Color
The color ( English for color ), also known as colors , describes the patch that rockers usually find on the back of their vest (the so-called cowl ). Since 2014 there has been a legal dispute about the extent to which the colors of forbidden criminal motorcycle clubs are compatible with criminal law and whether they may be worn in public, including tattoos .
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a9/Onepercenter_Vest.svg/220px-Onepercenter_Vest.svg.png)
1: Top Rocker - usually name of the club
2: Center Patch - Logo of the club
3: Bottom Rocker - usually national or regional name, e.g. B. Germany or California
4: "1% er" badge for outlaw MCs
5: Club name
6: Rank badge, e.g. B. "Road Captain", "President" or "Sergeant at Arms"
7: Side Rocker - usually the name of the regional chapter or charter, e.g. B. Berlin or Nomads
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/A_Hells_Angels_jacket.jpg/170px-A_Hells_Angels_jacket.jpg)
construction
In principle, all colors are made up of three parts. First the name (Top Rocker) is mentioned in a downward-sloping font. In the center there is a logo, the so-called Centercrest or Center-Patch . This is followed by the geographical origin, referred to as bottom rocker . Either a place - or, as is often the case with international clubs - the respective country is named in letters that curve upwards. There are also the letters MC for motorcycle club or motorcycle club. Occasionally the lettering, such as the name of the club, is also worn on the front of the jacket as a so-called side rocker .
meaning
The use of the color comes very close to that of a coat of arms . It shows the affiliation to a club and that the wearer has internalized the respective club rules and lives them. Especially with regard to territorial claims, so to speak the territory of a club, as well as the differentiation from other MCs, wearing the club colors is important for the members. A candidate for membership, a prospect , only wears top and bottom rockers on his vest. The Centercrest is awarded to him after passing his probation at an initiation rite . Only then is he a full member of the club and the community.
term
In the US, the term backpatch , sometimes also color, is used. The Bikers News , who see themselves as the mouthpiece of the German-speaking rockers, state that the local scene has decided on the term color. The term colors has also established itself in the rocker world.
origin
Identification marks are not uncommon in subcultures or scenes to identify members and create a sense of togetherness. The role models for the color can already be found in the form of patches with the mods and rockers in England at the end of the 1960s, which are not to be equated with the rockers of the motorcycle scene. The reception of patches and vests in films such as Die wilden Engel also contributed to the establishment of colors in the motorcycle club scene.
See also
Web links
- Photo gallery "This is what the symbols on the rockers' robes mean" , rp-online.de from February 14, 2017.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Symbol ban for Hells Angels and Bandidos: Rockers have to cover up tattoos from now on. In: rp-online.de. July 21, 2014, accessed March 27, 2017 .
- ↑ Playing with the Color. Bikes, Music And More. January 18, 2015, accessed February 15, 2017 .
- ↑ Power is redistributed. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. (No longer available online.) April 2, 2016, formerly in the original ; accessed on February 14, 2017 . ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ How does the further path to membership work? Bikers News. Retrieved February 13, 2017 .
- ↑ FAQ. Bikers News. Retrieved February 13, 2017 .
- ↑ Ronald Hitzler, Arne Niederbacher: Life in Scenes . 3rd, revised edition. VS Verlag 2010, ISBN 978-3-531-15743-6
- ↑ Back To The Roots - History of the Rocker Movement in Germany. Bikers News. July 17, 2015, accessed February 15, 2017 .
swell
- “How rockers talk” , Der Tagesspiegel from June 30, 2014, accessed on February 14, 2014.
- Herwig Lüderitz: "Rocker in the Federal Republic", in: Psychologie und Gesellschaftskritik 8 (1984), pp. 50–64