [[Bergen-Belsen concentration camp|Bergen-Belsen]] survivor with a late war ''[[ersatz]]'' variant (left) showcasing no cloth patch, but a prominent N marked on the outer clothes
File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1993-051-07, Tafel mit KZ-Kennzeichen (Winkel) retouched.jpg|Plate with concentration camp marking.
</gallery>
{{notelist}}

== Table of camp inmate markings ==
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
!width="12%"|
!width="12%"|{{lang|de|Politisch}} (political prisoner)
!width="12%"|{{lang|de|Berufsverbrecher}} (professional criminal)
!width="12%"|{{lang|de|Emigrant}} (foreign forced laborer)
!width="12%"|{{lang|de|Bibelforscher}} Bible Student ([[Jehovah's Witnesses]])
!width="12%"|{{lang|de|Homosexuell}} (male homosexual/sex offender)
!width="12%"|{{lang|de|Arbeitsscheu}} (work-shy)/{{lang|de|Asozial}} ([[Asociality (Nazi Germany)|asocial]])
!width="12%"|{{lang|de|Zigeuner}} ("[[Gypsy]]", Roma or Sinti male){{cn|reason= just male? |date=February 2025}}
|-
!Basic colours
|[[File:Red triangle.svg|50px]]
|[[File:Green triangle.svg|50px]]
|[[File:Blue triangle.svg|50px]]
|[[File:Purple triangle.svg|50px]]
|[[File:Pink triangle.svg|50px]]
|[[File:Black triangle.svg|50px]]
|[[File:Brown triangle.svg|50px]]
|-
!Markings for repeaters
|[[File:Red triangle repeater.svg|50px]]
|[[File:Green triangle repeater.svg|50px]]
|[[File:Blue triangle repeater.svg|50px]]
|[[File:Purple triangle repeater.svg|50px]]
|[[File:Pink triangle repeater.svg|50px]]
|[[File:Black triangle repeater.svg|50px]]
|[[File:Brown triangle repeater.svg|50px]]
|-
!Inmates of ''Strafkompanie'' (punishment companies)
|[[File:Red triangle penal.svg|50px]]
|[[File:Green triangle penal.svg|50px]]
|[[File:Blue triangle penal.svg|50px]]
|[[File:Purple triangle penal.svg|50px]]
|[[File:Pink triangle penal.svg|50px]]
|[[File:Black triangle penal.svg|50px]]
|[[File:Brown triangle penal.svg|50px]]
|-
!Markings for Jews
|[[File:Red triangle jew.svg|50px]]
|[[File:Green triangle jew.svg|50px]]
|[[File:Blue triangle jew.svg|50px]]
|[[File:Purple triangle jew.svg|50px]]
|[[File:Pink triangle jew.svg|50px]]
|[[File:Black triangle jew.svg|50px]]
|[[File:Brown triangle jew.svg|50px]]
|-
|colspan="8"|
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="3"|Political prisoner nationality markings <br />The capital letter of the name of the country on a red triangle
!''Belgier'' (Belgian)
!''Tscheche'' (Czech)
!''Franzose'' (French)
!''Pole'' (Polish)
!''Spanier'' (Spanish)
|-
|[[File:Belgian political prisoner triangle (2).png|50px]]
|[[File:Red triangle Czech.svg|50px]]
|[[File:Red triangle French.svg|50px]]
|[[File:Red triangle Pole.svg|50px]]
|[[File:Red triangle Spainish.svg|50px]]
|-
|colspan="8"|
|-
!rowspan="2"|Special markings
!''Jüdischer Rassenschänder''<br />Jewish race defiler
!''Rassenschänderin''<br />Female race defiler
!Escape suspect
!''Häftlingsnummer''<br />Inmate number
!colspan=2|''Kennzeichen für Funktionshäftlinge''<br />Special inmates' brown armband
!Enemy [[POW]] or [[deserter]]
|-
|[[File:Male race defiler.svg|50px]]
|[[File:Female race defiler2.svg|50px]]
|[[File:Escape suspect.svg|50px]]
|[[File:Inmate number.svg|100px]]
|colspan=2|[[File:Special inmate.svg|100px]]
|[[File:Nazi concentration camp Wehrmacht red triangle badge.svg|50px]]
|-
|colspan="8"|
|-
!Example
|align="center"|[[File:Sleeve badges.svg|70px]]
|colspan="6"|Marks were worn in descending order as follows: inmate number, repeater bar, triangle or star, member of [[penal battalion]], escape suspect. In this example, the inmate is a Jewish convict with multiple convictions, serving in a ''[[Strafkompanie]]'' ([[penal battalion|penal unit]]) and who is suspected of trying to escape.
|}

