It's a 2016 activist campaign asking people to wear an unhooked safety pin on their clothes as a public sign that they are a safe person for immigrants and marginalized groups to approach.

Where did #SafetyPin come from?

Twitter user @cheeahs launched the idea on June 26, 2016, two days after the UK's Brexit vote and the reported spike in hate crimes that followed.

What does #SafetyPin mean?

The empty pin is meant to communicate solidarity with immigrants, Muslims and people of color targeted by post-Brexit and post-Trump-election harassment, without any spoken exchange required.

How do you use #SafetyPin?

Supporters typically clip an ordinary safety pin, unfastened or fastened, onto a jacket, shirt or bag and post a photo to Twitter with the hashtag, as figures like Patrick Stewart did in November 2016.

Is #SafetyPin still popular?

No. The hashtag peaked in the weeks after the Brexit vote and Trump's November 2016 win, then faded amid criticism that it was empty virtue signalling and reports of trolls co-opting the symbol.

#SafetyPin

2016activist campaigndead

Published September 26, 2026

#SafetyPin / Safety Pin Movement was a 2016 activist campaign urging people to wear an empty safety pin as a visible sign of solidarity with immigrants and other targets of post-Brexit harassment. Kicked off by a British Twitter user days after the EU referendum, the hashtag returned in November when Americans pinned their coats in response to Donald Trump's election, sparking one of the year's loudest debates over whether visible allyship counted as real support or empty virtue signalling.

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Overview

The #SafetyPin / Safety Pin Movement works as a wearable signal. An unhooked safety pin on a jacket, shirt or bag identifies the wearer as someone safe for immigrants, Muslims, people of color and other targets of post-Brexit and post-election harassment to approach on public transport or the street1. There is no group to join, no donation to make and no protest to attend, just an everyday fastener repurposed into a badge2.

Backlash formed almost as fast as the campaign spread. Critics called it a low-cost gesture that let white liberals feel active without doing any real work against racism or the far right5. Writer Morgan Jerkins tweeted that she would rather people 'work and educate yourself and your loved ones on white supremacy' than pin their coats8. Days later, users on 4chan started drafting plans to wear the pins themselves alongside white nationalist imagery to poison the symbol6.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

Twitter (UK Brexit launch) / Twitter (US Trump-era revival)

Creator

@cheeahs

Date

2016

On June 26, 2016, two days after the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, Twitter user @cheeahs proposed that opponents of the referendum wear an empty safety pin to show they were a safe person to sit next to on a bus or talk with on the street1. The idea landed against a sharp uptick in reported harassment: the National Police Chiefs' Council recorded a 57% rise in hate crime reports between the Thursday of the vote and the following Sunday compared with the same days a month earlier1.

UK outlets picked the hashtag up within days, with Indy100 running an explainer on the pin as a solidarity marker for the country's immigrant population2 and The Guardian tracing safety pins back to the Roman fibula while noting the punk and Versace afterlives of the design1.

How It Spread

Coverage crossed the Atlantic in late June, with Think Progress framing the pin as a post-Brexit solidarity signal for immigrants4. The campaign quieted through the summer, then reignited on November 10, 2016, the day after Donald Trump's presidential win, when American users pulled the same idea onto their coats3. On November 11, Rogue One screenwriter Chris Weitz posted the Star Wars Rebellion insignia paired with a safety pin and the line 'Star Wars against hate. Spread it,' and actor Patrick Stewart shared a photo of himself wearing one3. Confused onlookers filed a /r/OutOfTheLoop thread that same day asking what the pins meant7.

Pushback arrived within 24 hours. Morgan Jerkins criticized the pins as a substitute for anti-racist work on November 118. The next day, The Huffington Post published 'Dear White People, Your Safety Pins Are Embarrassing,' arguing the gesture cost nothing and helped no one5. A 4chan thread on November 12 floated a plan to wear pins alongside white supremacist iconography to discredit the symbol, and on November 14 The Daily Dot reported that some trolls had done exactly that6.

Timeline

2016-06-24

UK referendum result confirms Brexit; reported hate crimes spike 57% over the following days.

2016-06-26

Twitter user @cheeahs proposes that anti-Brexit voters wear empty safety pins as a solidarity signal.

2016-06-29

The Guardian runs a shortcuts piece on #safetypin as a post-Brexit anti-racism marker.

2016-11-10

Day after Trump's election, American users revive the pin campaign on Twitter.

2016-11-11

Chris Weitz posts the Rebellion insignia with a safety pin; Patrick Stewart shares a pin photo; Morgan Jerkins criticizes the trend.

2016-11-12

Huffington Post publishes 'Dear White People, Your Safety Pins Are Embarrassing'; a 4chan thread plots to co-opt the symbol.

2016-11-14

The Daily Dot reports that white supremacists have taken up the safety pin to poison the signal.

#SafetyPin

Overview

Gallery

Origin & Background

How It Spread

Frequently Asked Questions

References (8)