The Guy Fawkes mask (also known as the V for Vendetta mask or Anonymous mask) is a stylised depiction of Guy Fawkes (the best-known member of the Gunpowder Plot, an attempt to blow up the House of Lords in London on 5 November 1605) created by illustrator David Lloyd for the 1982–1989 graphic novel V for Vendetta written by Alan Moore with art by Lloyd. Derived from the masks used to represent Fawkes being burned on an effigy having long previously had roots as part of Guy Fawkes Night celebrations, Lloyd designed the mask as a smiling face with red cheeks, a wide moustache upturned at both ends, and a thin vertical pointed beard, worn in the graphic novel's narrative by anarchist protagonist V.
Following the release of the graphic novel and its 2005 film adaptation, this design came to represent broad protest, later also becoming a symbol for the online hacktivist group "Anonymous" after appearing in web forums, used in Project Chanology, the occupy movement, Anonymous for the Voiceless, and other anti-establishment protests around the world. This has led to the mask also being known by the alternate name of the Anonymous mask.[1]
- ^ Griffin, Angus (14 June 2013). "A history of the Anonymous mask". Dazed.com. Retrieved 27 September 2019.