In the 90's a Punisher Shirt just meant that you liked the comic books.

I feel like at least 50% of the people who use the punisher skull are the type of people the navy seals copypasta was making fun of.

The Punisher: "This skull represents the failure of the justice system, the failure of the organizations that uphold them, and the vow I made to seek out my own." Police officers: "Yeah, I'mma wear that"

Conversely to this phenomenon, a lot of firefighters have used the Superman logo for some time. Probably a more appropriate model of public service.

One of the most important problems with the Punisher that rarely ever gets addressed: What the hell happened to that minigun he had at the end of Daredevil Season Two?! He never used it in his own show! Did he realise it'd cost like $400,000 to fire it for twelve seconds?

Can't wait for the episode about Mando helmets that'll be coming in a decade.

_"Have you noticed that our caps have actually little pictures of skulls on them?..._ _...Hans, ..._ _...are we the Baddies?"_

I'm a closet Punisher fan, really love the comics, and I thought the most recent Marvel series was an original take. You did a great job covering the history as well as keeping it pretty even leveled. Seriously great work

Not going to lie, this man prob had to read a shit ton of comics for research purposes. Mad respect.

I love the Punisher skull. It allows me to pick out the cringe lords in any community.

"I'll say this only once, we're not the same. You took an oath to uphold the law. you help people. I gave that all up a long time ago. You don't do what I do, nobody does. You boys need a role model? His name is Captain America and he'd be happy to have you" - The Punisher to police officers who idolised him

Am I the only one who genuinely likes The Punisher skull and comics because hes a badass character and understands its fiction?

Being a fan of the Punisher has been...difficult these days. I just wanna show love for my favorite edgy anti-hero.

The best Punisher comic panel: Surrounded by burnt out cars, spent shell casings and body bags, a NYPD officer answers an off panel question; "AM I SURE IT WAS THE PUNISHER?!? IS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE FUNNY?!?"

WHEN YOU HAVE FIRE TRUCKS WITH THE PUNISHER ON THEM, WE ARE PAST THE PART THAT EVERY ONE HAS ADOPTED IT FOR EVERYTHING.....

I love how all the real-life people and groups who appropriated the skull don't ACTUALLY understand the Punisher

When I was little and saw the punisher skull on people's uniforms and stuff, I just thought they were a fan of Marvel. Needless to say I was always wondering how such a huge fan base was never as vocal as the fans for other Marvel characters, especially considering the effort to spray paint his emblem and make patches and stuff. You never see a cop with Spiderman's spider emblem.

As a Norwegian, I had no idea of this within the Norwegian army. You learn something new every day.

You didn't mention that the Jolly Roger ensign was the symbol for "We'll take prisoners & ransom" vs. red ensign "You've pissed us off now & you're all going to die, you should have surrendered when you had the chance." in pirate use...

As a lifelong Punisher fan thank you for this great look at the symbol. Even as a vet and fan I am saddened by the use of the logo by folks that miss the whole point of Frank and how his life isn't to be idolized but pitied as he has lost everything and just has unending violence now.

so glad my punisher t shirt has the words "the punisher" as well just so I'm not caught up with the skulls meaning and just appriciate the show and bernthals acting

It’s barely been an hour but I can already feel that this comment section is gonna get spicy and locked in no time flat.

*Frank Castle:* is a demented murderer that has given up on justice and is on a suicidal quest of endless revenge *Bob, 55, Alabama, eyeballed an interracial couple in the mall for 20 mins:* OMG HE IS LITERALLY ME

As a star was nerd and a Marine veteran .the mythosuar skull (sometimes referred to as bantha skull) is becoming the new cringe lord skull.

