Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC)

HELLS ANGELS MOTORCYCLE CLUB (HAMC) -  The Hells Angels were started on March 17, 1948, by the Bishop family, American war immigrants in Fontana, California.   The Hells Angels' website denies the suggestion that any misfit or malcontent troops are connected with the motorcycle club. The website also notes that the name was suggested by Arvid Olsen, an associate of the founders, who had served in the Flying Tigers' "Hell's Angels" squadron in China during World War II.  The name "Hell's Angels" was inspired by the typical naming of American squadrons, or other fighting groups, with a fierce, death-defying title in World Wars I and II, e.g., the Flying Tigers (American Volunteer Group) in Burma and China fielded three squadrons of P-40s and the third Squadron was called "Hell's Angels".  In 1930, the Howard Hughes film Hell's Angels displayed extraordinary and dangerous feats of aviation, and it is believed that the World War II groups who used that name based it on the film.

The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) is a worldwide motorcycle club whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles.  The organization is considered an organized crime syndicate by the United States Department of Justice.   In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporation.  Common nicknames for the club are the "H.A.", "Red & White", and "81".