The first mass outbreak of civil disobedience occurred in the autumn of 1940, when students of Oslo University began to wear paper clips on their lapels to demonstrate their resistance to the German occupiers and their Norwegian collaborators. A seemingly innocuous item, the paper clip was a symbol of solidarity and unity ("we are bound together"), implying resistance. The wearing of paper clips, the popular H7 monogram and similar symbols (red garments, Bobble hats) was outlawed and could lead to arrest and punishment.