== Postwar use ==
Triangle-motifs appear on many postwar memorials to the victims of the Nazis. Most triangles are plain while some others bear [[Nazi concentration camp badges#Other badges|nationality-letters]]. The otherwise potentially puzzling designs are a direct reference to the identification patches used in the camps. On such monuments, typically an inverted (point down, base up) triangle (especially if red) evokes all victims, including also the [[Holocaust#Non-Jewish|non-Jewish victims]] like Poles and other Slavs, communists, homosexuals, Roma and Sinti (see [[Porajmos]]), people with disability (see [[Action T4]]), [[Nazi crimes against Soviet POWs|Soviet POWs]] and [[Jehovah's Witnesses]].  An inverted triangle colored pink would symbolize gay male victims.  A non-inverted (base down, point up) triangle and/or a yellow triangle is generally more evocative of the Jewish victims.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

<gallery class="center" widths="180" heights="180" caption="Some examples of camp triangle emblems on monuments and related uses">
File:KZ Sachsenhausen - zentrales Mahnmal.JPG|At [[Sachsenhausen concentration camp|Sachsenhausen]]
File:Todesmarsch Gedenkstein Breitenfeld.JPG|A [[Mittelbau-Dora|Dora]] ''Todesmarsch'' [[Death marches (Holocaust)|(death march)]] roadside tablet marked only with the date and a red triangle
File:Holocaust Memorial in Estonia.jpg|On the [[Klooga concentration camp|Klooga]] Jewish victims' memorial
File:Crawinkel Gedenktafel.JPG|On a [[Buchenwald]] ''Todesmarsch'' [[Death marches (Holocaust)|(death march)]] route historical marker
File:Death March Memorial Plaque, Oranienburg.jpg|On a [[Sachsenhausen concentration camp|Sachsenhausen]] death march route [[historical marker]]
File:Belower-Damm-Wittstock-Dosse-Mahnmal.jpg|Monument (in the village of [[Grabow-Below]]) for [[Ravensbrück]] death march victims
File:Denkmal KZ Woebbelin4.jpg|On a [[Wöbbelin concentration camp|Wöbbelin]] memorial stone
File:Gedenkstätte Lindenring (2).jpg|Boulder (in Lindenring) for 2,000 women victims of [[Ravensbrück]]
File:Cenoteph of Cap Arcona.JPG|On a ''[[SS Cap Arcona (1927)|Cap Arcona]]'' incident memorial
File:Neustadt-Glewe VVN-Denkmal 2008-01-03.jpg|At the [[Neustadt-Glewe]] concentration camp memorial
File:French monument Mauthausen 1243.JPG|F-triangle at [[Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp|Mauthausen-Gusen]] honors French victims
File:Croix du Prisonnier Politique 1940-1945.jpg|B-triangle incorporated into the Belgian [[Political Prisoner's Cross 1940–1945|Political Prisoner's Cross]]
File:KZ-Hinzert-Plakette-Nacht-und-Nebel.jpg|F-triangle at [[Hinzert concentration camp|Hinzert]] honors French victims, especially of the ''[[Nacht und Nebel]]'' program
File:Han Seelhorst Mahnmal KZ Opfer 01.PNG|On a monument to [[Neuengamme concentration camp|Neuengamme]] victims in [[Hamburg]], where the letters KZ are not nationality-letters, but rather are the German abbreviation for ''Konzentrationslager''<br />(concentration camp)
File:Ludwigsfelde Friedhof Gedenkstein Widerstandskämpfer.JPG|On a memorial to victims killed at Genshagen (right panel), where the letters KZ are not nationality-letters but rather are the German abbreviation for ''Konzentrationslager''<br />(concentration camp)
File:Denkmal für die Opfer der NS-Konzentrationslager Zgorzelec.JPG|P-triangle at a Zgorzelec memorial
File:Krzyż Oświęcimski Szymona Klugera, MZ-326-O 02.jpg|P-triangle on the [[Auschwitz Cross|Polish medal for camp victims]]
File:Memorial with Prisoners Triangle Badges and Star of David Badge - Dachau Concentration Camp Site - Dachau - Bavaria - Germany.jpg|Various badges on a [[Dachau concentration camp|Dachau]] memorial{{note|Photo by Adam Jones.}}
File:In memory of homosexual.JPG|[[Pink triangle]] (''Rosa Winkel'' in German) memorial for gay men killed at [[Buchenwald]]
File:Gedenktafel Rosa Winkel Nollendorfplatz.jpg|In the Berlin [[Nollendorfplatz (Berlin U-Bahn)|Nollendorfplatz subway station]], a pink triangle plaque honors gay male victims.{{note|Photo by Manfred Brueckels.}}
File:Ac.homomonument.jpg|Amsterdam's ''[[Homomonument]]'' uses pink triangles symbolically to memorialize gay men killed in the [[Holocaust]] and also victims of [[Gay bashing|anti-gay violence generally]].
File:Memorial_to_the_French_victims_of_Dachau_Concentration_Camp_at_Pere_Lachaise_Cemetery_in_Paris.jpg|Memorial to French victims of [[Dachau Concentration Camp]] at [[Père Lachaise Cemetery]] in [[Paris]].
File:Zittau Ehrenmal für die Opfer des Faschismus (9899).jpg|Triangle emblem on the memorial to Nazi-era forced labor deaths at the truck factory in [[Zittau]]
File:Pink triangle on Twin Peaks (19055079410).jpg|Every year, a pink triangle is erected on [[Twin Peaks (San Francisco)|Twin Peaks]] in San Francisco during [[San Francisco Pride|Pride weekend]].
</gallery>

