The barber's pole was invented in Europe at a time when dentists and surgeons doubled up as barbers. Those doctors already had a surgical kinfe, so they saw an opprtunity to use it in a second profession - as a barber. The origin of the barber's pole comes from the practice of bloodletting in patiens. The doctors would hang two lines of bandage on a patient's arm, one for wrapping before the wound later. The strips of bandage provided the inspiration for the poles ourside these surgeries. The pole has two colours: Red signifies bloid, while white stands for the bandage. American barbers subsequently added blue to their barber's poles, like the American flag.