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if you're the sort of person who spends a lot of time staring at old buildings you may
have noticed a strange symbol cropping up again and again a bundle of rods bound together with
criss-crossing straps often topped by an ax head this motif shows up just about everywhere from
theaters to universities courthouses and government buildings to the flag seals and
coats of arms of countries like ecuador cameroon france and cuba and organizations like the knights
of columbus yet for all of its ubiquity this seemingly innocuous symbol actually has a dark and
controversial past known as the passies it is the symbol which gave us the name of the authoritarian
political ideology known as fascism and from the 1920s through the 1940s it was the primary symbol
of italian dictator benito mussolini's fascist party and several other groups who emulated his
regime so why is such a symbol still prominently displayed on flags and public buildings the world
over and why did it not gain the same notoriety as the other prominent fascist symbol the swastika
the firsties or more correctly pronounced fast kiss means bundle in latin and is thought to have
originated with the etruscan civilization which occupied the italian peninsula from around 900 to
27 bce the earliest known example is a miniature iron version dating from the 7th century bce
excavated from an etruscan tomb at vetalonia the vases is believed to have been used as the symbol
of power and authority by etruscan kings with the bundle of rods symbolizing the concept of
strength through unity for while a single rod can easily be broken a bundle of rods bound together
cannot like many aspects of etruscan civilization the pharisees was later adopted by the romans who
called it the bipennis and refined it into a powerful political symbol with its own
elaborate set of meanings and rules the classic roman fascist lectori measured around 1.5 meters
in length and consisted of thirteen birch or elm rods or virgae bound together with criss-crossing
red leather straps the single-headed axe was bound in among the rods with the blade protruding either
out at the top or the side of the bundle while a central handle protruded out of the bottom to make
the whole affair easier to carry in this form basses served as symbols of a roman magistrate
power and jurisdiction and were carried by an attending corps of subordinate officials known as
lictors the number of lectors and fascists corresponding to the rank of the magistrate
the lowest ranking officials kuru adls were allowed two pro creators five preachers six pro
consoles 11 consoles 12 and the highest rank of magistrate the dictator a full 24. roman emperors
often decorated their fatties with a laurel wreath especially during triumph ceremonial procession
celebrating military victories and according to roman soldier cicero lesser regional magistrates
were not even permitted to display full fatties making do instead with a back hill eye a smaller
version with only two rods and no axe while on official duty magistrates would be preceded by
their lictors who would announce his arrival and remind those present of his authority when
one magistrate met another of a different rank the littles of the lesser magistrate would lower
their patties as a form of salute or deference and when a magistrate died he had the exclusive right
to include fatties on his team conversely if a magistrate was convicted of a criminal offence his
fatties would be ceremonially broken to symbolize his disgrace and loss of authority by the time
of the roman republic from 509 to 31 bce the pharisees meaning had expanded beyond the original
etruscan concept of strength through unity and came to symbolize its bearers judicial power
or imperium by their ability to mete out corporal and capital punishment this often went beyond
mere symbolism as magistrates could and often did physically utilize the birch rods of their
fascists to flog petty criminals and the acts to behead more serious offenders really as the roman
empire expanded across the classical world the fatties became a feared symbol of conquest with
julius caesar carrying one through the streets of alexandria in egypt after defeating his rival
pompeii close to time bashi's displayed in public areas were often primary targets for vandalism by
angry mobs during periods of civil unrest but there were limits the power of magistrates and
when carried within the pemerium the traditional boundary of the sacred inner city of rome all
fashions had their axe heads removed this was to symbolize that within the cities the power over
life and death rested not with the magistrates but rather the roman people and their assemblies
and that every citizen had the right to launch an appeal or provocatio against a sentence of death
during times of emergency however the republic could choose to elect a dictator who held absolute
authority and whose lichtors could carry bladed facies even within the sacred pomerian long after
the fall of rome the fascists persisted as a symbol of state authority and imperial power
over time however the symbol became more closely associated with the roman republic and the concept
of justice and was widely used by nations and other groups seeking to emulate the republic and
its ideals following the french revolution the first french republic adopted an official seal
bearing the figure of liberty holding the fashions and a coat of arms displaying the
fashions topped by the pharyngean cap or pileaus the brimlot hat worn by freed roman slaves and a
traditional symbol of liberty this same image appears in the modern day coat of arms of cuba
the first republic coat of arms was redesigned in 1905 by painter engraver maurice mayer and
features the fashion surrounded by olive and oak leaves representing peace and justice and a scroll
bearing the republican motto liberte fraternity egalite which while never officially adopted by
the french government a modified version of this coat of arms bearing the letters rf for
republique francais still appears on modern french passports another country which aspired to emulate
roman republican values was the united states of america as a result the fascists along with many
other neoclassical motives appeared everywhere in american government architecture and iconography
among other places the symbol can be found above the doors of the oval office flanking the podium
