Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective
Black triangle (badge)
Nazi concentration camp badge for "asocials" From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Remove ads
The inverted black triangle (German: schwarzer Winkel) was an identification badge used in Nazi concentration camps to mark prisoners designated asozial ("a(nti-)social")[1][2] and arbeitsscheu ("work-shy"). The Roma and Sinti people were considered asocial and tagged with the black triangle.[1][3] The designation also included disabled individuals, alcoholics, beggars, homeless people, nomads, and prostitutes (though male sex workers were marked with the pink triangle), as well as violators of laws prohibiting sexual relations between Aryans and Jews.[1][2] Women also deemed to be anti-social included lesbians and others deemed as nonconformists.[2][4]
![]() | You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in German. (August 2025) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|

Remove ads
Usage
Summarize
Perspective

Nazi
The symbol originates from Nazi Germany, where every prisoner had to wear a concentration camp badge on their prison clothes, of which the design and color categorized them according to the reason for their internment. The homeless were included, as were disabled people, alcoholics, those who habitually avoided labor and employment, draft evaders, pacifists, Roma and Sinti people, and others.[5][6]
Romani
Romani first wore the black triangle with a Z notation (for Zigeuner, meaning Gypsy)[tone] to the right of the triangle's point.[7] Male Romani were later assigned a brown triangle.[citation needed] Female Romani were still deemed asocials as they were stereotyped as petty criminals (prostitutes, kidnappers and fortune tellers).[citation needed]
Disabled people
The Nazis marked disabled concentration camp inmates with a black triangle. Some United Kingdom-based groups concerned with the rights of disabled people have adopted the symbol in their campaigns,[8][9] citing press coverage and government policies - including changes to disability benefits and Disability Living Allowance, as the reasons for their campaigns.[10][11] "The Black Triangle List" was created to keep track of welfare-related deaths due to cuts by the Department for Work and Pensions.[12]
Remove ads
See also
- Antiziganism – Racism against Romani people
- Aktion Arbeitsscheu Reich – Waves of Nazi arrests of people deemed "socially undesirable"
- Anti-homelessness legislation – Laws regarding homelessness
- Discrimination – Prejudicial treatment based on membership in a certain group
- Discrimination against disabled people – Discrimination on grounds of disability
- Discrimination against homeless people
- Discrimination against lesbians – Irrational fear of, and aversion to, lesbians
- Identification in Nazi camps – Prisoners' camp identification numbers, cloth emblems, and armbands
- LGBTQ symbols – Flags and symbols used by the LGBTQ community
- Persecution of Chinese people in Nazi Germany
- Romani genocide – Genocide against Romani in Europe during World War II
- Nazi concentration camp badge § Single triangles
- Blue triangle – Cloth emblems; part of the system of identification in Nazi camps
- Brown triangle – Genocide against Romani in Europe during World War II
- Green triangle – Cloth emblems; part of the system of identification in Nazi camps
- P (Nazi symbol) – Sign for Polish workers during the NS-Regime in Nazi Germany
- Pink triangle – Symbol for the LGBTQIA+ community
- Red triangle (badge) – Symbol of anti-fascism
- Yellow badge – Badge forced to be worn by Jews at various times in history
Remove ads
References
Further reading
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Remove ads