All the symbols depicted in the hate symbols database must be evaluated in the context in which they appear. Few symbols represent just one idea or are used exclusively by one group. For example, 100% is often used as an amount or an expression and it is also used by some white supremacists as shorthand for "100% white." Similarly, other symbols in this database may be significant to people who are not extreme or racist. The descriptions here point out significant multiple meanings but may not be able to relay every possible meaning of a particular symbol.
Group Status: Active
White Aryan Resistance (WAR) is a large, Arkansas-based white supremacist prison gang. They borrowed their name from California white supremacist Tom Metzger, who invented it in the 1980s for his own group. The main symbol of the Arkansas gang is an elaborate pyramid tattoo divided into nine "bricks." Gang members are allowed to fill in the "bricks" of the tattoo with rank symbols as they achieve them. One "brick" also usually contains the runic lettering for "skinhead" and the numeric symbol 14/88.
Outside the pyramid, the WAR tattoo features the initials WAR, each letter accompanied by swastikas. Runic letters for "WAR", SS lightning bolts, and the numeric symbol 14/88 will often appear below the pyramid.
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