Black and red bisected symbolism

The red-and-black flag is the symbol of the anarcho-syndicalist and anarcho-communist movements. Black is the traditional color of anarchism, and red is the traditional color of socialism. The red-and-black flag combines the two colors in equal parts, with a simple diagonal split. Typically, the red section is placed on the top-left corner, with the black on the bottom-right corner of the flag. This symbolizes the co-existence of anarchist and socialist ideals within the anarcho-syndicalism movement, and to symbolize the more socialistic means of the movement leading to a more anarchistic end.


The CNT-FAI's version of the red-and-black flagOne of the most famous variations of the anarcho-syndicalist flag is that of Spain's Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (National Confederation of Labor, CNT), which still exists today. The CNT, along with the Federación Anarquista Ibérica (Iberian Anarchist Federation, FAI), a major militant faction within the CNT, was a major player in the popular anarchist movements in Spain of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This group has its own version of the red-and-black flag with its initials on the flag. CNT is in the red, while FAI is in the black – the color of anarchy – as the FAI was founded in 1927 to keep the CNT dedicated to anarchist principles.


Black and Red Africa - Zabalaza Federation's logoAnother variation on the red-and-black theme is the red-and-black Africa used mostly by the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Federation (ZACF or ZabFed), a federation of anarchist groups in South Africa. ZabFed was inspired by the Organisational Platform of the Libertarian Communists. ZabFed members share a basic agreement in terms of theoretical and tactical unity, collective responsibility, and federalism as suggests by the Platform. In historical terms the Platformist tradition starts with The Organizational Platform of the Libertarian Communists, and in the post-war period many include documents like the Georges Fontenis' pamphlet Manifesto of Libertarian Communism.
The symbolism of a united Africa, displayed in traditional anarchist communist colours, is an important one, as a mixture of different demographic groups are represented by Zalabaza in the midst of a societal environment that is otherwise tense with post-colonial racial and sexual issues.