Biker culture has always been bound to customization concept. Not only applied to the motorcycles in themselves, but to the same bikers. Those create their own image choosing a certain type of helmet, jacket, boots, etc. But if there is a true distinctive element in the biker culture, they are the biker patches.
In fact, nowadays many bikers fill their jackets and vests with patches that, despite they know they are biker, they don’t really know their meaning or, at least, it’s away from what they thought.
Biker patches origin
Biker culture was born in the United States in 1929, when the American Motorcyclist Association (A.M.A.) was founded. This association was responsible to register the first biker clubs. They used to be groups of friends that joined just for the pleasure of riding on a motorcycle.
In short time, the first clubs started creating their own emblems for their clothing and the same A.M.A. didn’t take long to organize contests to value the most original logos.
After Second World War, many war veterans found solace with the motorcycle. But, unlike the members of old clubs, they start wearing military clothing, their fighter pilot jackets and boots. They also started organizing illegal competitions, apart from the ones organized by the A.M.A, not following the stablished regulations. So the first Outlaw Bikers appeared.
In 1947 happened Hollister’s incidents that brought the A.M.A. to affirm that 99% of the American motorcyclists belonged to its association and respected the law. The remaining 1% were the outlaw bikers’ clubs and the 1% patch became a symbol.
The 1% clubs also opted to differentiate from A.M.A. members by dividing the back patch in 3 pieces, spreading its use in waistcoats. The combination of those 3 patches is known as “colors” and it’s divided by the following way: a top patch (top rocker) with club’s name; a central patch (central rocker) with club’s logo, and the bottom patch (bottom rocker) with origin’s place. Sometimes, to these three patches there is one more added with the initials MC to indicate it’s a moto club.
Most common biker patches and their meaning
The MC’s don’t use to wear more patches than their colors, the 1% patch and their rank. But when crossed the pond and reached United Kingdom, biker patches tradition turned into a trend to adapt mods and rockers custom to decorate their clothing and their motorcycles with all kind of emblems.
This custom has arrived to our time, and, in many occasions, we use embroidered patches whose meaning is unknown for us. Let’ see some of the most popular ones:
Your biker patches at MCS
At MCS we have a whole collection of embroidered patches for bikers. Visit our online shop to discover the most popular patches.