better dead than red
A Cold War-era slogan opposing the Communist Party (denoted by the color red). I can't believe you're supporting the Communists now! Better dead than red, I always say!
better dead than red
the prospect of nuclear war is preferable to that of a Communist society. This expression was a cold-war slogan; it was reversed by the nuclear disarmament campaigners of the late 1950s as better red than dead .