The Guy Fawkes mask is a stylised depiction of Guy Fawkes, the best-known member of the
Gunpowder Plot, an attempt to blow up the House of Lords in London in 1605.
The use of a mask on an effigy has long roots as part of Guy Fawkes Night celebrations.
A stylised portrayal of a face with an over-sized smile and red cheeks, a wide moustache upturned
at both ends, and a thin vertical pointed beard, designed by illustrator David Lloyd,
came to represent broader protest after it was used as a major plot element in V for
Vendetta, published in 1982, and its 2006 film adaptation.
After appearing in Internet forums, the mask became a well-known symbol for the online
hacktivist group Anonymous, used in Project Chanology, the Occupy movement, and other
anti-government and anti-establishment protests around the world.
Origins
The Gunpowder Plot in 1605 was commemorated from early on with effigies of unpopular figures.
Towards the end of the 18th century, reports appeared of children in Britain begging for
money with grotesquely masked effigies of Guy Fawkes, and 5 November gradually became
known as Guy Fawkes Night, although many now prefer the term "Bonfire Night".
The 1864 Chambers Book of Days stated that:
"The universal mode of observance through all part of England, is the dressing up of
a scarecrow figure, in such cast-habiliments as can be procured, parading it in a chair
through the streets, and at nightfall burning it with great solemnity in a huge bonfire..."
By the early 1980s, the cheap cardboard or paper "Guy Fawkes" masks sold to children
in Britain each autumn, or given out free with comics, were becoming less widely used,
being increasingly supplanted by Halloween masks.
Writer Alan Moore later commented: ".... how interesting it was that we should have taken
up the image right at the point where it was apparently being purged from the annals of
English iconography."
V for Vendetta The main character in the comic book series
V for Vendetta, which started in 1982, and its 2006 film adaptation, wore a Guy Fawkes
mask.
The series, written by Alan Moore and illustrated mostly by David Lloyd "centers on a vigilante's
efforts to destroy an authoritarian government in a dystopian future United Kingdom."
When developing the idea, Lloyd wrote a handwritten note: "Why don't we portray him as a resurrected
Guy Fawkes, complete with one of those papier-mâché masks, in a cape and a conical hat?
He'd look really bizarre and it would give Guy Fawkes the image he's deserved all these
years.
We shouldn't burn the chap every Nov. 5th but celebrate his attempt to blow up Parliament!"
Moore commented that, due to Lloyd's idea, "All of the various fragments in my head suddenly
fell into place, united behind the single image of a Guy Fawkes mask."
Early adoption by protesters Since the release in 2006 of the film V for
Vendetta, the use of stylised "Guy Fawkes" masks, with moustache and pointed beard, has
become widespread internationally among groups protesting against politicians, banks and
financial institutions.
The masks both conceal the identity and protect the face of individuals and demonstrate their
commitment to a shared cause.
The character developed as an Internet meme, common on imageboards such as 4chan as well
as on video-sharing based Web sites such as YouTube.
Initially the character was a stick figure who failed at everything emerged and became
known as "Epic Fail Guy".
For reasons that have never been explained, it was increasingly shown as wearing a V for
Vendetta "Guy Fawkes" mask.
In 2006 a pair of rival groups wearing Fawkes masks confronted each other outside the DC
Comics offices.
One group, led by freegan left-anarchist Adam Weismann, was protesting against the film
V for Vendetta.
Another group, led by libertarian Todd Seavey counter-protested against the left-anarchist
protestors, in favor of DC Comics, and their masks were supplied by a Time Warner employee.
Anonymous The mask became associated with hacktivist
group Anonymous's Project Chanology protests against the Church of Scientology in 2008.
The group protested the Church of Scientology in response to the Church forcing YouTube
to pull a video of Tom Cruise discussing Scientology that was meant for internal use within the
Church.
In response, Anonymous protested the litigious methods of the Church of Scientology over
a period of several months.
Protesters were encouraged to hide their faces, since it was common practice for Church members
to photograph anti-Scientology protesters.
The Guy Fawkes mask was a widely used method of hiding faces.
As the protests continued, more protesters began opting to use the Guy Fawkes mask, which
eventually took on symbolic status within the group.
Scott Stewart of University of Nebraska at Omaha's The Gateway wrote: "Many participants
sported Guy Fawkes masks to draw attention both to their identity as Anonymous and the
Church of Scientology's abuse of litigation and coercion to suppress anti-Scientology
viewpoints."
The Internet-based group then adopted the character for its wider protests against authority.
