Pink triangle

The Pink Triangle

The Pink triangle was the badge worn by male homosexual prisoners in Nazi concentration camps. There was no direct equivalent for women since female homosexuality (as in other countries including the UK) was not specifically illegal; however lesbians may have been classed as "asocial" and would therefore have worn a black triangle.

From the 1970s onwards the pink triangle has been adopted as a symbol of gay liberation and to remind people of the suffering of gay people in the Nazi period. ACT-UP used it the other way up (with the point at the top) to signify an active fight back against intolerance.

In the UK the pink triangle is commemorated in the name of the charity the Pink Triangle Trust and the Pink Triangle Theatre.

The gay village in Newcastle is sometimes referred to as the "Pink Triangle".

Table of symbols worn by different classes of concentration camp prisoners

See also

• Rainbow flag
• Lambda
• Labrys