„According to Peter Marshall, "[i]n 1964 a French group, Jeunesse Libertaire, gave new impetus to Proudhon's slogan 'Anarchy is Order' by creating the circled-A a symbol which quickly proliferated throughout the world." [Op. Cit., p. 445] This is not the earliest sighting of this symbol. On November 25 1956, at its foundation in Brussels, the Alliance Ouvriere Anarchiste (AOA) adopted this symbol. Going even further, a BBC documentary on the Spanish Civil War shows an anarchist militia member with a "circled-A" clearly on the back of his helmet. Other than this, there is little know about the "circled-A"s origin.“ An Anarchist FAQ: internet Archive (2007), abgerufen am 3. Juni 2019.
Nunzio Pernicone, Italian Anarchism, 1864–1892, p. 93 zitiert nach Anarchist FAQ (Memento vom 15. Juli 2010 im Internet Archive): The earliest recorded use of the red-and-black colours was during the attempted Bologna insurrection of August 1874 where participants were „sporting the anarchists’ red and black cockade.“ [Nunzio Pernicone, Italian Anarchism, 1864–1892, p. 93] In April 1877, a similar attempt at provoking rebellion saw anarchists enter the small Italian town of Letino „wearing red and black cockades“ and carrying a „red and black banner.“ These actions helped to „captur[e] national attention“ and „draw considerable notice to the International and its socialist programme.“ [Nunzio Pernicone, Op. Cit., pp. 124-5 and pp. 126-7] Significantly, another historian notes that the insurgents in 1874 were „decked out in the red and black emblem of the International“ while three years later they were „prominently displaying the red and black anarchist flag.“ [T. R. Ravindranathan, Bakunin and the Italians, p. 208 and p. 228], abgerufen am 6. Dezember 2009.