November 5, 1605, is the main date to take as a basis.

This day was the date Guy Fawkes (13/4/1570 ? 31/01/1606)Fawkes, or Guido Fawkes, as he became better known when he fought for the Spanish, was captured sitting under barrels of gunpowder under the Palace of Westminster. Fawkes and a group of English Catholics intended to assassinate the Protestant King James I and part of the Aristocracy, thus replacing power with a Catholic leader. This coup became known as the The Gunpowder Conspiracy.

The King was warned before the coup could be carried out, and thus captured the only participant who had not escaped: Fawkes, who was captured and tortured until he told the details of the betrayal to the king. The plot was basically to kidnap a child of royalty, create a revolt, and then blow up parliament when the bourgeois were meeting with the king. By doing so they would work for the accession of a Catholic to the throne.

Fawkes became the main symbol of the Gunpowder Conspiracy, which failure has been celebrated in England since November 5, 1605. The date is usually commemorated with bonfires, accompanied by fireworks. The poem is also always recited: Remember, Remember, the 5th Of November.

V for Revenge (Comics, Movie and the Mask):

The mask we all know today, representing Guy Fawkes, first appeared in the comic book V for Revenge by Alan Moore, first published in 1982 and 1985, still in black and white in Warrior magazine, from Quality Comics. They were just strips, which became so popular that they appeared on 26 covers of the magazine.
With the cancellation of Warrior, several companies tried to convince Alan Moore and David Lloyd (illustrator) to publish and finish the story.
In 1988, DC Comics published a 10-issue series that re-presented what was done for Warrior, now in color, and with that they went on to complete the series.

V for Vengeance is set in an imagined future of the United Kingdom in the period between approximately 1980 and 1990, where a masked revolutionary named ?V? works in various ways to destroy a totalitarian government, directly affecting the people he meets by presenting new, largely anarchist, ideals. The series takes place in the future, where England had most of its territory destroyed after a nuclear war. In this future, a fascist party called Norsefire has eliminated its opponents in concentration camps and now rules as the state police. V is an anarchist revolutionary, who, wearing the mask of Guy Fawkes, begins a violent and theatrical plan to assassinate the people who captured him, overthrow the government, and convince the people to take power.
In 2006, the story gained even more popularity with the 2006 movie, also called ?V for Revenge?, produced by Warner Bros.

Anonymous and the Guy Fawkes mask

The hacktivist group Anonymous has also helped to further popularize the use of the mask. The group's name was inspired by the anonymous way that images and comments were posted on the Internet. This tag is often used for visitors who want to make a comment without identifying themselves.

Anonymous represents the concept of one or all people as a collective. People who participate using the name share an online identity, characterized as hedonistic and uninhibited. The intentions are to satirize the conscious adoption of disinhibition.

We (Anonymous) are just a group of people on the internet who need to do as we please, things that we wouldn't do in a traditional society. That's kind of the point: Do it your way.

A very common phrase used by members of the group is ?We are doing it for the lulz?

The use of the Mask of V for Vengeance is also due to one of the phrases in the comic book and the movie, said by the character:

Behind this mask there is more than flesh. Behind this mask is an idea, and ideas are bulletproof.

The concept of wearing a mask makes it possible for a character to remain alive for generations (a great example is the street artist Banksy, who many think of as an artist collective).
Another very popular phrase from the group is:

We are Legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us

(We are the legion. We do not forget, we do not forgive.)

Complete Poem of the Gunpowder Conspiracy

Part of the poem became known in the comic book and the movie V for Vengeance, but it has parts that even today are considered too offensive to be recited. It is transcribed below in full for those who wish to know more about it, as well as a video explaining its origins:

Remember, remember the Fifth of November
the Gunpowder Treason and Plot

I see no reason why Gunpowder Treason should ever be forgot
Guy Fawkes, t?was his intent to blow up King and Parliament

Three score barrels were laid below to prove old England?s overthrow
By God?s mercy he was catch?d with a dark lantern and lighted match

Holloa boys, holloa boys, let the bells ring
Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King

Hip hip hoorah!

A Penny Loaf to feed the Pope
A farthing o? cheese to choke him

A pint of beer to rinse it down
A faggot of sticks to burn him

Burn him in a tub of tar.
Burn him like a blazing star.

Burn his body from his head.
Then we?ll say ol? Pope is dead.

Hip hip hoorah!
Hip hip hoorah hoorah!

V for Vengeance Tattoos

Check out some of them below V for Revenge tattoos.

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