Wider use in popular protest On 23 May 2009, protesters wearing the mask
exploded a fake barrel of gunpowder outside Parliament while protesting over the issue
of British MPs' expenses.
During the 2011 Wisconsin protests, and then during the subsequent Occupy Wall Street and
the ongoing Occupy movement, the mask appeared internationally as a symbol of popular rebellion.
In October 2011, campaigner Julian Assange attended the Occupy London Stock Exchange
protest wearing such a mask, which he removed after a request by the police.
In January 2012, Guy Fawkes masks were used by protesters against Poland's signing of
ACTA.
In Mumbai, India, on 10 June 2012, a group of 100 Anonymous members and college students
gathered at Azad Maidan, dressed all in black and wearing Guy Fawkes masks, to protest against
the Indian Government's censorship of the Internet.
The mask, used by Bahraini protesters during the Arab Spring-inspired Bahraini uprising
was banned in the country in February 2013, few months after a similar decision by United
Arab Emirates, another Persian Gulf country.
The Industry and Commerce Ministry of Bahrain said the ban of importing the mask, which
it referred to as "revolution mask" was due to concerns over "public safety".
The decision, described by Voice of America as "unusual", marked one of the latest in
government efforts to suppress the two-year-old uprising.
However, a British-based rights activist and Samuel Muston of The Independent downplayed
the effect of the ban.
The Manama Voice reported that use of mask in protests increased following the ban.
On November 24, 2012, National-Anarchist supporters in Sydney, Australia, attended a Pro-Palestinian
rally in support and solidarity with the people of Gaza, in regard to Operation Pillar of
Defense, all sporting the Guy Fawkes mask.
The masks were used by anti-government protestors in Thailand in 2012, and by protestors in
Turkey in 2013.
They were also used in protests in Brazil and Egypt in 2013.
The government of Saudi Arabia banned the importation of the masks in May 2013, and
said that it would confiscate any found on sale.
The Ministry of Islamic Affairs stated that the mask is "a symbol of rebels and revenge",
and warned imams and parents that "they could be used to incite the youth to destabilize
security and spread chaos..."
On 22 September 2013, Saudi religious police prohibited the wearing of the Guy Fawkes mask,
the day before Saudi Arabia's 83rd National Day.
The wearing of masks during a riot or unlawful assembly has been banned in Canada, following
the enactment of Bill C-309, and now carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence.
Protesters in the 2014 Venezuelan protests carried a wide variety of masks; one of them
was the Guy Fawkes' mask, sometimes painted with the colours of the Venezuelan mask.
Views of Moore and Lloyd
Alan Moore, anarchist and author of V for Vendetta, has supported the use of the mask,
and stated in a 2008 interview with Entertainment Weekly, "I was also quite heartened the other
day when watching the news to see that there were demonstrations outside the Scientology
headquarters over here, and that they suddenly flashed to a clip showing all these demonstrators
wearing V for Vendetta Guy Fawkes masks.
That pleased me.
That gave me a warm little glow."
Whilst Moore didn't create such a character for the purposes it has served he explains
to The Guardian, "suppose when I was writing V for Vendetta I would in my secret heart
of hearts have thought: wouldn't it be great if these ideas actually made an impact?
So when you start to see that idle fantasy intrude on the regular world…
It's peculiar.
It feels like a character I created 30 years ago has somehow escaped the realm of fiction."
David Lloyd, V for Vendetta illustrator and co-creator, is quoted as saying:
"The Guy Fawkes mask has now become a common brand and a convenient placard to use in protest
against tyranny – and I'm happy with people using it, it seems quite unique, an icon of
popular culture being used this way.
My feeling is the Anonymous group needed an all-purpose image to hide their identity and
also symbolise that they stand for individualism - V for Vendetta is a story about one person
against the system.
We knew that V was going to be an escapee from a concentration camp where he had been
subjected to medical experiments but then I had the idea that in his craziness he would
decide to adopt the persona and mission of Guy Fawkes – our great historical revolutionary."
Sales and corporate ownership of rights According to Time in 2011, the protesters'
adoption of the mask had led to it becoming the top-selling item on Amazon.com, selling
hundreds of thousands a year.
Time Warner, one of the largest media companies in the world, is paid a fee with the sale
of each official mask, as it owns the rights to the image.
See also Anonymous
Anti-mask laws Gunpowder Plot in popular culture
References Notes
External links Media related to Masks of Guy Fawkes at Wikimedia
Commons