[Ads-l] falanga

[Barretts Mail]

1. A number of news outlets have today published articles about yesterday's fascist-cum-white supremecist march in Poland in which the falanga is described as a symbol of the far right.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/60-000-join-far-right-march-poland-s-independence-day-n820006 <https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/60-000-join-far-right-march-poland-s-independence-day-n820006>
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/eus-tusk-joins-independence-day-events-polish-homeland-51081272 <http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/eus-tusk-joins-independence-day-events-polish-homeland-51081272>
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/12/white-europe-60000-nationalists-march-on-polands-independence-day <https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/12/white-europe-60000-nationalists-march-on-polands-independence-day>

Although Wikipedia has an article about bastinado with the term “falanga” (also falaka) for Middle Eastern bastinadoing and Urban Dictionary has “falanga” as a “hippie chick”, I did not find the meaning of the symbol in Wikipedia, Wiktionary, the English Oxford Living Dictionaries or other two sources I checked. I also did not find it in any book, though 

The symbol itself appears to be that in the first photograph on the Wikipedia page for National Radical Camp Falanga (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Radical_Camp_Falanga <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Radical_Camp_Falanga>). It’s pictured also in the Polish Wikipedia article for falanga (https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falanga_(symbol)) <https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falanga_(symbol))> and a Facebook post by Notes from Poland (https://www.facebook.com/notesfrompoland/posts/630535183788362 <https://www.facebook.com/notesfrompoland/posts/630535183788362>).

According to the National Radical Camp Falanga article, that party was named after its journal and was inspired by Spanish Falangism, the word “Falangism” coming from the same Latin root as “phalanx” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falange_Espa%C3%B1ola_de_las_JONS <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falange_Espa%C3%B1ola_de_las_JONS>, https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/falange#Spanish <https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/falange#Spanish>).

Although I did not find this meaning in any books, there are earlier instances on the web.

June 2016
Monitoring discriminatory signs and symbols in European football
by network fare
http://bit.ly/2jk3d0N <http://bit.ly/2jk3d0N> 

—
FALANGA OR “HAND AND SWORD”
“Hand and Sword” was the symbol of -> ONR “Falanga”, a fascist organisation which existed before World War II. Nowadays, it is used by National Rebirth of Poland (Narodowe Odrodzenie Polski), an extremist racist organisation.
— 

7 Nov 2016
Reuters
http://news.trust.org/item/20161107175105-ztd0d/ <http://news.trust.org/item/20161107175105-ztd0d/>

—
People hold flags with the Falanga symbol as they take part in the march held by far-right organizations in Warsaw, Poland September 21, 2013.
— 


2. The earliest I found the name of the party Falanga in any English publication appears to be somewhere between 1932 and 1937:
The Times Cuttings: Poland
http://bit.ly/2zEjFgi <http://bit.ly/2zEjFgi>

— 
The outrage, it is believed, was the work of the Falanga, an organization of Radical Nationalists.
— 

3. The meaning of bastinado is found in many books, including medical literature describing how to treat falanga victims, and in the Wikipedia article for foot whipping (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foot_whipping <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foot_whipping>).

Merriam-Webster
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/falanga <https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/falanga>

The Free Dictionary
https://www.thefreedictionary.com/falanga <https://www.thefreedictionary.com/falanga>

Vocabulary.com - the earliest citation I could see is the Guardian article from yesterday.
https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/falanga <https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/falanga>
 

22 April 1971
Beyond Breaking Point
by Peter Deeley
http://bit.ly/2htY5q7 <http://bit.ly/2htY5q7> 

—
The Commission found that _falanga_ (also known as _bastinado_)
— 

Benjamin Barrett
Formerly of Seattle, WA
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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org