Lace Code - Tumblr Posts
Makes me so happy that there are punks still doing this with me and keeping the OG scene symbols alive. I rock yellow laces to support all my colored kings and queens out there!
LACE CODE ISN'T DEAD
AND NEITHER IS PUNK
🤘🧷🤘
Lace code, anyone?
The band tanks we painted yesterday.
Relient K was done by a friend. I don't usually go for yellow stuff but she and I figured the design would match the laces on my docs. "Long Live the Rebels" is both a song and album by Disciple. Now I have merch to go see them in!
Punk 101: Lace Code
Lace Code is one of my favorite things, and so it happens to be the Punk 101 post that I’ve worked on the most. I’m sorry (I know I said at some point band shirts were up next 😬)
*Long Post - if you see anything thats wrong or missing, please feel free to leave a note or message me*
To start, it is important to talk about where Lace Code came from, and where it is now. Using lace colors on your boots (doc martins specifically) started with London Skinheads in the 70’s. Their white and red laces were typically symbols of white supremacy, and in some groups those laces had to be earned.
I’ll eventually do another post on Skinheads, but for now all you need to know is that the Skinhead subculture is historically known for being racist and violent. I always feel the need to point something out when talking about Skinheads: NOT EVERY BALD OR SHAVEN PUNK IS A SKINHEAD!
Later on in the 80’s, Lace Code became a popular way for many Punk subculture to communicate things such as their stance on racism and their sexuality. Now, in many areas, Lace Code is dead, but not everywhere!
Lace Code applies to ladder laced black combat boots (typically people wear docs). Each color represents something different, and this can vary by area, so it is important to check your local scene
How to ladder lace:
Traditional ladder laces are shown on the left, and quick release ladder laces are shown on the right. And here is a site that goes step by step
What do The Colors Mean?
(Colors mean different things in different places. These are the most common meanings and the ones I personally know - check your local scene to ensure its not different for your area)
Orange: Anti-Racist // Anti-ICE // No Meaning
Yellow: Anti-Racist
Green: Environmentalist // Peace // No Meaning
Blue: Killed a Cop
Purple: Queer // Gay
Pink: Feminist // Queer // Gay
Black: No Meaning
Patterned: No Meaning
Red: Nazi // Neo-Nazi // Anarchist
White: White Supremacy // Nazi // Neo-Nazi
Note: no one can stop you from wearing whatever you want, but in some areas you should be mindful because there are still people who follow Lace Code, and if youre seen with red or white ladder laces, you might be in for it
2nd Note: Its always advised that you dont wear ladder laces when traveling if you are unfamiliar with the Lace Code of the area you are traveling to for safety purposes
Not to be that guy, but if lace code is like fully dead why do I see people talk about wearing red/white laces "just to piss people off", if it's to piss people off it means you're acknowledging people still recognize what it means and feel strongly about it, so why do they claim it's dead at the same time? It rubs me the wrong way. It's like someone making n×zi jokes to piss people off, the only people who joke about that are people I don't want to be around. At the end of the day your laces are your choice but I'm keeping my distance depending on that choice, regardless of the intentions.
Bitches will say lace code is dead, meanwhile me an another punk at my tiny rural college are pointing at each other's shoes like
The bat family is neatly split into two categories:
The Rich and rich adjacent: Bruce, Tim, Damian, Alfred, Dick
The anti capitalist Poor: Jason, Stephenie, Duke, Harper
Funnily enough this is also the split between People Who Think Police Reform Works and the People Who Would Punch a Cop With No Hesitation (let’s be real Jason can absolutely blue ladder lace his boots)
I like to think that whenever Commissioner Gordon comes over for dinner at the manor the Anti Capitalists/ACAB group nopes out to Jason’s apartment for dinner and a game of who can destroy the most hostile architecture in an hour.
(Listen people may come for me for putting Dick in the Rich group but I put him there because he was adopted by Bruce the youngest and probably adapted to the new lifestyle pretty quickly. Cassandra isn’t in there because I’m not 100% where to put her)