Editing AK-47 (section)

== Cultural influence and impact ==
[[File:Flag of Mozambique.svg|thumb|The AK-47 on the [[flag of Mozambique]]]]
[[File:Coat of arms of Burkina Faso 1984-1991.svg|thumb|The AK-47 on the former [[coat of arms of Burkina Faso]]]]
[[File:Cia ak47 -1520961375.png|thumb|CIA Agent drawing of the alleged first westerner sighting of the AK-47 in 1953]]
{{Quote box
| quote = "Basically, it's the anti-Western cachet of it&nbsp;... And you know, one man's terrorist is another man's [[freedom fighter]], so we all sort of think, oh boy, we've got a little bit of [[Che Guevara]] in us. And this accounts for the popularity of the (AK 47) weapon. Plus I think that in the United States it's considered [[counterculture]], which is always something that citizens in this country kind of like&nbsp;... It's kind of sticking a finger in the eye of [[the man]], if you will."
| source =—Larry Kahaner, author of ''AK-47: The Weapon That Changed the Face of War''<ref name = "NPRKahaner" /> | width = 25% | align = right
}}

During the [[Cold War]], the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China, as well as United States and other NATO nations supplied arms and technical knowledge to numerous countries and rebel forces around the world. During this time the Western countries used relatively expensive automatic rifles, such as the [[FN FAL]], the [[Heckler & Koch G3|HK G3]], the [[M14 rifle|M14]], and the [[M16 rifle|M16]]. In contrast, the Russians and Chinese used the AK-47; its low production cost and ease of manufacture allow them to make AKs in vast numbers.

In the pro-communist states, the AK-47 became a symbol of the [[Third World]] revolution. They were utilized in the [[Cambodian Civil War]] and the [[Cambodian–Vietnamese War]].<ref name="Jones1981">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/12/20/magazine/in-the-land-of-the-khmer-rouge.html |title=In The Land Of The Khmer Rouge |first=Christopher |last=Jones |date=20 December 1981 |newspaper=[[The New York Times Magazine]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171211210646/http://www.nytimes.com/1981/12/20/magazine/in-the-land-of-the-khmer-rouge.html |archive-date=11 December 2017}}</ref> During the 1980s, the Soviet Union became the principal arms dealer to countries embargoed by Western nations, including Middle Eastern nations such as Libya and Syria, which welcomed Soviet Union backing against Israel. After the [[History of the Soviet Union (1985–1991)|fall of the Soviet Union]], AK-47s were sold both openly and on the black market to any group with cash, including drug cartels and dictatorial states, and more recently they have been seen in the hands of Islamic groups such as [[Al-Qaeda]], [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant|ISIL]], and the [[Taliban]] in Afghanistan and Iraq, and [[FARC]], [[Ejército de Liberación Nacional]] guerrillas in Colombia.<ref name="NPRKahaner" />

In Russia, the Kalashnikov is a tremendous source of national pride.<ref name="Kalashnikov dies" /> "The family of the inventor of the world's most famous rifle, Mikhail Kalashnikov, has authorized German engineering company MMI to use the well-known Kalashnikov name on a variety of not-so-deadly goods."<ref name="Moscow Times" /> In recent years, Kalashnikov Vodka has been marketed with souvenir bottles in the shape of the AK-47 Kalashnikov.<ref name="russianvodka" /><ref name="vodka-wired" /> There are also Kalashnikov watches,<ref name="watches" /> umbrellas,<ref name="umbrellas" /> and knives.<ref name="knives" /><ref name="Boker" />

The Kalashnikov Museum (also called the AK-47 museum) opened on 4 November 2004 in [[Izhevsk]], Udmurt Republic. This city is in the [[Ural Region]] of Russia. The museum chronicles the biography of General Kalashnikov and documents the invention of the AK-47. The museum complex of Kalashnikov's small arms, a series of halls, and multimedia exhibitions are devoted to the evolution of the AK-47 rifle and attracts 10,000 monthly visitors.<ref name="museum" /> Nadezhda Vechtomova, the museum director, stated in an interview that the purpose of the museum is to honor the ingenuity of the inventor and the hard work of the employees and to "separate the weapon as a weapon of murder from the people who are producing it and to tell its history in our country".

