XXX

As ubiquitous as tulips, windmills and wooden clogs, the triple X logo is everywhere. Depending whom you ask, the meaning of the three white X’s on a black strip across a red background is open to debate.

To the thousands of British weekend stag-partiers, it represents the sex industry that thrives in Amsterdam, but the origins of the three X’s is not quite so obvious. The best interpretation has to do with the crosses of St. Andrew, who in the first century was crucified on a wooden cross in the shape of an X. It was probably in the early 1500’s that St. Andrew became the patron saint of Amsterdam’s fisherman, and the triple X logo flew first flew from the ships registered in Amsterdam.

Today, from t-shirts to street signs, the familiar XXX is easy to spot.