Pink Triangle

The Pink Triangle is a symbol originating in Nazi Germany often used as a reclaimed symbol to represent gay men and AMAB queer people, which was used to characterize "homosexuals" in concentration camps.

Symbology
The symbol originates from concentration camps and ghettos in Nazi Germany, where it was worn as a badge to denote "homosexual" prisoners.

History
The pink triangle was first used in Nazi Germany during the Holocaust to label "homosexual" prisoners, imprisoned on the basis of §175 of the German criminal code --which, notably, only criminalized male homosexuality, not female. "Male homosexuals" imprisoned under the triangle also included bisexual men, transgender women, and other queer AMAB individuals. Before the pink triangle, homosexuals wore green triangles (criminal prisoners) or red triangles (political prisoners) with an "A" for "Arschficker"--literally "Assfucker." Initially, punishment for the crime of homosexuality was imprisonment and forced sterilization. However, in 1942, homosexuality became punishable by death.

During the 1970s, movements to reclaim the pink triangle began to pick up in popularity. In 1972, an autobiography of a gay camp survivor, "Die Männer mit dem rosa Winkel" or "The Men with the Pink Triangle" was published, inspiring the West German gay liberation group Homosexuelle Aktion Westberlin (HAW) to adopt the pink triangle in 1973 as a symbol of liberation. During the '70s, queer activists in the United States promoted the triangle as both a symbol of remembrance and liberation. Rocky Horror Picture Show, a historic queer film released in 1975, depicted bisexual self-proclaimed transvestite Dr. Frank N. Furter wearing a triangle while in drag that is often seen as pink--though the triangle on the outfit may simply be red.

In the 1980s, when the AIDS epidemic hit, the pink triangle's popularity grew. ACT UP, an international organization to combat the AIDS pandemic and support queer people with HIV/AIDS, adopted the now famous "Silence=Death" symbol featuring an upright pink triangle as their logo. The 1987 Gay and Lesbian March on Washington's logo featured the Capitol dome superimposed over an inverted pink triangle, further solidifying the triangle as a symbol of queer activism and liberation.