Why the red-and-black flag?
The red-and-black flag has been associated with anarchism for some time. Murray Bookchin placed the creation of this flag in Spain: “The presence of black flags together with red ones became a feature of Anarchist demonstrations throughout Europe and the Americas. With the establishment of the CNT, a single flag on which black and red were separated diagonally, was adopted and used mainly in Spain.” [The Spanish Anarchists, p. 57] George Woodcock also stressed the Spanish origin of the flag: “The anarcho-syndicalist flag in Spain was black and red, divided diagonally. In the days of the [First] International the anarchists, like other socialist sects, carried the red flag, but later they tended to substitute for it the black flag. The black-and-red flag symbolised an attempt to unite the spirit of later anarchism with the mass appeal of the International.” [Anarchism, p. 325fn] According to Abel Paz, anarchist historian and CNT militant in the 1930s, the 1st of May, 1931, was “the firs
The red-and-black flag has been associated with anarchism for some time. Murray Bookchin places the creation of this flag in Spain: “The presence of black flags together with red ones became a feature of Anarchist demonstrations throughout Europe and the Americas. With the establishment of the CNT [in 1910], a single flag on which black and red were separated diagonally, was adopted and used mainly in Spain.” [The Spanish Anarchists, p. 57] However, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that the red-and-black flag spread across to other countries, particularly those with strong links to Spain (such as other Latin countries). For example, during the “Two Red Years” in Italy which culminated in the factory occupations of 1920 (see section A.5.5) the red-and-black flag was raised by workers in revolt [Gwyn A. Williams, Proletarian Order, p. 241] Similarly, Augusto Sandino, the radical Nicaraguan national liberation fighter was so inspired by the example of the Mexican anarcho-syndicalist
