[14] According to an alternative theory, the Hells Angels were founded on November 15, 1951, in San Bernardino, by Dick White, a member of the Redlands Road Runners.

[15][16] According to its website, the club's name was suggested by Arvid Olsen, an associate of the founders who had served in the "Hell's Angels" squadron of the Flying Tigers in China during World War II.

[18] Various autonomous Hells Angels charters were formed throughout California in the decade following the club's foundation, by nomadic members who moved from one city to another.

[29] The "Frisco" Hells Angels were reorganized in 1955 with 13 charter members, Frank Sadilek serving as president, and the smaller, original logo.

[14] The Hells Angels are often depicted in semi-mythical romantic fashion like the 19th-century James–Younger Gang: free-spirited, iconic, bound by brotherhood and loyalty.

Members were directly connected to many of the counterculture's primary leaders, such as Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters, Allen Ginsberg, Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead, Timothy Leary, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Mick Farren, and Tom Wolfe.

[32][33][34][35][36] In 1973, members from several branches of the organization protested at an Environmental Protection Agency hearing about a proposed transportation plan that included restrictions on motorcycle use and sales to get California to meet the new Clean Air Act standards.

An additional patch worn by select club members consists of two Nazi-style SS lightning bolts below the words "Filthy Few".

[42][43] Hells Angels have denied this interpretation, however, comparing it instead to a merit badge awarded to those who are "the first to arrive at a party and the last to leave".

[45] "Dequiallo" is a reference to El Degüello, a bugle call played by the regimental band of Antonio López de Santa Anna's army at the Battle of the Alamo.

When we do wrong, nobody forgets";[48] "Three can keep a secret if two are dead";[49] and "When in doubt, knock 'em out", which was coined by New York City charter member Vincent "Big Vinny" Girolamo.

[54] In March 2007 the Hells Angels filed suit against the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group alleging that its film Wild Hogs used both the name and distinctive logo of the HAMC without permission.

[57] On October 7, 2009, Fritz Clapp, attorney at law for the HAMC, contacted online games community FOCO, demanding the removal of all membership marks and club trademarks from the Los Santos Roleplay Forum, a messageboard for the San Andreas Multiplayer modification for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

[58][59] In October 2010 the Hells Angels filed a lawsuit against Alexander McQueen for "misusing its trademark winged death heads symbol"[60] in several items from its Autumn/Winter 2010 collection.

The lawsuit also aimed at Saks Fifth Avenue and Zappos.com, which stock the jacquard box dress and knuckle duster ring that bear the symbol, which has been used since at least 1948 and is protected by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

[63] The company settled the case with the Hells Angels after agreeing to remove all of the merchandise featuring the logo from sale on their website, stores and concessions and recalling any goods that had already been sold and destroying them.

[71] To become a Hells Angels "prospect", candidates must have a valid driver's license, a motorcycle over 750cc (46 cu in), and "the right combination of personal qualities."

[50] Members in North America are required to ride U.S.-built motorcycles; Harley-Davidson bikes are most common in the club, although other American brands, such as Victory and Indian, are also permitted.

At the end of that stage, he is reclassified as "prospect", participating in some club activities, but not having voting privileges while he is evaluated for suitability as a full member.

In 1967, Hunter S. Thompson remarked upon a "Chinese Mel from [San Francisco] and Charley, a young black person from Oakland".

[83] An unsanctioned Hells Angels charter in Windsor, England was granted official status in 1985 shortly after its only black member, John Mikkelsen, had died in police custody.

[84] Another notable is Haitian-born Gregory Woolley, a high-ranking member of the Rockers MC in Montreal who was the protégé[85] and bodyguard of Hells Angel boss Maurice Boucher (who spent five years in a notoriously white-supremacist motorcycle gang, the SS).

[43][50] The club's unofficial headquarters was then relocated to Oakland, California by Sonny Barger, who succeeded Friedli as the Hells Angels' de facto national president.

The Beatles' George Harrison invited some members of the HAMC San Francisco to stay at Apple Records in London in 1968.

The London Angels provided security at a number of UK Underground festivals, including Phun City in 1970, organized by Mick Farren.

They awarded Farren an "approval patch" in 1970 for use on his first solo album Mona, which also featured Steve Peregrin Took (credited as "Shagrat the Vagrant").

Many drug dealers and crime families resisted and established groups such as the "Alliance to fight the Angels", led by the Rock Machine.

[108] Puppet club members are also permitted to wear a diamond-shaped "81" patch on their vests, which indicates their adherence to the Hells Angels.

[109] In Norway, the Hells Angels have built up a network of support clubs over which they exert control and hold responsibility for administering three-piece back patches.

[111] The Hells Angels have also formed support groups, such as AK81 in Denmark and the Red & White Crew [sv] in Sweden, which consist of young males who do not own motorcycles.