France Creation and adoption The emblem was created in France within the
Socialist Party (PS), at the time of its transformation from the prior
SFIO at the
Alfortville Congress (May 1969) and of its enlargement to the rest of the "non-communist left" at the
Épinay Congress (June 1971). The emblem of the SFIO was the
Three Arrows, a 1930s
anti-fascist symbol, which was falling in disuse as the party wished to modernize. The
Ceres, a left-leaning faction, had taken control of the PS Paris Federation and actively sought to change the party. The initiative for the emblem is frequently, although disputedly, credited to
Didier Motchane, a co-founder of the Ceres, who claimed to have "invented" it in his 2010 memoirs, but a role was also played by
Georges Sarre, the first secretary of the Paris Federation, and Paul Calandra, its secretary for propaganda. In late 1969, Calandra asked Yann Berriet, the founder of a communication agency, to come up with ideas expected to signal change and attract new members, especially women, with the request that they not look "too
bolshevik". Calandra and Berriet met with Marc Bonnet, a graphic designer and a former employee of Berriet's agency, who submitted three draft designs; the federation leadership chose the fist and rose (), of which Bonnet then drew a final form. According to Évelyn Soum, the other two submissions were a carnation and a bloom of flowers. The rose symbol drew on long-standing associations with socialism. A small signature by Bonnet was originally part of the design, along the leftmost petal of the flower, as the PS wished to display professionalism; it was later removed to facilitate the party's
merchandising. Although Berriet was close to the PS, Bonnet was not political; Berriet paid Bonnet for his work from his own pocket. Bonnet trademarked his design in 1974, and received 50,000
francs from the PS in 1975 in exchange for a transfer of rights, retroactive to 1970. The fist and rose was first displayed in January–February 1970 on a
poster of the Paris Federation, widely re-used for the
March 1971 municipal election. Sarre described it in a press conference in February 1970: "The fulfilment which only socialism can enable (the rose) will only be possible by fighting (the fist)." It combined, and partly appropriated, symbolism drawn both from the traditions of French and European socialism, and from new ideas of the era. For example, the insignia of the SFIO youth organization had been an arm holding a rifle. The combination also meant to pacify the historic tension between
reformism and revolution in the French left. SFIO posters had long avoided explicit revolutionary references such as the raised fist, in order not to frighten voters. , then the PS first secretary, at a 1974 presidential election campaign meeting, with a red rose in front of him It was quickly picked up by the
Socialist Youth Movement (MJS) and the Association of Socialist Postmen, of which Sarre was leader, and became popular with party members and other federations at the time of the Épinay Congress. There was a bottom-up element to its spread: since the Paris poster included, as legally required, the name and contact information of the printing house, some federations directly called it to obtain the picture. The Ceres entered the new party leadership after the congress, with Sarre and Berriet on the Propaganda Committee; this helped the emblem gain legitimacy, while the prior leadership, drawn from the old SFIO, had been broadly indifferent to symbols and communication. Although the PS communication team originally discouraged colouring the leaves green, some federations did so as early as in the 1980s. This did not make its way to the official party logo until 2010. The emblem's diminishing or returning visibility subsequently tended to depend on the party's wish to modernize and tone down its heritage, or to state its left leanings again. From the late 1980s, it was less frequently used on
election posters, and reserved to communication aimed at party members; the rose was increasingly used and mentioned alone, avoiding the revolutionary reference of the fist, and the PS was often nicknamed "the rose party". positioned as in
superscript. The leaves were coloured pale green, and were simplified without veins to fit the smaller size. A more balanced logo was presented in 2016, with a larger fist and rose and the acronym "PS" scaled to the fist. The new version made space for
ecological concerns, with the emblem and acronym superimposed on a large green leaf. The logo was updated again in 2024, with the leaves slightly tilted upwards, and the 2016 leaf placed behind the rose. The recommended version is single-colour, in
magenta pink lines (or white on a pink background). The
political colour of the PS is not red, although this is used on the logo, but
pink (). This is historically due to the strength of the
French Communist Party (PCF), which also used red, and by distinction with which the PS is commonly displayed with a paler hue on graphics, a custom which settled in the 1970s.
Europe Albania The
Socialist Party of Albania (PS or PSSh) uses the fist and rose, in
José María Cruz Novillo's
Spanish version. The present logo is displayed
purple, the party colour. The party is affiliated to the SI.
Belarus The emblem was formerly used by the
Belarusian Social Democratic Assembly (BSDH).
Belgium The emblem was picked up by the
Belgian Socialist Party (PSB/BSP) in 1973, and maintained in
French-speaking Belgium by the
Socialist Party (PS) after the national party split on linguistic lines in 1978. The French-speaking PS is a member of the SI, as was the PSB/BSP.
