What Does The “13” Mean To Hells Angels?
- staysafevancouver
- Sep 6
- 4 min read
You’ll see it stitched on leather, inked into skin, or painted on a bike’s tank. The number 13. In outlaw biker culture, 13 is significant.
For some, it’s a badge of history. For others, it’s a signal of loyalty or defiance.
And in the wrong context, it can get you in trouble fast. The meaning changes depending on who’s wearing it, where they ride, and what history they carry on their back.
Here's a breakdown of what 13 means in biker culture.
Where Will You Find the "13" Patch?
The “13” is not part of the main Hells Angels back patch (the big “colors” with the skull logo, top and bottom rocker). Instead, it’s usually worn as a small, separate patch on the vest or jacket.
Here’s how it’s typically positioned:
Side patch (“diamond” or square): Many members wear a small diamond-shaped “13” patch on the front of the vest, often near the chest, above or beside the club name tab.
Sleeve/arm or secondary location: Some chapters allow it on the sleeve or lower part of the vest, but it is never integrated into the big back patch.
Not universal: Not every Hells Angel wears “13” - it’s more common among outlaw or support clubs, or individuals signaling the meaning (meth/marijuana/mayhem).
The main back patch has only three elements:
Top rocker (Hells Angels)
Center logo (skull with wings)
Bottom rocker (chapter location)
All other identifiers like “1%” or “13” are add-on patches placed elsewhere on the cut (vest).
What Does the 13 Mean to Hells Angels?
The Hells Angels don’t hand out public explanations for their patches, and that includes the number 13. What’s on record — in court filings, law-enforcement training guides, and documented criminal cases — is that the 13 stands for the letter M.
In biker and gang slang, M often points to marijuana or methamphetamine, both of which have figured into prosecutions involving individual members over the years.
In some charters, 13 shows up on prospect gear or support-club patches as a way to show connection without wearing the full “death head” logo.
Not every charter uses it, and the meaning can shift by region. But across outlaw culture, wearing a 13 without clearance is risky. It’s a signal people notice, and it can draw attention from the wrong people fast.
Law enforcement has seized jackets, vests, and patches with the 13 during investigations tied to the club, but there’s no single, universal rule across all Hells Angels chapters.
Support Clubs & the 13 Patch
Support clubs are the smaller crews that ride under a bigger club’s protection. They’ve got their own name, their own patch, but everyone knows where their loyalty sits.
Law-enforcement files and court cases show these clubs working events, running security, and sometimes taking care of business that the main club doesn’t put its own patch on.
When the dominant club uses the number 13, their support clubs might carry it too. It’s a mark of connection — a quiet way of saying, “we’re with them, and they say it’s OK.” Not every big club runs with the 13, but in places where it does matter, wearing it without permission can get your patch pulled fast.
That’s not rumor — police gang-unit training manuals spell it out, and there are real cases where it’s happened.
The link between dominant clubs and their support crews shows up in indictments across the U.S., where members from both sides have faced the same charges in the same trials.
Origins: Diamond 13 & Racing Roots
The “Diamond 13” story is a popular one in biker circles and on YouTube channels dedicated to motorcycle club culture. According to these accounts, the patch started in Southern California and was given to the top 13 outlaw racing clubs of the time.
These versions usually describe it as a badge earned on the track before it became associated with outlaw clubs.
The problem is that there are no primary records to confirm it. The American Motorcyclist Association’s own archives do not mention a ranked list of outlaw clubs.
Searches of period motorcycle magazines and California newspaper archives from the era turn up no coverage of a “Diamond 13” award or designation.
The story exists in word-of-mouth retellings and social media posts, which makes it impossible to verify.
What is documented is the use of the number 13 itself. In law enforcement gang-identification manuals, 13 appears as a code for the letter M and is often linked to either marijuana or methamphetamine in criminal cases.
It also features in the symbolism of the Mexican Mafia and Sureño gangs in California, where it is found in tattoos, graffiti, and clothing.
In outlaw biker settings, the meaning can change depending on the club and the region, but the underlying code — M as the 13th letter — stays the same.
One of the most documented uses of the number 13 comes from the Mexican Mafia, also known as La Eme — Spanish for “The M.” The M refers to the 13th letter of the alphabet. This symbolism is confirmed in California Department of Corrections materials, federal court filings, and police gang-unit training guides.
The Mexican Mafia formed in 1957 at the Deuel Vocational Institution in Tracy, California. It began as a prison gang made up of Mexican-American inmates, many from Southern California street gangs.
Over time, it grew into one of the most powerful organized-crime groups in the California prison system. Members and associates often display the number 13 in tattoos, graffiti, or clothing to show loyalty to La Eme.
Because of the Mexican Mafia’s dominance inside California prisons, Southern California Latino street gangs — known collectively as Sureños — operate under its authority. This has created an overlap between gang and biker symbolism.
Many outlaw motorcycle clubs in the region have members or associates with Sureño backgrounds, and when they serve time, they fall under the same prison politics.
As a result, the number 13 can appear in motorcycle club settings as a reflection of that alliance, not as a racing or club-origin reference.
The bottom line: the 13 might be small on the patch, but in this world, it carries more weight than it looks.
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