flash and circle
{{Short description|Symbol of the British Union of Fascists}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
File:Flash and circle.svgThe Flash and Circle is a fascist symbol used by several organisations. It was first used by the British Union of Fascists (BUF), and was adopted in 1935.{{Cite book |last=Millican |first=John |title=Mosley's Men in Black |publisher=Sanctuary Press Ltd |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-912887-66-8 |edition=3rd |location=Shelton Street, London |page=17}}
Origins within the BUF (1935–1940)
File:Flag of the British Union of Fascists (original).svg
File:Flag of the British Union of Fascists (alternate).svg
The BUF was founded in 1932 and adopted the fasces as its emblem, whose bundle of sticks represents strength through unity, and whose axe represents the supreme authority of the state to which citizens owe allegiance. Although the fasces was utilized almost exclusively by Benito Mussolini's Blackshirts, the BUF claimed that they had a right to use the symbol on the basis that the fasces was used extensively in Britain during Roman times, and that the British Empire continued to carry on the tradition of civilisation from them.{{Cite book |last=Millican |first=John |title=Mosley's Men in Black |publisher=Sanctuary Press Ltd |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-912887-66-8 |edition=3rd |location=Shelton Street, London |pages=15}}
The symbol would officially be changed in March 1934 from the plain gold fasces to a Union Flag within a shield and a fasces placed on top. The reasons for this change was that the BUF wanted to emphasise its commitment to king and country through the addition of the national emblem, the other reason was to help the movement distinguish itself in foreign nations.{{Cite book |last=Millican |first=John |title=Mosley's Men in Black |publisher=Sanctuary Press Ltd |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-912887-66-8 |edition=3rd |location=Shelton Street, London |pages=15–16}}
File:Flag of the British Union of Fascists.svg
Starting in the 1930s, the fasces began to be phased out in favour of the BUF's final symbol, the Flash and Circle. In the summer of 1935, Eric H. Piercy, the commander of the Fascist Defence Force, designed the emblem and presented it to Oswald Mosley, the BUF's leader. The official colors were: a white lightning bolt ("flash") and circle, a blue roundel, and a red background. The symbolism of this design was meant to convey a flash of action within a circle of unity.
While there was a lack of consistency in the appearance of the Flash and Circle, such as the short-lived inverted version used in 1935, it would go on to become the main symbol of the party and was used extensively throughout 1935-1940. The BUF's left-wing opponents nicknamed the symbol the "flash in the pan".{{citation|last=Benewick|first=Robert|title=Political Violence & Public Order: A Study of British Fascism|date=1969|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KENEAAAAIAAJ&pg=PP139|page=139}} The usage of any symbols by the BUF would slowly decline after the party was banned and its leadership (including Mosley) was interned under Defence Regulation 18B.{{Cite web |last=Keeley |first=Thomas Norman |date=1998 |title=Blackshirts Torn: Inside The British Union of Fascists, 1932-1940 |url=https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/tape17/PQDD_0026/MQ37564.pdf |website=Library and Archives Canada |page=90}}
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Post-war usage (1948 onwards)
After being released from internment, Mosley would continue his political activities, creating the Union Movement (UM) in February 1948.{{Cite book |last=Millican |first=John |title=Mosley's Men in Black |publisher=Sanctuary Press Ltd |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-912887-66-8 |edition=3rd |location=Shelton Street, London |pages=137}} As a successor to the BUF, the UM would go on to adopt the Flash and Circle as its symbol. Throughout the 50s and 60s multiple branch flags were adopted using a black background with a yellow Flash and Circle with the name of the branch underneath in yellow as well. Another variant was adopted by the Mosley Youth in the early 50s. This design consisted of a red background with a black circle and a white flash.{{Cite book |last=Millican |first=John |title=Mosley's Men in Black |publisher=Sanctuary Press Ltd |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-912887-66-8 |edition=3rd |location=Shelton Street, London |pages=139}}
The Flash and Circle would also be adopted by the National Party of Europe (NPE) during it's founding meeting on March 1st 1962. It's adoption was championed by Oswald Mosley over another symbol proposed for the NPE, a Celtic Cross. He argued it only represented a portion of European ancestory like Belgium and the United Kingdom, whilst the Flash represented action and solidarity.{{Cite web |title=National Party of Europe |url=http://europeanaction.com/id5.html |access-date=2025-05-20 |website=europeanaction.com}}
