It is impossible to imagine a biker without jewelry. Whether you’re a motorcycle gang member, a party of a biker club, or a simple weekend rider, you can’t go without rings, necklaces, wallet chains, or pendants. If you don’t want to overdo with jewelry, it is quite enough to have a single piece that features a look and feel of a real biker thing. We are 100% sure that you can’t go wrong with a biker pendant. Find more about the most popular pendant symbols and why you should get one.
Why Wear a Biker Pendant
An entire biker demeanor should be cohesive. You won’t seem like a true motorcyclist without an element that ties that whole look together. This element is jewelry. And when it comes to biker jewelry, there can’t be too much. Therefore, if you already have rings, bracelets, and necklaces, it makes sense to throw in a badass pendant, too.
Bikers believe in protective properties of certain symbols. We’ve already written about skull significance in the biker culture so make sure to read that post. In a nutshell, a skull item (a sticker, tattoo, or jewelry) helps save motorcyclist lives in the event of an accident or even prevent an accident altogether. Basically, a skull scares death away. Bikers utilize other symbols with the same purpose and in a bit, you’re about to find out which ones.
If you are a part-time biker, you probably can’t wear biker apparel and jewelry every day. That’s why you need items that you can quickly don, basically on the run. With a biker pendant, it takes no more than a couple of seconds to turn a clerk into a bold motorcyclist. Besides, if you want to rock your biker accessory all the time but don’t want to shock the public, you can effortlessly hide a pendant under your tee or shirt.
Biker Pendant Themes
As promised, we are going to review some of the most famous biker pendant motifs, including the ones that have a ‘protective’ significance.
Vikings
Bikers see a lot in common with Vikings. Indeed, men in horned helmets and guys on motorcycles are similarly tough, hard as nails, and masculine. Nobody wants to mess with either of them. Since bikers respect Viking’s courage, manly appearance, and badass attitude, it comes as no surprise that Viking images appeared on the jewelry riders wear. Along with that, biker pendants often feature images of Scandinavian gods (Thor, Loki, Odin, etc.) and their attributes (axes, hammers, helmets with horns, etc.). Viking biker pendants are pretty straightforward and rarely feature any decorations other than engraving and embossing. With an ax pendant necklace like this one, you’ll instantly man up your look and command attention.
Ace of Spades Pendant
Ace of spades is the highest card rank in the deck. Along with that, it is a symbol of death. It indicates contempt, fearlessness, or simply indifference in the face of danger. For bikers, it is a symbol of protection against death. It is believed that when Death comes, it gives a person a mark. But if a person already has a death mark on his body (such as a tattoo or jewelry), death retreats and everyone’s happy.
The tradition to wear items with Ace of Spades originated in the army (as you might know, the biker movement was established by the WWII veterans). During the American-Vietnamese war, the American soldiers wore the images of ace of spades on their helmets and painted it on machines. There was even a deplorable tradition to shove a card into the mouth of a dead enemy soldier.
Iron Cross
In war and post-war times, the former US military drew iron crosses on their cars and motorcycles as a sign of victory over Germany. According to another version, the German award attached to jackets of American motorcyclists and hot rodders symbolized non-conformism. There is also an opinion that bikers are partial to the national-socialist ideas and even espouse right-wing ideology. At the moment, the tradition of wearing iron cross jewelry so firmly established the biker culture that not every motorcyclist knows its roots. Most modern riders consider an Iron Cross pendant or ring no more than an eye-catching and bold body ornament.
Flying eyeball
If you’re a fan of powerful choppers, I bet you came across the flying eyeball many times. Its creator is a famous designer Kenny Howard, known in the motorcycle circles as Mr. Von Dutch.
The Flying Eyeball’s meaning is interpreted very differently but most bikers use it as a kind of talisman. It was painted on cars, motorcycles and tattoos to protect oneself on the road or in the race. It was sort of a guardian angel for bikers and racers. They believe that the winged eyeball flies behind your two-wheeler and makes sure that everything is alright.
Guardian Bell
A long time ago, on a cold December night, an old biker was returning home from Mexico. The saddlebags of his motorcycle were full of toys and trinkets for neighbors' kids.
Not far from the border, he stumbled upon a handful of notorious undersized creatures known as road gremlins. These green bastards ambushed the guy and made him fly off his bike. When the biker came to consciousness, he saw the gremlins walking slowly to him. Unable to get up on his feet, he pulled a bag lying next to him and began to throw all its contents at the little monsters. The last thing left in his hands was a small bell. In despair, he began to ring the bell hoping to scare the gremlins away.
Half a mile from the accident scene, two bikers were sitting by the fire. Suddenly, in the silence of the night, they heard a sound resembling church bells. Heading toward the sound, they found a wounded motorcyclist surrounded by gremlins. Bikers drove the gremlins away and helped the fellow in distress.
As a sign of gratitude, the old biker cut two pieces of leather from his saddlebags and tied them to the bells. He attached the bells to his rescuers’ motorcycles and said that their ringing would protect bikers from gremlins’ tricks. In case of trouble, they could call other bikers for help.
If you see a biker wearing a bell pendant, you should know that he is protected by the most powerful thing in the biker’s life - the friendship of fellow bikers.