in the united states house of representatives atop the dome of the capitol building and on the
official seal of the united states senate and the united states tax court the symbol is also
widely associated with president abraham lincoln and his 1862 emancipation proclamation
and is prominently featured on the armrests at the lincoln memorial and on the emancipation memorial
in washington dc in the late 19th and early 20th centuries however the fascists began to take on
a more radical meaning especially in italy where the derived term fascio meaning bundle came to be
used by various revolutionary movements to mean group union or league this use of the term first
appeared in sicily where in the 1880s a number of revolutionary democratic and socialist movements
known as faschi siciliani sprung up across the island composed mainly of poor tenant farmers
and sharecroppers for five years from 1889 to 1894 the fashion fought for higher wages fairer
rents and land redistribution until the movement was put down by the mainland italian government
but the revolutionary connotations of the fashion stuck and the symbol was widely used by various
independent nationalist groups both in the lead up to and the aftermath of the first world war
among these scattered groups was the fasci diazoni revolutionaria or revolutionary
action league founded in milan in 1914 by a young journalist named benito mussolini
in 1915 the leaders of the various fatty met in milan and agreed to join forces creating a
national organization which in 1919 became known as the fassi italiani di combatimento or italian
league of combatants and in 1921 the partito nacional facista or national fascist party in
1922 following his infamous march on rome benito mussolini was appointed prime minister of italy
liking victor emmanuel iii within five years mussolini established an absolute autocracy
and declared himself duchess or dictator of italy and the terms fascist and fascism became indelibly
linked with right-wing authoritarianism mussolini saw his new fascist italy as a spiritual successor
to the roman empire and thus appropriated a great deal of roman iconography including the aquila or
legionary eagle the capitoline wolf the senator's popolsk romanus or sbqr motto the raised arm roman
salute and of course the fascist the flag of fascist italy comprised the traditional italian
tricker with the fashion superimposed over the white center stripe while the flag of the national
fascist party featured a black background the color black was widely used in fascist iconography
most famously by mussolini's paramilitary the black shirts who participated in the
1922 march on rome this was in turn inspired by the elite world war ii italian shock troops known
as our ditty who wore black uniforms to symbolize death the fascists were also prominently featured
on aircraft of the italian regia aeronautical air force on mussolini's personal monogram and tomb
and dozens of public buildings constructed during the fascist era including the forum mussolini now
the foro italico in rome several other groups who sought to emulate mussolini also adopted the
symbol including oswald mosley's british union of fascists which used the perches as their primary
symbol before switching to their more iconic flash and circle following the nazi invasion of
france in 1940 the collaborationist vishy regime of marshal philippe baton also made use of the
fashions with a double-headed axe or francisca derived from baton's personal banner mussolini's
fascist regime began to crumble in 1940 as allied forces steadily pushed their way up the italian
peninsula on july 24 the fascist grand council dismissed mussolini's prime minister replacing
him with marshal pieto bagdolio mussolini was arrested and shuffled between various secret
locations before being rescued by the germans and installed as leader of the italian social republic
a nazi puppet state in the north of the country the event finally came for el duce on april 28
1945 when he and his mistress clara pattachi were captured and shot by leftist partisans in the town
of welino yet despite its intimate association with mussolini's 23-year reign the fascists
never acquired the notoriety of its more infamous cousin the nazi swastika or heiken cruz the symbol
continues to be prominently displayed on public buildings flags and crests around the world with
few being aware of its dark past the most common explanation for this is that the symbol has simply
too long been associated with republican and democratic values to be tainted by its brief
association with mussolini however the swastika was also a widespread innocuous symbol long before
its appropriation by the nazis originating in indian hinduism and buddhism as a religious icon
in the late 19th and early 20th centuries the swastika became a popular symbol of good luck
being widely used on clothing jewelry architecture and as a company trademark several sports teams
and even two towns in new york state and ontario canada were even named after the symbol a more
plausible explanation for the faschi's lack of notoriety is that allied propaganda during the
second world war tended to focus far more on nazi germany and imperial japan with mussolini's italy
often being depicted as the ineffectual third wheel of the axis tripartite pact
the average allied citizen was thus likely far more familiar with the swastika than the fascists
as a symbol of hate and tyranny unfortunately the fascist as a hate symbol appears to be making
something of a comeback in many western nations the open display of nazi flags and symbols is
banned forcing many neo-nazi and white supremacist groups to use more obscure symbols such as the
flag of pre-nazi imperial germany and the fascists according to the anti-defamation league youth for
western civilization southern white alliance vanguard america patriot front and national
socialist movements are among the many american ultra right-wing groups which have used the fair
shees as part of their iconography this all goes to show that symbols are mutable ambiguous things
and whether a given symbol represents justice and democracy or hate and authoritarianism very
much depends on who you ask so i really hope you found this video interesting if you did please do
hit that thumbs up button below don't forget to subscribe and as always thank you for watching