On 19 September 2017 a {{convert|9|m}} monument of Kalashnikov was unveiled in central Moscow. A protester, later detained by police, attempted to unfurl a banner reading "a creator of weapons is a creator of death".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/19/30ft-high-statue-of-mikhail-kalashnikov-unveiled-in-moscow |title=30ft-high statue of Mikhail Kalashnikov unveiled in Moscow |first=Marc |last=Bennetts |date=19 September 2017 |access-date=19 September 2017 |newspaper=The Guardian |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170919111207/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/19/30ft-high-statue-of-mikhail-kalashnikov-unveiled-in-moscow |archive-date=19 September 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The proliferation of this weapon is reflected by more than just numbers. The AK-47 is included on the [[flag of Mozambique]] and its [[Emblem of Mozambique|emblem]], an acknowledgment that the country gained its independence in large part through the effective use of their AK-47s.<ref name="Gordon-1997" /> It is also found in the coats of arms of [[Coat of arms of East Timor|East Timor]], [[Coat of arms of Zimbabwe|Zimbabwe]] and the revolution era [[coat of arms of Burkina Faso|Burkina Faso]], as well as in the flags of [[flag of Hezbollah|Hezbollah]], [[Syrian Resistance]], [[FARC-EP]], the [[New People's Army]], [[Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist–Leninist|TKP/TIKKO]] and the [[International Revolutionary People's Guerrilla Forces]].

US and Western Europe countries frequently associate the AK-47 with their enemies, both Cold War era and present-day. For example, Western works of fiction (movies, television, novels, video games) often portray criminals, gang members, insurgents, and terrorists using AK-47s as the weapon of choice. Conversely, throughout the [[developing world]], the AK-47 can be positively attributed with [[Revolutionary|revolutionaries]] against foreign occupation, [[imperialism]], or [[colonialism]].<ref name="NPRKahaner" />

In Ireland the AK-47 is associated with [[The Troubles]] due to its extensive use by republican paramilitaries during this period.<ref>{{cite book |last=Oppenheimer |first=A. R. |date=2009 |title=IRA: The Bombs and The Bullets. A History of Deadly Ingenuity |location=[[Newbridge, County Kildare]] |publisher=Irish Academic Press |isbn=978-0-7165-2895-1}}</ref> In 2013, a decommissioned AK-47 was included in the ''[[A History of Ireland in 100 Objects]]'' collection.<ref>{{Cite news |title=A History of Ireland in 100 Objects: Decommissioned AK-47 assault rifle, 2005 |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/a-history-of-ireland-in-100-objects-decommissioned-ak-47-assault-rifle-2005-1.957646 |last=O'Toole |first=Fintan |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |language=en |access-date=2020-05-12}}</ref>

The AK-47 made an appearance in US popular culture as a recurring focus in the [[Nicolas Cage]] film ''[[Lord of War]]'' (2005). Numerous monologues in the movie focus on the weapon, and its effects on global conflict and the [[gun running]] market.<ref name="Lord of War" />

In Iraq and Afghanistan, [[private military company]] contractors from the UK and other countries used the AK-47 and its variants along with Western firearms such as the [[AR-15]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://novact.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/The-privatization-of-warfare.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://novact.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/The-privatization-of-warfare.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |title=The Privatization of Warfare, Violence and Private Military & Security Companies |first1=Jordi |last1=Palou-Loverdos |first2=Leticia |last2=Armendáriz |name-list-style=amp |website=The International Institute for Nonviolent Action |access-date=25 June 2021}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=August 2022|reason=One mention of AK-47, no mentions of AR-15 that I can find.}}

In 2006, the Colombian musician and peace activist [[César López (Colombian musician)|César López]] devised the ''[[escopetarra]]'', an AK converted into a guitar. One sold for US$17,000 in a fundraiser held to benefit the victims of [[anti-personnel mine]]s, while another was exhibited at the United Nations' [[Conference on Disarmament]].<ref name="BBC" />

In Mexico, the AK-47 is known as "Cuerno de Chivo" (literally "Goat's Horn") because of its curved magazine design. It is one of the weapons of choice of Mexican drug cartels. It is sometimes mentioned in Mexican folk music lyrics.<ref name="AolNews" />