It's Guy Fawkes Day — Here's How Those Masks Make It From Factories To Protesters Around The World
REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes
Guy Fawkes masks, used by many demonstrators in protests around the world and in the recent wave of demonstrations in Brazil, are pictured at a factory assembly line in Sao Goncalo near Rio de Janeiro June 28, 2013.
"Remember, remember the 5th of November, the gunpowder treason and plot. I know of no reason why the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot ..."
Guy Fawkes masks, immortalized in the movie "V for Vendetta," have become a global symbol of protest and anonymity through the Occupy Wall Street movement and the Arab Spring.
Right now people are gathering all over the world for the Million Mask March.
"The Guy Fawkes mask has now become a common brand and a convenient placard to use in protest against tyranny — and I'm happy with people using it, it seems quite unique, an icon of popular culture being used this way," British graphic novel artist David Lloyd, the man who created the original image of the mask for a comic strip written by Alan Moore, told BBC.
The global event, organized by the amorphous hacker group Anonymous, is sure to irk authorities as Guy Fawkes masks transform identifiable citizens into anonymous dissidents.
"My feeling is the Anonymous group needed an all-purpose image to hide their identity and also symbolize that they stand for individualism — V for Vendetta is a story about one person against the system," Lloyd told BBC.
Canada recently passed a law that bans the wearing of masks during a riot or unlawful assembly and carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence, so it will be interesting to see what happens there.
Reuters notes that these masks in Brazil are manufactured for sale to stores specializing in costumes.
REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes
A woman cleans Guy Fawkes masks, used by many demonstrators in protests around the world and in the recent wave of demonstrations in Brazil, at a factory assembly line in Sao Goncalo near Rio de Janeiro June 28, 2013.
REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes
A woman cleans Guy Fawkes masks, used by many demonstrators in protests around the world and in the recent wave of demonstrations in Brazil, at a factory assembly line in Sao Goncalo near Rio de Janeiro on June 28, 2013.
An interesting note is that Time Warner, one of the largest media companies in the world and parent of Warner Brothers, owns the rights to the image and is paid a licensing fee with the sale of each mask.
In 2011 purported members of Anonymous told CNN that activists were ordering masks mass-produced and shipped in from Asia so that Time Warner didn't receive the loyalties.
REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes
A Guy Fawkes mask (C), used by many demonstrators in protests around the world and in the recent wave of demonstrations in Brazil, hangs on a wall next to various other masks of Brazilian politicians, at a factory in Sao Goncalo near Rio de Janeiro on June 28, 2013.
Here they are in Bahrain:
REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
A female protester wearing a Guy Fawkes mask participates in an anti-government rally organised by Bahrain's main opposition group Al Wefaq, in the village of Salmabad south of Manama, April 12, 2013.
And Brazil:
REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci
A combination picture shows demonstrators with their faces painted and wearing a Guy Fawkes mask during a protest against the Confederations Cup and President Dilma Rousseff's government, in Recife City June 20, 2013.
Up to Mexico:
REUTERS/Henry Romero
A protester wearing a Guy Fawkes mask and a Mexican flag participates in an anti-government protest in Mexico City September 1, 2013.
At labor protests in Portugal:
REUTERS/Hugo Correia
Demonstrators with Guy Fawkes masks march to the Portuguese parliament in Lisbon June 27, 2013.
And in Turkey:
REUTERS/Umit Bektas
Anti-government protesters demonstrate in Ankara June 4, 2013.
Fawkes even made it out to the capital of Syria:
REUTERS/Mohammed Abdullah
Free Syrian Army fighters joke around with a Guy Fawkes mask in Jobar, a suburb of Damascus, September 22, 2013.
And, of course, Occupy Wall Street:
REUTERS/Pawel Kopczynski
A protester wearing a Guy Fawkes mask carries an Occupy Wall Street placard in front of the Reichstag building during an Occupy Berlin protest denouncing current banking and financial industry practices in Berlin November 12, 2011.
Another look at the Brazilian factory:
REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes
A woman cleans Guy Fawkes masks, used by many demonstrators in protests around the world and in the recent wave of demonstrations in Brazil, at a factory assembly line in Sao Goncalo near Rio de Janeiro June 28, 2013.
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