They respect no law of man or God. They hedonistically pursue pleasure and merriment at all costs. They look fantastic in red and white. They are the legions of Santas who have gathered every year here in San Franicisco since 1994. Any number of artists, writers, musicians, engineers, freaks and raging drunks have been in their number since, and the movement has spread worldwide, including an appearance in Antarctica. This year's festivities kicked off on the other side of the International Date Line in sunny Auckland, New Zealand.

After the jump, a bunch of photos we scoured from Flickr of Santacon '05 from here at home and around the world.

Awesome photo by David Le.