Wolfsangel

Stylized horizontal (left) and vertical (centre) forms of the Wolfsangel (or crampon), and a stylized Wolfsanker (or hameçon) (right).[1] In heraldry, the vertical form of the Ƶ-symbol is associated with the Donnerkeil (or "thunderbolt"), and the horizontal form of the Ƶ-symbol is associated with the Werwolf (or "Werewolf").[1]

Wolfsangel (German pronunciation: [ˈvɔlfsˌʔaŋəl], translation "wolf's hook") or Crampon (French pronunciation: [kʁɑ̃pɔ̃]) is a heraldic charge from mainly Germany and eastern France, which was inspired by medieval European wolf traps that consisted of a Z-shaped metal hook (called the Wolfsangel, or the crampon in French) that was hung by a chain from a crescent-shaped metal bar (called the Wolfsanker, or the hameçon in French). The stylized symbol of the Z-shape (also called the Doppelhaken, meaning the "double-hook") can include a central horizontal bar to give a Ƶ-symbol, which can be reversed and/or rotated; it is sometimes mistaken as being an ancient rune due to its similarity to the "gibor rune" of the pseudo Armanen runes.^[2]

It became an early symbol of German liberty and independence after its adoption as an emblem in various 15th-century peasant revolts, and also in the 17th-century Thirty Years War.^[3] In pre-war Germany, interest in the Wolfsangel was revived by the popularity of Hermann Löns's 1910 novel Der Wehrwolf, which follows a hero in the Thirty Years war. The Ƶ-symbol was later adopted by the Nazi Party,^[4] and was used by various German Wehrmacht and SS units such as the Waffen-SS Division Das Reich and the Waffen-SS Division Landstorm Nederland.^[4] The Anti-Defamation League, and others,^[5] list the Ƶ-symbol as a hate and a neo-Nazi symbol.^[6]