barber's pole :)

The origin of the red and white barber pole is associated with the service of bloodletting and was historically a representation of bloody bandages wrapped around a pole. During medieval times, barbers performed surgery on customers, as well as tooth extractions. The original pole had a brass wash basin at the top (representing the vessel in which leeches were kept) and bottom (representing the basin that received the blood). The pole itself represents the staff that the patient gripped during the procedure to encourage blood flow.

Barbers, being medieval surgeons, would be present at the birth of a child, and were there to cut the umbilical cord—a red (artery) and blue (vein) on a pale colour umbilical cord was passed to the parents by the barber after the umbilical cord had been cut, and this blue/red/pale tube or pole became the Barber's pole, and the symbol of the pole represents a freshly cut umbilical cord.
Others opine that the red, white and blue format in the United States may be an homage to the colours of the flag.

In some parts of Asia, a red, white and blue barber pole is used as a symbol for a brothel. While prostitution is illegal in many parts of Asia, laws against it are often not enforced to the degree that all public solicitations for it are eliminated. The barber's pole is used as a euphemistic way of advertising a brothel, thus reducing the likelihood of police intervention.

In South Korea, barber's poles are used both for actual barbershops and for brothels. Brothels disguised as barbershops, referred to as 이발소 (ilbalso) or 이용실 (iyongsil), are more likely to use two poles next to each other, often spinning in opposite directions, though the use of a single pole for the same reason is also quite common. Actual barbershops, or 미용실 (miyongsil), are more likely to be hair salons; to avoid confusion, they will usually use a pole that shows a picture of a woman with flowing hair on it with the words hair salon written on the pole.