Knife in the skull is an expression that alludes to the BOPE symbol – Special Police Operations Battalion.
The BOPE symbol is known to be represented through a skull with a knife embedded from top to bottom.
This image (along with the expression “knife in the skull”) is popularly interpreted as a message to criminals: "death to bandits".
According to the semiotics of the members belonging to BOPE, the “knife in the skull” represents the human being's ability to excel, in addition to the daring and courage to fulfill their dangerous missions.
However, the main symbolism that this phrase carries is related to death, but not gratuitously and banal, but practiced with knowledge and intelligence. The "knife in the skull" is a representation of the "victory over death", according to BOPE.
In other words, the “knife in the skull” also represents the strategies and tactics that the special operations group is trained to fight their opponents.
The expression "knife in the skull" became nationally popular thanks to the film Elite squad, under the direction of José Padilha.
Learn more about the meaning of skull.
There are many stories and legends about the origin of this symbol and the expression “knife in the skull”. One of the theories is that this symbology has arisen among the bandits themselves who, when killing police officers, tattooed on their bodies the figure of a skull with a knife stuck from the bottom up.
To "give back" the criminals who participated in these death squads against police, the BOPE used the same symbol, but with the knife in the skull from top to bottom, representing the “death to the bandits”.
Another version tells the legend that at the end of World War II, after breaking into a Nazi barracks, British soldiers would have found a skull on one of the tables in the place. The commander of this troop would have stuck a knife in the macabre object and declared to those present that his act symbolized “victory over death”.
For this reason, the expression "knife in the skull" is also common in Army groups, making a reference to the episode that supposedly took place during World War II.