You'll need to have lived in a dystopian, totalitarian society over the past few years not to have noticed the ascension of the Anonymous label and the Guy Fawkes mask as unifying protest symbols around the world. Popularized by the V for Vendetta comic book series and its 21st century film adaptation, the mask has served as an emblem for dissatisfaction with the current state of the world — whether by hackers, Scientology protesters, or Polish legislators opposing ACTA.
Today, the BBC has posted an opinion piece by Alan Moore, author of the original V for Vendetta, detailing the history of how and why the grinning mask was chosen for the comic, along with his thoughts on how it relates to modern radical protests. We won't spoil the content of it, other than to say that it's well worth reading — if only to find out why Alan finishes with the words "V for validation."