Vooruit, the present successor of the PSB/BSP in the
Flemish Community, also remained SI-affiliated, but never used the fist and rose. A new logo with only a rose was presented in 1997, and was abandoned in 2002 under the leadership of
Elio Di Rupo, to the dissatisfaction of some in the old generation of party members.
Bulgaria The emblem is both: used by the
Bulgarian Social Democratic Party (BSDP) in the same version as the SI, to which the party is not affiliated, and featured in a redrawn version on the logo of the
Party of Bulgarian Social Democrats (PBSD), which is a member of the SI.
Denmark In Denmark, the emblem was used by the
Social Democrats from the late 1970s. Marc Bonnet claimed 140,000
kroner from the party in 1978 in exchange for a transfer of rights. The party was affiliated to the SI until 2017.
Germany The fist and rose () has been used by the
Young Socialists in the SPD (Jusos) since the 1970s, emphasizing the organization's more radical views than its parent party, the
Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).
Iceland In Iceland, the emblem was used by the
Social Democratic Party (1916–2000). A logo with a rose only has been in use by the
Social Democratic Alliance, into which it merged, since 2023.
Italy In Italy, the
Radical Party (PR) began using the fist and rose emblem () in the early 1970s, after party president
Marco Pannella obtained the agreement of
François Mitterrand. As often gleefully retold by Pannella,
Giacomo Mancini, the secretary of the
Italian Socialist Party (PSI), which was closer ideologically to the French PS and affiliated to the SI, was present as the same meeting and also wished to use the emblem but lacked internal party support to remove the traditional symbols, which included the Marxist
hammer and sickle. Different designs adapted by
Piergiorgio Maoloni were initially used, starting on the front page of the
Liberazione newspaper in September 1973. Marc Bonnet's design became the official PR logo in 1976. The emblem was abandoned in 1989 when the party moved away from electoral politics and transformed into the
Transnational Radical Party (TRP). Although the TRP went with a different logo, the party, and other organizations in what has been referred to as the "radical galaxy", continued using the fist and rose emblem when running in elections, for example the
Pannella List. In 1996, the
Democratic Party of the Left (PDS), the successor to the
Italian Communist Party (PCI) but affiliated with the Socialist International, explored the possibility of taking up the fist and rose, but was forbidden to do so by the TRP leadership, who stated that their party maintained the right to use it in Italy. The party was a member of the SI at the time, but left in the 2010s.
Russia In Russia, the fist and rose was picked up by several social democratic parties and organizations since the
dissolution of the Soviet Union. It was used, with or without the
national flag, by the
Social Democratic Party of Russia (SDPR), one of the first new political parties founded in 1990 following
Perestroika, who joined the SI; it was deregistered by the government in 2002, and finally disbanded in 2011. The fist and rose was then used by the
Russian United Social Democratic Party (ROSDP), a short-lived centre-left party founded in 2000 by the former Soviet leader
Mikhail Gorbachev, which laid it over the national flag. The next year, the party merged with the
Russian Party of Social Democracy (PRSP) to form a
new SDPR, who used the emblem of the PRSP, featuring a differently-designed rose and a hand supporting it rather than clenching it. Following the dissolution of the second SDPR in 2007, Gorbachev founded a non-governmental organization, the
Union of Social Democrats (SSD), which used the fist and rose. A
third SDPR, which also used it, was formed in 2012 with the support of Gorbatchev, who dissolved his SSD the next year; it was deregistered in 2019. Neither the ROSDP, nor the SSD, nor the third SDPR joined the SI, although the second SDPR was a consultative member. The fist and rose is still used by the
Russian Social Democratic Union of Youth (RSDUY), a youth organization initially formed as the youth wing of the ROSDP. It is a member of the
International Union of Socialist Youth, an affiliate of the SI. The emblem of the
Union of Democratic Socialists is a star, inside which is a photo of a fist clutching a rose.
Spain The
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) took up the fist and rose () in 1977. It uses a design redrawn by
José María Cruz Novillo, on a commission by
Guillermo Galeote, a member of the PSOE leadership, made at the time of the party's legalization during the
transition to democracy. It replaced the party's prior emblem from the 1920s, a
quill and an
anvil, which symbolized the union of
intellectual and
manual workers. Cruz Novillo, inspired by the
Dutch PvdA version, used cleaner, more geometric shapes than Bonnet and more horizontal and vertical lines, expressing "order and modernity". The PvdA version was first used in 1976–1977 by the party and
El Socialista newspaper, before Cruz Novillo's version was released in time for the
June 1977 general election campaign. The PSOE is affiliated to the SI. PSOE-affiliated regional parties also use the emblem, sometimes with elements from the regional flag added to the design. The emblem was associated with the party's accession to government under
Felipe González, and remained in use during
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's time in office. A new logo drawn by Rafa Celda, featuring a simplified rose, was introduced in 1998, but widely criticized and called the "
artichoke"; Cruz Novillo's logo was maintained for the
2000 general election campaign. In 2017, the American fashion group
Urban Outfitters used the Spanish version of the logo on one of its t-shirts, sparking protest from Cruz Novillo's son. The PSOE stated that it owns copyright on the picture, although it was not clear what rights the designer may have maintained. The company retired the t-shirt.
