To Brand a person means to burn a symbol into a living person's skin using a hot or cold iron, with the intention that the resulting scar makes the symbol permanent. It therefore uses the physical techniques of livestock branding on a human, either with consent as a form of body modification; or under coercion, as a punishment or imposing masterly rights over an enslaved, otherwise legally thereto condemned or other (even illegally) exploited and oppressed person. Branding irons Livestock branding is any technique for marking livestock so as to identify the owner. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Look up Punishment in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A monument celebrating the emancipation of slaves in the British Empire in 1834, erected in Victoria Tower Gardens, Millbank, Westminster, London Look up Slavery in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Slavery is a condition of control over a person against their will, enforced by violence or other forms of coercion. ...

Modern strike branding, 2005. Dylan Hayward

Image File history File linksMetadata Strike_Branding. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Strike_Branding. ...

Word history

The English verb to burn, attested since the 12th century, is a combination of Old Norse brenna "to burn, light," and two originally distinct Old English verbs: bærnan "to kindle" (transitive) and beornan "to be on fire" (intransitive), both from the Proto-Germanic root brenwanan, perhaps from a Proto-Indo-European root bhre-n-u, from base root bhereu- "to boil forth, well up." In Dutch, (ver)branden mean "to burn", brandmerk a branded mark.

Sometimes the word cauterize, known in English since 1541, via Medieval French cauteriser from Late Latin cauterizare "to burn or brand with a hot iron", itself from Greek kauteriazein, from kauter "burning or branding iron," from kaiein "to burn" is used. However cauterization is now generally understood to mean a medical process - specifically to stop bleeding.

Historical Use

Marking the rightless

The origin may be the -literally dehumanizing- treatment in Antiquity of a slave (by the harshest definition legally not even a person) as mere livestock: just a biological entity owned and sold for arbitrary use and abuse (as agricultural work unit, house slave or toy). Slave redirects here. ...

• European and other colonial slavers branded millions of (mainly Africans) slaves during the period of trans-Atlantic enslavement (or Maafa). Sometimes there were several brandings, e.g. for the Portuguese crown and the (consecutive) private owner(s), an extra cross after baptisement) as well as by African slave catchers.

To a slaveowner it would be logical to mark his property on two legs just like cattle, or even more since humans are more adroit at escaping. A European is primarily a person who was born into one of the countries within the continent of Europe. ... World map showing location of Africa A satellite composite image of Africa Africa is the worlds second_largest continent in both area and population, after Asia. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The word Maafa (also known as the African Holocaust or Holocaust of Enslavement) is derived from a Kiswahili word meaning disaster, terrible occurrence or great tragedy. ...

• The Greeks branded slaves with a Delta, Δ, for Δουλος doulos "slave".
• Runaway slaves were marked by the Romans with the letter F (for fugitivus).
• An intermediate case between formal slavery and criminal law is when a convict is branded and legally reduced, with or without time limit, to a slave-like status, such as on the galleys (in France branded GAL or TF travaux forcés 'forced labour' until 1832), in a penal colony, or auctioned to a private owner.

Delta (upper case Δ, lower case δ) is the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet. ... Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew from a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula circa the 9th century BC to a massive empire straddling the Mediterranean Sea. ... A French galley and Dutch men-of-war off a port by Abraham Willaerts, painted 17th century. ... A penis colony is a colony used to detain prisoners and generally use them for penal labor in an economically underdeveloped part of the states (usually colonial) territories, and on a far larger scale than a prison farm. ...

As punishment

In criminal law, branding was a mode of punishment by marking the victim like (and sometimes concurrently with their reduction in status like) goods or animals using a hot iron. Criminal law (also known as penal law) is the body of statutory and common law that deals with crime and the legal punishment of criminal offenses. ...

Brand marks have also been used as a punishment for convicted criminals, combining physical punishment, as burns are very painful, with public humiliation (greatest if marked on a normally visible part of the body) which is here the more important intention, and with the imposition of an indelible criminal record. Robbers, like runaway slaves, were marked by the Romans with the letter F (fur); and the toilers in the mines, and convicts condemned to figure in gladiatorial shows, were branded on the forehead for identification. Under Constantine I the face was not permitted to be so disfigured, the branding being on the hand, arm or calf. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Corporal punishment. ... Public humiliation was often used by local communities to punish minor and petty criminals before the age of large, modern prisons (imprisonment was long unusual as a punishment, rather a method of coercion). ... A criminal record or rap sheet, is a compilation of an individuals identification, arrest, conviction (law), incarceration, legal status, sex offender registration, warrant information, and other relevant criminal history. ... Head of Constantines colossal statue at Musei Capitolini Gaius Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus[1] (February 27, 272–May 22, 337), commonly known as Constantine I, Constantine the Great, or (among Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic[2] Christians) Saint Constantine, was a Roman Emperor, proclaimed Augustus by his troops on...

