How did the red, white, and blue spinning pole become the symbol for Barber Shops?
Barbers were also surgeons in older times. The role of the barber was a lot more important than it is today, and it was important that barber shops were easily recognizable. Supposedly, there are different theories on the pole colors themselves. Some nations used their flag colors as the stripes. The colors of the more prominent red-white-and blue strips may have come from the French flag. It is also theorized that the colors represented surgery, red being arterial blood, blue being veinous blood, and white being the color of bandages used in surgery. Answer originally posted in response to How did the red, white, and blue spinning pole become the symbol…
