So git branch doesn't like to create a branch named HEAD $ git branch HEAD fatal: it does not make sense to create 'HEAD' manually But, you can trick it into doing so anyway: $ git branch @ $ git branch -a HEAD * master At which point git status becomes a bit confused: $ git status warning: refname 'HEAD' is ambiguous. warning: refname 'HEAD' is ambiguous. On branch master nothing to commit, working directory clean Oh, and git checkout will accept either HEAD or @ to create a branch with the name HEAD anyway: $ git checkout -b HEAD Switched to a new branch 'HEAD' $ git checkout -b @ Switched to a new branch 'HEAD' imho none of these should create a branch named HEAD, but should do what 'git branch HEAD' does and fail with a sensible error message. All these shenanigans came up when trying to help an user who is mirroring a mercurial repo that has a branch named '@'. Whether or not git should allow branches named '@' I don't have an opinion on, I know '@' is pretty special when dealing with refs. -- Dennis Kaarsemaker www.kaarsemaker.net -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe git" in the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html