Why Is Guy Fawkes Associated With the Anonymous Mask?

You might know bits and pieces about the U.K. holiday on the 5th of November, the slightly ominous mask, and the political activist group Anonymous, but have you ever wondered how they're all connected? It all goes back to a 17th-century man named Guy Fawkes.Asking why Fawkes is associated with the black-and-white mask worn by rebels and activists worldwide is a bit ironic. That's because the mask is Fawkes's face, or at least a stylized version of him. A better question is: how did his face become a modern symbol for people fighting against tyranny? Fawkes might have faded into obscurity if not for the media depictions of him, and political groups took those depictions and ran with them.A vintage engraving of Guy Fawkes and the 1605 Gunpowder plotters. | Print Collector/GettyImagesWho Was Guy Fawkes?Guy Fawkes was an English Roman Catholic who wanted the Protestant oppression of his people to stop. Though he is the most famous participant in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, the attempt to blow up Parliament, he was far from the mastermind. Of all the men who were behind the plot to kill the Protestant leaders of England to make way for a Catholic ruler, Fawkes was a bit of a last-minute addition.The Gunpowder Plotters needed someone who wouldn't be recognized easily while rigging the gunpowder in a cellar underneath the Parliament building. Fawkes was chosen because he had been in the Netherlands as a soldier fighting for Spain. On November 5, 1605, he was caught and arrested before he could fulfill the plan, and was tortured until he gave up the names of his co-conspirators. He died a few months later, on January 27, 1606, after jumping or falling from the execution platform he was meant to die on and breaking his neck. Participants march with torches during Lewes Bonfire Night on November 5th. | Peter Summers/GettyImagesGuy Fawkes NightCelebrating a failed assassination attempt sounds strange, but the English government decided to create a holiday out of the unsuccessful Gunpowder Plot. This was partly to warn anyone against similar plans, but also to rub it in the Catholics' faces. Catholics actually faced even more persecution after Fawkes and his crew's ill-fated attempt.To celebrate the 5th of November, Guy Fawkes Day, or Bonfire Night, the English would light bonfires and fireworks. They also made effigies of Guy Fawkes to burn in the bonfires. Fawkes became a well-known villain through the centuries of commemorating his failure, and while not as popular today, the holiday is still celebrated.Natalie Portman at a 2006 'V for Vendetta' film festival event. | Kurt Vinion/GettyImagesGuy Fawkes Mask in MediaThe story of Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot was spread through novels, poems, and other literature, but it wasn't until the 1980s that the infamous mask came into social consciousness. That was when Alan Moore and David Lloyd created the graphic novel, V for Vendetta. The main character, V, wears a mask of Guy Fawkes's face to both maintain anonymity and link his anti-fascist mission with that of the Gunpowder Plot. He sees Fawkes as someone worthy of emulation, not being afraid to use violence to make changes to government and politics.When the film adaptation of V for Vendetta came out in 2005, Warner Bros. gave out replica masks as part of its marketing campaign. Inspired by V in the film, people would wear the masks to protest unjust laws and corrupt governments. In 2008, the activists of Anonymous chose this mask as a disguise and a representation of their group.A graphic illustrating digital hacking and the Anonymous mask. | NurPhoto/GettyImagesThe Mask as a SymbolAnonymous, the collective of internet hackers who use their skills to protest governments, billionaires, and corporations globally, has never specifically said why they chose the Guy Fawkes mask, but many tie it back to a specific scene in the V for Vendetta film where a crowd of people in the masks marches to Britain's Parliament. Whatever the reason, Anonymous is now irrefutably linked to the mask, with people associating both the mask and the group with protests, and sometimes anarchy.With Anonymous's use of the Guy Fawkes mask, it has become a symbol of anti-establishment and anti-authoritarian rule. Fawkes went from villain to anti-hero, and the mask of his face ironically became the face of those who wished to remain hidden. Because when you need to commit acts of resistance, it's better to hide behind the face of a failed rebel than to reveal your identity and risk failure yourself.Read More: