Story highlights The Polynesian accessory helped illuminate the right-wing march

Mockery exploded on social media over the inherent irony

(CNN) White nationalists descended Friday night on the University of Virginia campus with burning tiki torches -- lending a distinctly but likely unintentional Polynesian aura to a white nationalist group's march.

Few things evoke white pride like Polynesian tiki torches https://t.co/U5wMfnxGDr — Perry Cammack (@perrycammack) August 12, 2017

Candle-lit marches, rallies and vigils are not uncommon and tend to evoke a sense of solidarity.

But historically in the United States, torch-carrying mobs lit the scene of countless Ku Klux Klan rallies and mob lynchings.

They chant: You will not replace us. Death to Antifa. White lives matter. #defendcville A post shared by Héctor E. Alcalá (@hectorapm) on Aug 11, 2017 at 7:15pm PDT

In Charlottesville on Friday night, marchers chanting various white nationalist slogans carried tiki torches, known primarily for their South Pacific ambiance and for their contemporary use of keeping mosquitoes at bay.

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