Switzerland The emblem is used by the
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland (SP or PS) in
French-speaking cantons, although not in
German-speaking and
Italian-speaking ones. The party was a member of the SI until withdrawing in 2017.
Africa Algeria In Algeria, the emblem is used by the
Socialist Forces Front (FFS), a centre-left party affiliated with the SI.
Senegal The emblem is used by the
Socialist Party of Senegal (PS), affiliated to the SI.
America Argentina In Argentina, the
Socialist Party (PS) has used the emblem alongside several others, sometimes with a narrow version of the
flag of Argentina added to the end of the hand as a cuff. The party was formerly affiliated to the SI.
Brazil In Brazil, the fist and rose () has been used by the
Democratic Labour Party (PDT) since its foundation in 1979. The party was admitted as a consultative member of the SI only in 1986, and as a full member in 1989. In the logo introduced in 2021, the leaves and stem bear the main colours of the
flag of Brazil (yellow, blue and green). Party president
Carlos Lupi stated that this was in response to the political use of the national flag by President
Jair Bolsonaro.
Canada In Canada, the
NDP Socialist Caucus, a left-wing faction in the social democratic
New Democratic Party (NDP), has used the Socialist International version of the fist and rose since the group's inception in 1998, though more recently it has used the same fist holding a
red flag as an alternate logo. The NDP was affiliated with the SI until 2018. In Quebec, the
Parti de la démocratie socialiste (PDS), until 1995 the New Democratic Party of Quebec (NPDQ) and until 1989 affiliated with the federal NDP, used the left-handed Spanish variant of the fist and rose from the late 1980s until its dissolution in 2002. A later iteration of the
NPDQ, which existed between 2014 and 2024, did not use the fist and rose.
Chile In Chile, the fist and rose was used by the
Social Democratic Movement (MSD), formed in a secession from the
Radical Party of Chile (PR) in 1979, and which eventually merged back into it in 1985. It was then used by the
Chilean Social Democracy Party (SDCH) from its legalization in 1991, and, after 1994, in a largely redrawn version, by its successor the
Social Democrat Radical Party (PSRD), today the new PR, which is affiliated to the SI.
Colombia The social democratic wing of the
Colombian Liberal Party (PLC) uses the fist and rose symbol.
Mexico In Mexico, the short-lived
Social Democracy party (1996–2000) used a largely redrawn and recoloured version of Bonnet's original design. It was not affiliated to the SI.
Paraguay In Paraguay, the
Revolutionary Febrerista Party (PRF) uses the logo of the SI, although turned to a right hand directed left.
Peru In Peru, the fist and rose is used by the
Socialist Party (PS).
United States (DSOC), on which the fist also holds a
Venus symbol, a
gender symbol representing
feminism The
Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) use a modified version, on which the clenched fist is replaced with
two hands shaking. The hands are in white and black lines respectively, and some branches color the skins beige and brown, a reference to
race and ethnicity issues and to the
civil rights movement. The
Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee (DSOC), one of the DSA's precursor organizations, had used the classic fist and rose. The DSA, as the DSOC before it, was a member of the SI, but left it in 2017. Some branches and section of the party use altered versions of the emblem. The two hands are redrawn to make a
V sign in Los Angeles (DSA-LA), where they previously shook under a
palm tree. The Queer Socialists Working Group fill the flower, or sometimes just the several parts of the leaves, with the colors of the
rainbow flag (LGBT). Another derived logo displays the classic rose under three raised fists of different skin colors; it is used by the Palestine Solidarity Working Group.
Asia Philippines The fist and rose is used by the
Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas (PDSP), affiliated to the SI.
Internationals The emblem was picked up by the
Socialist International (SI) in 1979, in a variant inspired from José María Cruz Novillo's
1977 Spanish version, although restored to a right hand directed left, and with the leaves coloured green. It may have been popularized at a joint rally of the PSOE and the
Confederation of the Socialist Parties of the European Community (the present PES) in April 1977 in Madrid. The
Party of European Socialists (PES), formed in 1992, did not take up the fist and rose, but chose an emblem known as the "rose with stars", associating the sole rose with the stars of the
flag of Europe.
Socialist International Women uses a version with two hands shaking. It was also formerly used by the
International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY), which is affiliated to the Socialist International. == Design and symbolism ==