=== 2020 Trump campaign ===

In June 2020, the [[Donald Trump 2020 presidential campaign|re-election campaign]] of [[Donald Trump]] posted an advertisement on Facebook stating that "Dangerous MOBS of far-left groups are running through our streets and causing absolute mayhem" and identifying them as "[[Antifa (United States)|ANTIFA]]", accompanied by a graphic of a downward-pointing red triangle. The ads appeared on the Facebook pages of Donald Trump, the Trump campaign, and Vice President [[Mike Pence]]. Many observers compared the graphic to the symbol used by the Nazis for identifying political prisoners such as [[Communism|communists]], [[Social democracy|social democrats]] and [[Socialism|socialists]].  Many noted the number of ads – [[88 (number)#In white nationalism|88]] – which is associated with [[Neo-Nazism|neo-Nazis]] and white supremacists.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Breland|first=Ali|title=Nazis put this symbol on political opponents' arms. Now Trump is using it.|url=https://www.motherjones.com/2020-elections/2020/06/trump-upside-down-triangle-antifa/|access-date=2020-06-19|website=Mother Jones|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Morrison|first=Sara|date=2020-06-18|title=Facebook takes down another Trump campaign ad, this time for Nazi imagery|url=https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/6/18/21295226/facebook-trump-campaign-nazi-symbol-antifa|access-date=2020-06-19|website=Vox|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Rodrigo|first=Chris Mills|date=2020-06-18|title=Facebook takes down Trump ads featuring symbol used by Nazis to mark political prisoners|url=https://thehill.com/policy/technology/503421-facebook-takes-down-trump-ads-featuring-symbol-used-by-nazis-to-mark|access-date=2020-06-19|website=TheHill|language=en}}</ref>

As an example of the public outcry against the use of the downward-pointing red triangle, as reported by [[MotherJones.com|MotherJones]], the Twitter account (@jewishaction),<ref>{{Cite Twitter profile|jewishaction}}</ref> the account of Bend the Arc: Jewish Action,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bendthearc.us/ |title=Home |website=bendthearc.us}}</ref> a Progressive Jewish site stated:<blockquote>"The President of the United States is campaigning for reelection using a Nazi concentration camp symbol.
Nazis used the red triangle to mark political prisoners and people who rescued Jews.
Trump & the RNC are using it to smear millions of protestors.

