Airport signs - forbidden: "White Weapons"

[DaveC426913]

I am sure I've asked this before, at least six years ago, but I don't find it, and I've just been triggered again (by my New Years trip to Cayo Largo).

In the airport in Cuba there is a sign that shows forbidden items on planes. Guns, toxins, fuel etc. Each has an icon with it.

One of the items is a mystery. It says "white weapons / arma blanca", and the icon is that of a knife, like a short hunting knife.

I can find no reference on the Google to "white weapons". Any clues?

 

[DaveC426913]

*sigh* Nothing like pressing 'send' to make an answer magically appear...

I decided to translate 'white weapon' to Spanish, just confirm it was not a translation issue on the sign itself.

And that led me to this quora post.

"The Term Arma Blanca (Spanish for “White Weapon” (litterally) is a term used to refer to short-pointed weapons or sharp weapons such as knives, sword blades, daggers, machetes, axes and so on.

These kind of weapons were “white weapons” Because the "black weapons" were those that had no edge or tip and that were used in games or the teaching of fencing. Therefore, if one spoke of "white", it is because the sword was not only unsheathed. It also wanted to say that It had a sharp edge."


and

"...from the Spanish TV show 20 minutos. They attribute it to the fact that a sharpened blade will shine white in the sun, whereas a dull weapon used for fencing practice will not. ...
This blog post (in French) about the equivalent French explanation gives the same explanation, but also suggests an origin based on the color of a steel blade as opposed to one of bronze. These both sound more imaginative than factual."

Thanks everyone. You've been great.