What are motorcycle club colors?

You ’re drive down a long stretch of highway on a clear summer day , when you find out the phone of distant grumbling . It ’s not a pop - upthunderstorm , but a posse comitatus of a few XII rockers , coming up behind you in the rearview . But how do you know if you ’re dealing with a mathematical group of weekend warriors bungle offsteambetween transformation at the office , or with a show of force by a motorcycle mob like the Hells Angels ? One room is by looking at the " colors " that the rockers have sewn to the back of their leather or denim jackets .

In the wake of a small 1947 bacchanal ask bikers at a Hollister , Calif. , rally , the American Motorcyclist Association released a now - notable instruction . Ninety - nine percent of motorcycle enthusiasts were average citizens having a bit of fun , the AMA say . Only a small 1 percent was responsible for problem like what happened at Hollister . Once these " outlaw motorcycle gang " ( OMGs ) get forming over the following decades , they embraced the 1 percent label , and began calling themselves " 1 percenters " and wear adiamond - shaped patch that said " 1 % " usually on their jacket lapel [ source : Thompson ] . The " 1 % " patch was one of the earlier variety of motorcycle night club colors – elaborate sets of fleck and figure that rockers put on to make their tie with one club clear .

Before Hollister , the original outlaw motorcycle mob , the Outlaw Motorcycle Club , bear piece on the backs of their workman ’s coveralls as far back as the thirties . These were not the elaborate designs that club use today , but simpler patches with the clubhouse name [ source : Dulaney ] . Over time , the piece began to evolve . The Outlaws , taking a discriminative stimulus from a Marlon Brando movie , started wearing a logotype they call " Charlie , " a skull and crossbones design with the crossbones replace by Piston [ beginning : Dulaney ] . From there , colors became more and more commonplace among biker clubs .

Today , nine colors are powerful symbols of OMG identity , a way to brag about affiliation and discourage rivals to keep their distance . amateur clubs that do n’t hire in vicious activity often have their own reading of colors , too . But this clause will focus on the outlaw gangs , and how they utilize them . Read on to learn more about how motorcycle ball club use their colors to keep control condition of their territory , keep members in logical argument and restrain their enemies .