The Acts of Sharbil record it applied between the eyes and on the cheeks in Parthian Edessa at the time of the Roman Emperor Trajan on a judge's order to a Christian for refusal to sacrifice, amongst other tortures. Parthia[1] (Middle Persian: اشکانیان Ashkâniân) was a civilization situated in the northeast of modern Iran, but at its height covering all of Iran proper, as well as regions of the modern countries of Armenia, Iraq, Georgia, eastern Turkey, eastern Syria, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Kuwait, the Persian Gulf... The heritage of Roman Edessa survives today in these columns at the site of Urfa Castle, dominating the skyline of the modern city of Şanlı Urfa. ... This article is about the Roman Emperor. ...

The mark in later times was also often chosen as a code for the crime (e.g. in Canadian military prisons D for Desertion, BC for Bad Character, most branded men were shipped off to a penal colony). Branding was used for a time by the Union Army during the American Civil War. Surgeon and Oxford English Dictionary contributor William Chester Minor was required to perform human branding on deserters at around the time of the Battle of the Wilderness. A penis colony is a colony used to detain prisoners and generally use them for penal labor in an economically underdeveloped part of the states (usually colonial) territories, and on a far larger scale than a prison farm. ... The 21st Michigan Infantry, a company of Shermans veterans. ... Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total... The Oxford English Dictionary print set The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is a dictionary published by the Oxford University Press (OUP), and is generally regarded as the most comprehensive and scholarly dictionary of the English language. ... William Chester Minor (W. C. Minor) (June 1834–March 26, 1920) was an American surgeon who made many scholarly contributions to the Oxford English Dictionary while confined to a lunatic asylum. ... Combatants United States of America Confederate States of America Commanders Ulysses S. Grant George G. Meade Robert E. Lee Strength 101,895 61,025 Casualties 18,400 11,400 For the French and Indian War battle, see Battle of the Wilderness 1755. ...

The canon law sanctioned the punishment, and in France, in royal times, various offences carried the additional infamy of being branded with a fleur de lys, also galley-slaves could be branded GAL or later, when the galleys were replaced be the "bagne"s TF (travaux forcés, forced labour) or TFP (travaux forcés à perpetuité, forced labour for life) until 1832. In Germany however, branding was illegal. Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Wycliffe Tyndale · Luther · Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      Canon law is the term used for... Fleurs-de-lys on the flag of Quebec The fleur-de-lis (also spelled fleur-de-lys; plural fleurs-de-lis or -lys) is used in heraldry, where it is particularly associated with the France monarchy (see King of France). ... A galley slave was a slave rowing in a galley. ...

Like other judicial mutilations, it was sooner abandoned to flogging and similar corporal punishments which at worst only cause stripe scars on the sorely punished backside.

Branding in Britain

The punishment was adopted by the Anglo-Saxons, and the ancient law of England authorized the penalty. By the Statute of Vagabonds (1547) under King Edward VI, vagabonds and Gypsies were ordered to be branded with a large V on the breast, and brawlers with F for "fravmaker"; slaves who ran away were branded with S on the cheek or forehead. This law was repealed in England in 1636. From the time of Henry VII, branding was inflicted for all offences which received Benefit of clergy (branding of the thumbs was used around 1600 at Old Bailey to ensure that the accused who had successfully used the Benefit of Clergy defence, by reading a passage from the Bible, could not use it more than once), but it was abolished for such in 1822. In 1698 it was enacted that those convicted of petty theft or larceny, who were entitled to benefit of clergy, should be "burnt in the most visible part of the left cheek, nearest the nose." This special ordinance was repealed in 1707. James Nayler, a Quaker who in the year 1655 was accused of claiming to be the Messiah, convicted of blasphemy in a highly publicized trial before the Second Protectorate Parliament and had his tongue bored through and his forehead branded B for 'blasphemer'. The famous parade helmet found at Sutton Hoo, probably belonging to King Raedwald of East Anglia circa 625. ... Year 1547 was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. ... Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) became King of England, King of France (in practice only the town and surrounding district of Calais) and Ireland on 28 January 1547, and crowned on 20 February, at just nine years of age. ... A vagabond is a (generally impoverished) itinerant person. ... Languages Romani, languages of native region Religions Christianity, Islam Related ethnic groups South Asians (Desi) The Roma (singular Rom; sometimes Rroma, Rrom) or Romanies are an ethnic group living in many communities all over the world. ... Year 1636 (MDCXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Friday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... Henry VII (January 28, 1457 – April 21, 1509), King of England, Lord of Ireland (August 22, 1485 – April 21, 1509), was the founder and first patriarch of the Tudor dynasty. ... In English law, the benefit of clergy was originally a provision by which clergymen could claim that they were outside the jurisdiction of the secular courts and be tried instead under canon law. ... 1600 was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... The Old Bailey An Old Bailey trial circa 1808. ... 1822 (MDCCCXXII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Events January 4 - Palace of Whitehall in London is destroyed by fire. ... In the United States, larceny is a common law crime involving stealing. ... James Nayler (or Naylor) (1618–1660) was an English Quaker leader. ... The Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers, or Friends, is a religious community founded in England in the 17th century. ... Events March 25 - Saturns largest moon, Titan, is discovered by Christian Huygens. ... In Judaism, the Messiah (מָשִׁיחַ Standard Hebrew Arabic: , المسيح), Tiberian Hebrew , Aramaic ) initially meant any person who was anointed to a certain position among the ancient Israelites, at first that of High priest, later that of King and also that of a prophet. ... Look up blasphemy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

In the Lancaster criminal court a branding iron is still preserved in the dock. It is a long bolt with a wooden handle at one end and an M (malefactor) at the other. Close by are two iron loops for firmly securing the hands during the operation. The brander, after examination, would turn to the judge and exclaim, "A fair mark, my lord." Criminals were formerly ordered to hold up their hands before sentence to show if they had been previously convicted.