You've done an excellent job in approaching the history and usage of this symbol in a relevant and nuanced manner

Un-ironed flags really grind my gears

I hate that seeing a Punisher skull no longer alerts me that somebody else is a fan of the comics, and instead that they're probably somebody I would just find insufferable to talk to. I love The Punisher comics. One of my favorite storylines is when he infiltrates a white supremacist group run by Hatemonger (who, yes, is an actual Marvel comics villain and mostly went up against Captain America), and very interestingly in retrospect, The Punisher dons a version of his uniform with the Punisher skull that looks like Captain America's in his final showdown against Hatemonger. There were even flashbacks included of The Punisher's previous encounters with Cap, and it clearly shows that as much as The Punisher revered Cap, Cap friggin' hated The Punisher and everything he stood for, and was not afraid to say so. This storyline took place after Cap was killed in the events following the Marvel Civil War, and another superhero did chew out Punisher for the Cap-inspired uniform. It's just very interesting to me that the issue of a symbol being appropriated by bad actors was explored in the mid-2000's, around the time when the Punisher skull was first being used in Iraq, and now we have white supremacists, a group that Frank fought against in the comics and hated, also adopting his skull. Frank Castle, when he's written well, can be such a complex and interesting character in the Marvel universe. He can also be a lot of fun, since a lot of writers like to use him for very dark humor and it's great. It just sucks to see people who probably don't even read comics just adopt the skull and turn it into a symbol of their weird beliefs. At least this would never happen to my mans Howard the Duck.

I really appreciate the use of the 2004 Punisher OST in the background. I remember when the Punisher skull was cool. Many, many years ago. But now, it'd be hard to find someone who doesn't think it's cringe. Including myself.

whooboy this is a minefield episode if I ever seen one. Uniform History has more balls than I

Perfect timing. I was wondering about this a few days ago

The fact that police relate to the Punisher and can’t read the subtext of the character is a huge problem as is. Frank’s mindset is he should be “judge, jury, and executioner” and that criminals, regardless of what they do, shouldn’t be shown any mercy. The police are not and never should be any of those things, and we have courts for a reason.

It symbolizes hitting the gas pedal as hard as you can at every stop light in your diesel truck.

Please cover the uniforms of the Metal Gear Solid series next

punisher skull: i'm the edgiest skull there is! payday 2 skulldozer: *O B S E R V E*

I just love it when logistical units use the punisher skull.

If Police want a superhero logo to put on patches and stickers, they should take the Superman logo. Superman is a character that represents protection, peacekeeping, and order, while the Punisher is effectively the opposite of that. Hell, even Batman would be a better logo since the character doesn't kill and works with the police.

On etsy or FB markerplace found the Punisher Skull icon used for an Electrical Workers Union patch. Super cringe.

if Marvel "retires" the logo then no bad people can use it anymore. yep. that makes sense.

Who else remembers when you could have a punisher skull patch and have people think that you’re a fan of the comics rather than some edge lord or something?

idk man, i feel like a group made to "protect and serve" shouldn't be represented by a skull or a "warrior symbol." i just feel like cops should be oriented towards helping people instead of, you know, killing

The Totenkopf was used more by Panzer and Cavalry units by the Germans than the SS. The Death's Head is still used today by some British, American, and Korean units.

I actually found this pretty informative. Well researched and sourced! As for whether the Punisher skull could be retired... If it doesn’t DIRECTLY hurt Disney’s wallet, they won’t budge. They can say that they’re “looking into the matter” and “taking [the appropriation of the skull by hate groups] very seriously” and they can refer to whatever comic issues they please, but unless they feel the heat on their purse, they’ll do nothing. They’re so fucking huge that they can actually let this slide and come out the other end relatively rosy. They’ll only retire the Punisher if he stops selling product.

I miss when wearing a punisher shirt just meant you liked the character.

The 1989 movie with Lundgren actually included a nod to the skull symbol, which was visible on the butt of the knife he wore in his tactical harness.

Wish these Militias and many other groups would just leave the logo alone so Marvel can continue the show without having to remove Frank Castle logo

Wow. Wish for Ghost Recon version Skull symbol soon.

As an Army guy I found that the police using the symbol very odd. In the 82nd Airborne we used the symbol because we went out and actually killed people. Seeing a cop where it paints the wrong message.

I’m gonna go out on a limb and say the majority of people who wear the skull just think it’s a badass logo

There's an irony in the people who tend to display the punisher skull Also the Royal Lancers (of the charge of the light brigade) use the deaths head to this day

You tried really hard to be as unbiased as possible, and I appreciate that.

It would be cool if the next Punisher series or movie addressed the issue of different organizations adopting the symbol, either knowing its meaning or misinterpreting it.

