- Title
- Minority group representation, the symbolism and source of Australian outlaw motorcycle club insignia
- Creator
- Drewery, George
- Relation
- 2003 Hawaii International Conference on Art and Humanities. Conference Proceedings: 2003 Hawaii International Conference on Art and Humanities (Honolulu, HI 12-15 January, 2003)
- Relation
- http://www.hichumanities.org/AHproceedings/index.htm
- Publisher
- Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities
- Resource Type
- conference paper
- Date
- 2003
- Description
- Minority groups often wish to identify themselves distinctly from other members of the community. The distinctive body tattoos of the Japanese Yakuza criminal gangs, the facial tattoos or moko of the Maori, and the colours red, yellow and black worn by Australian indigenous people are examples that quickly come to mind. Outlaw motorcycle club members see themselves as members of an elite minority within Australian society and are at pains to identify themselves as such. Their particular minority group identity is the colourful and often sinister back patch worn over a leather jacket or vest. The primary purpose of the back patch is to identify the wearer as a fully initiated club member, and therefore, a person who demands respect. But the back patches are worn not only to identify the wearer, but perhaps also as an attempt to invoke fear in nonmembers. The clubs are ferociously protective of the right to wear a back patch and have protected that right literally to the death. Over the years the design of these back patches (or colours) has evolved from an unordered display of the clubs’ ethos to a more formal and regulated design. This formalisation of the designs is due largely to the American influence and particularly that of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club. This paper gives a brief history of Outlaw Motorcycle Club colours and the source of the original American influence. It also gives an analysis of the Australian club designs with particular reference to the symbolism and use of skull and wings motifs in many of the designs.
- Subject
- minority groups; symbolism; outlaw motorcycle clubs; insignia; Australia
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/35567
- Identifier
- uon:4042
- Identifier
- ISBN:1541-5899
- Language
- eng
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