Cross of the Archangel Michael

The Iron Guard (Garda de Fier) was a Romanian fascist group active from 1927 to 1941. Under its founder Corneliu Zelea Codreanu until his death in 1938, members of the deeply antisemitic Iron Guard led and participated in numerous acts of political violence and terror, including the 1941 Bucharest pogrom in which more than 100 Jews were murdered.

The Iron Guard’s main insignia, resembling a hashtag with three intersecting vertical and horizontal lines, was created and referred to by the Iron Guard as the “Cross of the Archangel Michael”.

The Iron Guard and particularly its founder Codreanu continue to inspire hate groups and actors in Romania and worldwide. The Cross of the Archangel Michael was one of the symbols the perpetrator of the 2019 Christchurch terror attacks had written on one of his weapons.