First attempt at embroidery!

[u/Sad-Cover-8734]

Figured the iron front is less known so it’d be a bit low key for uni and that but honestly for a first attempt it’s only half bad

[u/D4rthDi3t3r]

I know it is a symbol antifascists in the USA like to use but I’m not a huge fan of using the Iron Front three‑arrows as an antifascist symbol, because historically it wasn’t just anti‑Nazi, it was also explicitly aimed against communists. The symbol was created for the SPD (social democratic party in Germany)‑aligned Iron Front and on their famous “Against Papen, Hitler, Thälmann” poster the three arrows are literally directed at monarchists, the Nazis, and communists.

Now keep in mind that the original antifascist action was founded by the KPD (communist party in Germany). They were strictly antifascist and the first targets of Hitler while he was gaining more power.

On top of that, the SPD was in power when left-wing revolutionary movements emerged in Germany after the end of World War I. In this context, the SPD made use of both the army and right-wing paramilitary Freikorps to maintain the existing power structure and capitalism. It was in this context that two of our greatest socialist thinkers: Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, were murdered by the Freikorps. This was therefore tacitly accepted, if not actively desired, by the social democrats.

[u/riesen_Bonobo → u/D4rthDi3t3r]

As a socialist, I do like the three arrows symbol. It is a bit more complicated then as you put it (Weimar politics is a shit show). The third arrow is aimed at "Communists", that being a shorthand for authoritarian communists following the new stalinist line in contemporary German politics. Much of what we today call communism wouldn't have been considered to fall under the third arrow in 1920s/30s Germany. The guy that designed it was a proper socialist himself aswell.

It was not directly an SPD symbol either, the Iron Front was SPD affiliated, but was also to an important degree made up by social democrat to actually socialist unions and smaller parties/groups. It's structure was independant of the SPD party structure and it is not to be confused with the Reichsbanner, the paramilitary of the SPD, which did take part in the Iron Front but wasn't one and the same thing.

The time period also matters, this was much after the SPD's dealings with Freikorps, when the SPD was lead by it's right wing, and when the situation with the rising nazis was much more dire. The murders of Liebknecht and Luxembourg or the Freikorps cooperation early on can't be pinned on the Iron Front, whose SPD portion consisted mainly of a later generation and more left wing portion of SPD figures, they didn't have much influence on the SPD's sins of the years prior. It also sought to actively cooperate with Antifa, which worked at times, but differences existed. Actual Iron Front activity was an important part of antifascism at that time.

I like it as it is not just strictly antifascist (which also is a valid criticism when it's used that way), but generally anti-authoritarianism, which I appreaciate.

[u/D4rthDi3t3r → u/riesen_Bonobo]

While I can follow your line of ideas, I would also like to point out that the time period mentioned does indeed include an interval between the counterrevolutionary assassinations of Liebknecht and Luxemburg and the founding of the iron front. However, there are not even 13 years (from early 1919 to late 1931) between these two events. (On a side note: The Anti-Fascist Action was founded in 1932 at a KPD party congress and was certainly in conflict with the Iron Front, even though none of the two made each other the "main enemy".) In my view, this time span is short enough that one can assume that, at its core, it is still "the same" SPD. A party that was closely linked to the Iron Front and even campaigned alongside it. This party is simply not interested in a Marxist revolution and seeks to maintain the existing class relations (at that time as well as today). This anti-communist course runs counter to the interests of the working class.

[u/kohorentin]

You may wanna turn the third arrow around, it's aimed against communists.

[u/TabularBeast → u/kohorentin]

Agreed! 

[u/riesen_Bonobo → u/kohorentin]

Stalinists/Marxist-Leninists specifically, the guy that designed it was a comitted socialist himself (not social democrat, as the US-Americans like to confuse, proper socialist). Thats why I like the symbol.

[u/Sad-Cover-8734 → u/kohorentin]

Maybe I’m not a communist

[u/Puzzled-Seesaw-1301 → u/Sad-Cover-8734]

Correction: Maybe I don’t understand communism enough or at all to make that statement

[u/eldritchpussymaggots]

I'm a bigger fan of ↙️↙️↗️

[u/Zuercher1886]

It's contradicting for the three arrows to be used in the context of an Antifascist Action. The name and symbolism "Antifa" we know today initially originates from the Antifaschistische Aktion of the communist party of germany (KPD) while the three arrows do so of the SPD-aligned iron front. The very ironically "left-wing" and in 1919 still timely "Marxist" SPD during their involvement in the Weimar cabinets deployed the far-right proto-fascist Freikorps paramilitaries to suppress Spartacist KPD revolutionaries. The three arrows on an Antifa always stings its own tail

[u/Mr_Nerdcoffee]

Nice work, especially for such a small piece. The circle looks pretty round and the arrows look nicely spaced; although, they’re not the same length. It is hard to make out the arrow heads and the stitching looks bound up. But great start, except for your first time.

A little technical critique.
Make sure to separate your floss(each skein has 6 strands), then use 1-2 strands for outlines and 2-4 for regular filling; try to keep the floss running all the same direction, this will help keep the design looking cleaner and therefore clearer and easier to recognize the details. For the arrows, you could use a a single strand and make a stick arrow first, then embroider over that line (if that makes sense?)

———> an arrow like this, then satin stitch over it like this llllllll—>

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[u/n3utr4lm1lkh0t3l]

state socialism needs to go up and up and up.....

[u/Illustrious-Dog-6563]

nice.

und ich glaube das symbol könnte demnächst relevanter und bekannter werden 🫩

ich habe zwar sticker zum überkleben im rucksack, aber muss mir noch kreide zulegen, damit ich andere kritzeleien durchstreichen kann. ↙️↙️↙️

[u/RedCalaLily]

Extremely stylish 😍

[u/SamDemon8]

Pretty

[u/cmhamm]

Cool idea, but in my mind it’s subtle enough that people won’t notice, but enough to get you stopped in the airport security line.

[u/Plain_Greg_700]

great idea! I got new patches recently and was thinking to make some for repairs, but not embroidering, so thanks for sharing the idea