Catalogue Number
NMLH.1995.91.108
Object Name
badge
Title
'Skins hate the NF'
People
National Front (NF)
Description
A red badge with black lettering 'Skins hate the NF'. The writing is between a pair of yellow suspender braces.
The badge refers to skinheads (skins) opposition the National Front (NF). In the 1960s, skinhead subculture in the UK formed around a love of ska and soul music, and was heavily influenced by Jamaican 'rude boy' street culture, and British mod culture. While there were undoubtably racist skinheads, the movement wasn't associated with racism. Following the skinhead revival in the late 1970s, fascist and racist white nationalists like the National Front adopted skinhead fashion aesthetics like shaved heads, Doc Martin boots, denim jeans and suspender braces.
Skinheads could tell themselves apart based on things like music taste, as fascist skins don't listen to music by Black artists that are core to the soul, reggae and ska genres loved by skinheads. However, the general public was typically unable to tell who was a white power skinhead and who wasn't. Badges like this allowed anti-fascist skinheads to express their opposition to neo-fascist skinheads co-option of their fashion, and indicate their politics to members of the public who might otherwise assume they are racist fascists.
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