<P> One of the first motorcycle clubs was the New York Motorcycle Club, which in 1903 merged with the Alpha Motorcycle Club of Brooklyn to become the Federation of American Motorcyclists . Later, the Motorcycle and Allied Trades Association (M&ATA) formed a Rider Division which spun off into the American Motorcyclist Association . </P> <P> The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) is the largest American motorcyclist organization . It serves as an umbrella organization for local clubs and sporting events . As of 2015, the AMA counts over 200,000 active members and over 1,200 chartered clubs . </P> <P> The abbreviations MC and MCC are both used to mean "motorcycle club" but have a special social meaning from the point of view of the outlaw or one percenter motorcycling subculture . MC is generally reserved for those clubs that are mutually recognized by other MC or outlaw motorcycle clubs . This is indicated by a motorcyclist wearing an MC patch, or a three - piece patch called colors, on the back of their jacket or riding vest . Outlaw or one percenter can mean merely that the club is not chartered under the auspices of the American Motorcyclist Association, implying a radical rejection of authority and embracing of the "biker" lifestyle as defined and popularized since the 1950s and represented by such media as Easyriders magazine, the work of painter David Mann and others . In many contexts the terms overlap with the usual meaning of "outlaw" because some of these clubs, or some of their members, are recognized by law enforcement agencies as taking part in organized crime . </P> <P> Outside of the outlaw motorcyclist subculture, the words "motorcycle club" carry no pejorative meaning beyond the everyday English definition of the words--a club involving motorcycles, whose members come from every walk of life . Thus, there are clubs that are culturally and stylistically nothing like outlaw or one percenter clubs, and whose activities and goals not similar to them at all, but still use three - part patches or the initials MC in their name or insignia . In other countries, such motorcycle clubs will adopt the abbreviation MCC . </P>

What does mc mean on a biker vest