During the Gaza war, an inverted red triangle has been used by pro-Palestinian protesters.[1] The red triangle in the Palestinian flag represents the role the Hashemites played in the Arab Revolt. More recently, combat footage published by Hamas uses an inverted red triangle as an arrow to indicate Israeli military targets, such as tanks, just before they are struck.[2][3] Usage of the triangle has spread to the international war-related protests, with some anti-Israel protesters using the symbol.[4]
The red triangle appears in the 1917 flag of the Arab Revolt,[5] with the color red symbolizing Arab independence and unity.[5] The red triangle also appears in the Palestinian flag, which was used during the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine against British rule and Jewish emigration. In a 1938 photograph, Palestinian rebels are seeing waving a black, white and green flag with a red triangle, with a cross and a crescent, symbolizing interreligious unity, inside the triangle.[6]
Despite older historical attestations, some theorized the symbol originates from Nazi concentration camp badges.[4][7] However, the Nazis used the inverted red triangle to identify prisoners with political views opposed to Nazism, not necessarily Jewish prisoners.[2]
Hamas' military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, began using a red triangle to mark Israeli targets in propaganda videos since November 2023, at the onset of the Gaza war.[2]
Since then, the red triangle has appeared in signs and graffiti made by Palestinian supporters in Germany,[4] Canada,[2] the United States,[2] Australia[8] and elsewhere. It has sometimes been painted on private homes or businesses targeted by protesters, such as the apartment building of Columbia University's Chief Operating Officer,[9] or a popular Jewish-owned bakery in Sydney.[8]
The red triangle emoji (🔻) has been widely used by Palestinian supporters on social media.[10] In October 2024, it was reported that Meta had decided to begin removing posts that used the symbol in the context of the Israel–Palestine conflict.[10]
In July 2024, the Senate of Berlin voted to ban the symbol following an urgent motion filed by the Christian Democratic Union and the Social Democratic Party.[11] Niklas Schrader, a member of Die Linke, cautioned that banning the symbol could unintentionally lead to the outlawing of other organizations. The Association of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime displays the triangle on their flag accompanied by prisoner stripes, a design that has also been seen at pro-Israel demonstrations.[4]