In the 18th century, cold branding or branding with cold irons became the mode of nominally inflicting the punishment on prisoners of higher rank. "When Charles Moritz, a young German, visited England in 1782 he was much surprised at this custom, and in his diary mentioned the case of a clergyman who had fought a duel and killed his man in Hyde Park. Found guilty of manslaughter he was burnt in the hand, if that could be called burning which was done with a cold iron" (Markham's Ancient Punishments of Northants, 1886). (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... 1782 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... == c programming[[a--203. ... A duel is a formalized type of combat. ... “Hyde Park” redirects here. ... Northamptonshire (abbreviated Northants or Nhants) is a landlocked county in central England with a population of 629,676 (2001 census). ...

Such cases led to branding becoming obsolete, and it was abolished in 1829 except in the case of deserters from the army, which were marked with the letter D, not with hot irons but by tattooing with ink or gunpowder. Notoriously bad soldiers were also branded with BC (bad character). The British Mutiny Act of 1858 provided that the court-martial, in addition to any other penalty, may order deserters to be marked on the left side, 2 inch below the armpit, with the letter ii), such letter to be not less than an inch long. In 1879 this was abolished. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1829 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Desertion is the act of abandoning or withdrawing support from someone or something to which you owe allegiance, responsibility or loyalty. ... Mutiny is the act of conspiring to disobey an order that a group of similarly-situated individuals (typically members of the military; or the crew of any ship, even if they are civilians) is legally obliged to obey. ... 1858 (MDCCCLVIII) is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... A court-martial (plural courts-martial) is a military court that determines punishments for members of the military subject to military law. ... 1879 (MDCCCLXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

Persisting practices

Miami, FL. Fraternity buddies displaying their new brands.

• Generally voluntary, though often under severe social pressure, branding may be used as a painful form of initiation, serving both as endurance and motivation test (rite of passage) and a permanent membership mark, mainly in violent 'macho' circles. Branding is thus practiced:
  • By some street gangs
  • In organized crime as "stripes" to signify a violent crime that the person committed.
  • In prisons
  • As an extreme fraternity initiation in the (nominally minorized) tradition of painful hazing (otherwise mostly paddling). It has been widely reported (even in a BBC feature) that U.S. president George W. Bush, while president of the Delta Kappa Epsilon chapter at Yale, was involved in introducing a practice in which pledges has to strip to be branded on the buttocks with a hot coat hanger bent into the shape of a capital delta [1], a surprising practice among the richest families' privileged youth in an Ivy League college.
• Branding can be used as a strictly voluntary body decoration, permanent body art rather like many tattoos.
• In the sadomasochistic scene, it is practiced as a form of bodily mutilation with consent.
• In extreme BDSM dominance and submission relationships, a consensual slave may desire/accept a branding as a mark of belonging and commitment (possibly to slavery rather than to the specific master).

Image File history File links Hearts. ... Image File history File links Hearts. ... Shan boy undergoing Poy Sang Long initiation A rite of passage is a ritual that marks a change in a persons social or sexual status. ... A gang is a group of individuals who share a common identity and, in current usage, engage in illegal activities. ... Look up fraternity in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Hazing is an often ritualistic test, which may constitute harassment, abuse or humiliation with requirements to perform meaningless tasks, sometimes as a way of initiation into a social group. ... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States, inaugurated on January 20, 2001. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... YALE (Yet Another Learning Environment) is an environment for machine learning experiments and data mining. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Complex Kadakali makeup is a form of body art Body art is art made on, with, or consisting of, the human body. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Flogging demonstration at Folsom Street Fair 2004. ... Domination and submission (also known as Dominance and submission, D&s, Ds or D/s) is a set of psychosexual behaviors, customs and rituals relating to the dominance of one individual over another. ... Slave is a term often used in BDSM to connote a specific form of submissive. ...

See also

• Scarification for details on cosmetic branding

Scarification is a permanent body modification that uses scar tissue produced by the body to form designs, pictures, or words in the skin. ...

Sources

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
• Brand & Cauterize on EtymologyOnLine
• W. Andrews, Old Time Punishments (Hull, 1890)
• A. M. Earle, Curious Punishments of Bygone Days (London, 1896).

Encyclopædia Britannica, the 11th edition The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is perhaps the most famous edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...

External links

• Branding in BDSM on Wipipedia
• Branding at the BME Encyclopedia