The city of San Francisco recently removed the “Appeal to Heaven” flag that had been flying near City Hall for sixty years because of its new association with pro-Jan. 6 groups.
The city of San Francisco confirmed it had removed the “Appeal to Heaven” flag from outside City Hall over the weekend, just days after it was reported to have been flown outside a conservative Supreme Court justice’s house.
On May 22, the New York Times reported Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito flew the Pine Tree flag at his New Jersey vacation home last year and described it as “a symbol of support for former President Donald J. Trump, for a religious strand of the ‘Stop the Steal’ campaign and for a push to remake American government in Christian terms.”
The San Francisco Chronicle reported Wednesday that the Revolutionary War-era flag was taken down after 60 years in the Civic Center Plaza on Saturday.
In a statement given to the Chronicle, city parks officials said they removed the flag because while it first symbolized the “quest for American independence,” it has “since been adopted by a different group — one that doesn’t represent the city’s values.”
The Chronicle explained the Pine Tree flag’s history as a patriotic symbol, stating it was “originally flown from George Washington’s ships during the Revolutionary War.” However, it also claimed the meaning of the flag has changed in the modern context.