I work in law enforcement, and I am also a fan of the punisher comic books and the Netflix series of the character, but I would never wear the punisher’s skull on my uniform. The representation in my opinion does not represent what being a peace officer is about: that every individual deserves justice with due process

Way back, in the mysterious times full of arcane miracles, called by the mortals, the 90s in Germany... A friend of mine had a t-shirt with the punisher skull in it. He was spotted wearing it by a teacher at our high school... And he was immediately taken to the principals office. There, he was presented with this accusation: They thought this skull would habe been a symbol of the ss, so he had to get rid of the shirt. It would not only go against school rules, but were a crime to wear this. If he would not comply, they would inform the police and file a report. He laughed his a of and in the end, they had to apologize to him. I always think back to that, when seeing the punisher skull...

There's an arc in the comics where Frank hunts downs a vigilant militia that is inspired by him. One of his first solo arcs

1) Depending on the comic run you read, your perception of the character will vary. Each writer adds their own interpretation 2) Like all art, once its out to the public, the creator loses the ability to control the meaning 3) If you're assuming someone is a certain way just because the wear or display the logo, thats a YOU problem. 4) Anyone can use for any reason they want and if it triggers you, the issue is YOU and need for control. 5) It's the people complaining the use of it, that give it a negative value and thus more worth. 6) Its just a comic book character, so if you like it for any reason, use it anyway you want. 7) great video

Everyone: The Punisher shirt is too controversial, no one can wear it anymore! Me: Alright then I'll just wear a shirt with Barracuda on it and real Punisher fans can recognize it while everyone else ignores it.

Love how unbiased and informative this video was. I loved the 2004 Punisher film growing up. It inspired most my physical fitness and gave me a hero to look up to. It saddens me that over time the symbol has since then been appropriated into many factions and they have nothing to do with the original anti hero that was created. My only hope is that some how Marvel will still be able to create more content and keep the comic character alive as intended. I would love to see Bernthal get his own properly produced film.

Punisher Armory comics were my favorite growing up as a kid. Gen X grew up on Grunge, Gangster Rap, and Punisher!

Great job on this video! It's clear you put a lot of work into your research and made sure to cover as much ground as possible. Your thorough analysis is really appreciated.

My platoon when i was in Afghanistan was The 2nd Platoon "Punishers" (2009) we had the logo on our turret shields.

I never thought Uniform History would speak about 4Chan

I wonder if Frank could have a Nomad-style identity crisis arc where he operates somewhere else under a different alias and uniform while he reflects on his life as a warfighter and how it was meant to differentiate himself from crimefighters rather than inspire them

Personally I was someone who barely knew anything about the Punisher Symbol besides it’s use by SEAL Team 3 and being seen everywhere in contemporary politics. So it was nice to have a factual and unbiased overview of the symbols. That’s why you rock 👍🏿 great video!

"Punisher Warzone" does the Character more justice than the Tom Jane Movie

Great job on covering it objectively! The way I see it, my first reaction to that Tom Jane skull was "oh, that's cool and badass". Great symbol for an anti-hero. And I understand that soldiers would want to wear that, there's a long tradition among many services of many nations. But it still implies death and killing (just the skull) and failure of governmental justice (Punisher in particular). Therefore police uniforms are the *last* place where they should be. Thin blue line may be questionable, but the Punisher's skull is not.

It's ironic that police use the punisher skull since the punisher in comics hates the police because they did nothing to help find his families killers

There's a small gun shop I've been to that still uses the Punisher skull. It has a tree growing through a hole above its left eye. It seems that other, more "jolly Roger" type skulls are becoming popular. Possibly because pirate video games are so popular. Oh, and Deadpool. The little round Deadpool logo is used a lot, mostly to denote troublemakers or pranksters, depending on the variant.

8:51 the guy on the right is an absolute legend, after he left the seal teams he went on to become a doctor and is now a NASA astronaut

It remains me of the ARVN Rangers insignia from the 60s/70s

Half the people who have the punisher skull on a shirt or on their car probably don’t even know who the character is

This was a really impressive video: exhaustive, thoroughly researched, and fascinating.

I’ll never get over the blue line skull. Like do they not realize the punisher is the opposite of the police lmao

The Punisher skull has become pretty cringe ngl. Esspecially after police and even fire fighters began using it. In a year or two we should expect to see thin yellow line punisher apparel for "badass" Forklift drivers to intimidate boxes and show brotherhood among other Forklift operators.

