The Fabian Society was established in London in 1884 "To promote greater equality of power, wealth and opportunity; the value of collective action and public service; an accountable, tolerant and active democracy; citizenship, liberty and human rights; sustainable development; and multilateral international cooperation."

If this sounds rather banal and overly-familiar, read on, as it gets outright sinister.

From the onset, the Fabians wanted to establish a "socialist world government" which was a goal shared by similar movements of the era. However, while most socialist groupings called for outright revolution, the Fabians resorted to a gradual and surreptitious approach to achieve this goal.

According to author Jon Perdue, "The logo of the Fabian Society, a tortoise, represented the group's predilection for a slow, imperceptible transition to socialism, while its coat of arms, a 'wolf in sheep's clothing', represented its preferred methodology for achieving its goal."