Hangmen MC is a one percenter motorcycle club founded in Richmond, California in 1960. Hangmen MC Germany was founded independently to Hangmen USA in 1983 in Alemania, Germany.
At one point in time a club by the name of Hangmen Motorcycle Club also existed in the suburb of Blakehurst in Sydney, Australia. It is believed that this club is completely unrelated.
Hangmen MC History
Hangmen Motorcycle Club was founded in Richmond, California in 1960. The story goes that the group of friends had the Harley Davidson motorcycle as their common interest and saw a number of motorcycle clubs popping up in the area. Rather than join an existing club they decided to start their own.
There were a total of 12 founding members of the Richmond chapter including Ray Aho, who is commonly listed as the Hangmen Motorcycle Club Founder.
The motorcycle club later expanded throughout the western areas of the United States, opening up several chapters.
Hangmen MC Germany was founded in 1983. Hangmen MC Germany at this time had no affiliation with the United States chapters.
In 1990 the Denmark Hangmen were founded, like Hangmen Germany they were founded independently of Hangmen USA.
In 1999 the German Hangmen joined with Hangmen Denmark Lalandia chapter and at this time adopted the Denmark black and white patch design, which is still used today. The Lalandia chapter was then closed in 2000.
The Hangmen Germany clubhouse is located near the town of Massbach, which is approximately 100 miles east of Frankfurt, Germany. The chapter named their clubhouse the “Execution Place”.
Since 2008 Hangmen Germany have had an official brotherhood with Hangmen USA.
Hangmen MC Patch / Motto / Colors
Hangmen Motorcycle Club have had two different patches which are used by the chapters in the United States after they underwent a slight redesign. Both feature the noose, however the newer patch has the noose running between the letters “M” and “C”, instead of this “MC” appearing below the image of the noose. The original patch, which can be seen below, was first used from 1960.
Members of the club also wear the 1%er diamond.
The Hangmen Alemannia chapter, who are located in Germany, have used two different patches.Their patch is a skeleton wearing an executioners cap, with an axe on either side. The original patch used was red and white.
After meeting the Denmark Lalandia chapter the German chapters took on the same style patch as Denmark chapter.
The Hangmen MC USA colors are black and gold. The European colors are black and white (with red).
Hangmen MC Chapters
Hangmen MC has chapters throughout the west in the United States, as well as a single German chapter.
- Hangmen MC USA
- Hangmen Alaska
- Hangmen Arizona
- Hangmen Oklahoma
- Hangmen Richmond (Mother Chapter)
- Hangmen Nevada
- Hangmen New Mexico
- Hangmen No. California
- Hangmen No. Texas (Fort Worth)
- Hangmen Nomads
- Hangmen Oregon
- Hangmen So. California
- Hangmen So. Colorado
- Hangmen So. West (closed in June 2016)
- Hangmen MC Germany
- Hangmen Germany
- Hangmen Braunschweig chapter (founded 1985, closed in 1986)
- Hangmen MC Denmark
- Hangmen MC Lalandia chapter (chapter closed in 2000)
Famous Hangmen MC Members
While there are no famous Hangmen Motorcycle Club members in a celebrity sense, there are a few who are notable.
Ray Aho – Founder
Ray Aho was the founder of Hangmen, founding the original Richmond chapter, along with 11 other founding members. Ray Aho died in 2000.
Hangmen MC Crime / In The Media
Art – Hangmen Motorcycle Club has been included in at least 3 paintings by artists David Mann and Ed “Big Daddy” Roth. David Mann joined El Forastero Motorcycle Club in 1965 and became one of the founding members of the El Forastero Kansas chapter. His paintings which include Hangmen are:
- A 1966 untitled piece where the Hangmen Motorcycle Club patch is seen on the ground with the Vagos MC god Loki in the background. A 13mi road marker to Bakersfield is seen on the left of the image.
- “Tijuana Jail Break” 1966. A number of Harley Davidson motorcycles are riding away from the Tijuana Jail. The Hangmen member “Moose” is also riding away holding a noose.
- “El Forastero New Years Party” 1967. El Forastero MC are holding a New Years party. The Hangmen member “Skip” can be seen to the right of the painting, towards the back, holding a noose and wearing a Russian style hat.
Hangmen MC Enemies and Allies
Hangmen enemies:
Hangmen allies:
Hangmen MC Books / Movies / TV
There are no books that we are aware of that are specifically written about the Hangmen Motorcycle Club, however they do have a brief mention in the following books:
The One Percenter Encyclopedia by Bill Hayes. View this book on Amazon (link opens in a new window).
YouTube clip containing a slideshow of photos of the Hangmen from the 1960s:
Another YouTube clip containing a slideshow of photos of the Hangmen from the 1960s:
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