I like how 90% percent of the comments are just people saying cops are bad

As always great video, keep it up! Only a matter of time before your subs start to really take off.

Thank YOU! I’ve watched and heard so many people incorrectly share the origin of his skull but this was very well researched. [x]

damn that logo has been through a lot

Uniform History you did an amazing job here on this subject. Bravo good sir, bravo

Hi! I’m Gerry Conway’s daughter Rachel, I can’t thank you enough for covering this topic and clarifying the true intentions and meaning of my dad’s character! He absolutely hates how it is used by far-right, gun-toting entities. I appreciate you so much!!

As mentioned, Frank Castle disdains the police using his symbol and points to a better role model in Steve Rogers. But that may be the issue with a lot of people, whether they're in law enforcement or not, that they're not looking to follow a role model like Captain America who fights the big bad guys and villains like Nazis and Hydra. Characters without such superhuman powers or abilities like the Punisher, who did fight the occasional big villain, are more often fighting crime on the street level, involved in issues that are beneath the Avengers threat level. And that might be what makes him somewhat more relatable for the ordinary people who are more concerned with these "lower-level" issues compared to other comic book characters like Superman, Batman, Captain America, Spider-man, etc. It might also help that the Punisher's tools are more readily accessible than a vibranium shield or web-slingers.

When he mixed it with the Captain America logo post Civil War was awesome.

I liked how the skull was given a origin in the 2004 film starring Thomas Jane and that it was on a t-shirt Castle's son bought him as a gift and that he was told the skull was a symbol that wards off evil and Castle loves the t-shirt and after his family are slain, it becomes his symbol as The Punisher.

Thank you for your impartial and informative take on this subject.

“Non biased eye” that’s a good one

Such a detailed video! Sadly, not enough views.

Good on ya' for going over this in such a neutral "just the facts" way. In the current landscape, ts appreciated.

OMG! I love how spot on everything is. Everything that I was already familiar with being correct makes me trust everything thing else in this video that I am just now learning about. IDK how many videos I watch that has incorrect information which makes me doubt the rest of their claims. [x]

Good job of unbiasedly reporting on a controversial topic. The people in the "news" media could learn something from you. Love all your content, keep up the good work!

The Punisher is my favorite marvel character next to ghost rider I have the blue line skull since my dad was a police officer and passed away last year on October 9th I even got the tattoo with his badge number I miss him to this day...

I love how honest you are with this video

Excellent video, very informative. However, the skull insignia was adopted in 1759 by the British 17th Lancers before the totenkopf was a thing, and is still in use by their descendants, the Queen's Royal Lancers, to this day. They are informally known as the "Death or Glory Boys" by their admirers and "Boneheads" by their detractors.

I remember seeing a Taliban video on YT showing an American hill camp they claimed to have overrun. Besides all the weapons and ammo they captured, I noticed that there was a punisher skull painted on some of the fortifications.

I wrote my master's thesis on the use of historical symbols and rituals in the Norwegian fascist movement, and this is one of the most interesting videos I have seen. Very well done. Good research and documentation.

Look how they massacred my boy.

Love the irony how the Punisher logo is appropriated by the police only for the Punisher himself to call them out and orders them to idolize heroes like Captain America instead of Vigilante's like him.

People in the comments are looking into this shit too much

Gotta respect how balanced the political portions of this video were! Damn fine work.

I love how whenever I see this on a truck when I am driving, I know what type of person and driver they are instantly.

The whole use of the symbol especially by militias and police gives me, “I can stop a school shooter with karate” vibes. It’s like the weird kid’s power fantasy.

The funniest thing is that the punisher isn't a representation of a outlaw who fights crime for the better good of humanity. Castle fights crime because he's a psychopath who needs to kill. In Punisher MAX it's explained that after the Vietnam War only thing he cared about was killing, and the death of his family gave him an outlet to do that, he doesn't care about other people. He knows that the war with crime that he went on won't end in him winning, he doesn't care because it gives him a reason to kill more and more people. I know this isn't the only adaptaion of his character but it's kinda funny to see people celebrate a vicious psycho as a hero.