Their masks are off. pic.twitter.com/UzmzDaRBup"<ref>{{Cite web|last=Breland|first=Ali|title=Nazis put this symbol on political opponents' arms. Now Trump is using it.|url=https://www.motherjones.com/2020-elections/2020/06/trump-upside-down-triangle-antifa/|access-date=2021-12-22|website=Mother Jones|language=en-US}}</ref></blockquote>Facebook removed the campaign ads with the graphic, saying that its use in this context violated their policy against "organized hate".<ref>{{Cite web|last=Shannon|first=Joel|title=Nazis used red triangles to mark political prisoners. That symbol is why Facebook banned a Donald Trump reelection campaign ad.|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/06/18/nazis-used-red-triangles-they-symbol-organized-hate/3217951001/|access-date=2021-12-22|website=USA TODAY|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newsweek.com/history-red-triangle-used-concentration-camps-team-trump-facebook-ad-1511897|first=James|last=Crowley|title=The History of The Concentration Camp Badge in a Team Trump Ad For Facebook|website=[[Newsweek]]|date=18 June 2020|access-date=16 December 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://forward.com/fast-forward/449073/trump-antifa-nazi-concentration-camp/|title=Facebook removes Trump ad that identifies Antifa with red triangle similar to Nazi symbol|first=Ari|last=Feldman|website=The Forward|date=18 June 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dailydot.com/debug/trump-ad-nazi-symbol/|first=Claire|last=Goforth|title=Trump campaign accused of using a Nazi symbol in Facebook ad|date=27 January 2021|website=The Daily Dot|access-date=16 December 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Facebook removes Trump ads for violating 'organized hate' policy|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/facebook-removes-trump-ads-violating-organized-hate-policy-n1231468|access-date=2020-06-18|website=NBC News|date=18 June 2020 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Stanley-Becker|first=Isaac|title=Facebook removes Trump ads with symbol once used by Nazis to designate political prisoners|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/06/18/trump-campaign-runs-ads-with-marking-once-used-by-nazis-designate-political-prisoners/|access-date=2020-06-18|newspaper=Washington Post|language=en|url-access=limited}}</ref> The Trump campaign's communications director wrote, "The red triangle is a common Antifa symbol used in an ad about Antifa." Historian Mark Bray, author of ''[[Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook]]'', disputed this, saying that the symbol is not associated with Antifa in the United States.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Karni|first=Annie|date=June 18, 2020|title=Facebook removes Trump ads displaying symbol used by Nazis|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/18/us/politics/facebook-trump-ads-antifa-red-triangle.html|website=The New York Times|url-access=limited}}</ref>

=== Israel–Hamas war ===
Some sources have suggested that [[Hamas red triangle|the inverted red triangle symbol used by Hamas]] in its propaganda videos is reminiscent of the same red triangle used by the Nazis, with regards to [[antisemitism during the Gaza war]]. However, the Nazis used the inverted red triangle to identify prisoners with political views opposed to Nazism, not necessarily Jewish prisoners.<ref>{{Cite web |date=4 June 2024 |title=What does the inverted red triangle used by some pro-Palestinian demonstrators symbolize? |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/gaza-red-triangle-meaning-1.7216788 |website=CBC}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Markoe |first=Lauren |date=2024-06-13 |title=Vandals painted a red triangle on the home of a Jewish museum director. What does it mean? |url=https://forward.com/fast-forward/622549/red-triangle-inverted-hamas-symbol-brooklyn/ |access-date=2024-07-29 |website=The Forward |language=en}}</ref> However, some have compared [[Palestinian resistance]] to [[Ghetto uprisings]].<ref>{{cite web | title = The Gaza Ghetto Uprising | url = https://www.counterpunch.org/2023/10/09/the-gaza-ghetto-uprising/ | date = 9 October 2023 }}</ref>

== References ==
'''Informational notes'''
{{reflist|group=notes}}

'''Citations'''
{{reflist}}

'''Bibliography'''
* Richard Plant (1988). ''The Pink Triangle: The Nazi War Against Homosexuals''. Owl Books. {{ISBN|0-8050-0600-1}}.
* [http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/holocaust/h-dach-early.htm Camp badge chart at historyplace.com].
* [http://www.friends-partners.org/partners/beyond-the-pale/eng_captions/54-5.html Additional camp badge chart].

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Nazi concentration camp badges}}
* [https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/gallery/classification-system-in-nazi-concentration-camps-photographs United States Holocaust Memorial Museum]. Classification system in Nazi concentration camps.
* [https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/markings.html Stars, triangles and markings]. Jewish Virtual Library.
* [https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/gaycomp.html Gay Prisoners in Concentration Camps as Compared with Jehovah's Witnesses and Political Prisoners]. Ruediger Lautmann.

{{KZ}}
{{fascism}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Terminology of Nazi concentration camps]]
[[Category:Identity documents of Nazi Germany]]
[[Category:The Holocaust]]