Usage outside of the BUF
File:Uudenmaan akseli.jpg chapter of the National Axis with the symbol]]
The emblem of the Bulgarian fascist party, Union of Bulgarian National Legions (SBNL) utilised a variant of the version of flash and circle, replacing the swastika.{{Cite web|last=Дечев|first=Теодор|date=2020-03-04|title=Една панихида е по-човешка от факелно шествие|url=https://news.bg/comments/edna-panihida-e-po-choveshka-ot-fakelno-shestvie.html|access-date=2020-11-03|website=News.bg|language=bulgarian}} The lightning bolt represented the SBNL striking at communism.{{Cite web|title="НС Трибуна" - Съюз на Българските Национални легиони (СБНЛ)|url=https://nstribuna.org/sbnl.htm|access-date=2020-11-03|website=nstribuna.org}} Eventually the emblem would replace the lightning bolt with the swastika towards the end of 1944. File:People's Action Party supporters, Greenridge Secondary School, Singapore - 20110427-04.jpgThe insignia of the People's Action Party (PAP) of Singapore is composed of a red flash struck through a smaller blue circle on a white background. The PAP insignia is claimed to represent "action within social/racial unity" with the white background representing purity in thought and deed.{{citation|last=Drysdale|first=John|title=Singapore: Struggle for Success|date=1984|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RxH1BwAAQBAJ&dq=Flash+and+Circle&pg=PP80|page=80|isbn=9789814677677 }} When asked about the origins of the insignia, Lee Kuan Yew—a founding member of the PAP and Singapore's first Prime Minister—"acknowledged a design influence from the BUF symbol but added that the colour scheme had been changed for the PAP logo."{{cite news |last=Burton |first=John |date=7 May 2006 |title=Observer from Singapore |url=https://www.ft.com/content/297c2b22-ddee-11da-af29-0000779e2340 |work=Financial Times |location=London |access-date=3 November 2023}}
The Youth Wing of the Italian Neo-fascist movement CasaPound, Blocco Studentesco ("Students' Block") utilises a variant of the flash and circle directly inspired from Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists.{{Cite web |last1=Bennett |first1=Dianne |last2=Graebner |first2=William |title=Lotta Studentesca, Blocco Studentesco: the young right wing tackles education |url=https://www.romethesecondtime.com/2013/10/lotta-studentesca-blocco-studentesco.html |access-date=2025-03-19 |language=en}}
The youth of the neo-fascist{{cite book |last1=Akkerman |first1=Tjitske |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ft8eDAAAQBAJ&dq=Finland+neo+fascism&pg=PA128 |title=Radical Right-Wing Populist Parties in Western Europe: Into the Mainstream? |last2=Lange |first2=Sarah L. de |last3=Rooduijn |first3=Matthijs |date=2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-41978-5 |page=128 |language=en |access-date=6 April 2025}} Suomen Sisu, Kansallinen Akseli (National Axis), uses the flash in a circle symbol.Hussien, J. (2023). The Far-Right and the Use of History : Finnish fascism from the interwar period to the present (Dissertation). Retrieved from https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-507073{{cite web|url=https://www.iltalehti.fi/kotimaa/a/0cb1622b-c68c-475c-8727-4476fe8c3a2c|title=Suomen Sisun nuorisoryhmä Uudenmaan akselin puheenjohtaja: "Emme värvää 13-vuotiaita"|work=Iltalehti|date=19 May 2025}}
Similar non-political symbols
The simple combination of the lightning bolt and circle has given rise to many similar designs unrelated to the fascist flash and circle. These include the logo of BoltBus, which chose the design before the similarity was ever noticed.{{cite news |last=Hopper |first=Tristin |date=January 28, 2016 |title=Fascist, schmaschist: Why a West Coast bus company picked the same logo as some dead British fascists |url=https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/bus-companys-logo-identical-to-notorious-u-k-fascist-groups-but-theyre-sticking-with-it |work=The National Post |accessdate=January 13, 2020}} The Tampa Bay Lightning hockey team use a somewhat similar design on their primary and alternate logos. One form of warning sign for high-voltage electricity uses a lightning bolt inside a circle, and this was repurposed by Marilyn Manson as an insignia for his album Antichrist Superstar.{{Cite book|title=Dissecting Marilyn Manson|last=Baddeley|first=Gavin|publisher=Plexus Publishing|year=2001|isbn=0859653722|location=London|pages=101–102|quote="The insignia that represents the Antichrist Superstar album ... also echoes the insignia of Oswald Moseley's British Union of Fascists..."|via=GoogleBooks}} German automobile manufacturer Opel uses a horizontal lightning bolt and circle in black and white as its logo. In most cases, there is no evidence to suggest that the designer intended to evoke an association with political use of the symbol.