A Pine Tree flag, a logo initially from the Revolutionary Conflict however extra just lately linked to teams who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, has been faraway from the San Francisco Civic Heart Plaza.
The straightforward white flag with a inexperienced pine tree within the middle and the phrases “An Attraction to Heaven” on the prime had flown within the metropolis’s Pavilion of American Flags for 60 years, however it was taken down after the mayor’s workplace mentioned the flag, and its which means, was co-opted by extremists.
“The Pine Tree flag, or the Attraction to Heaven flag, has just lately been adopted to characterize a unique which means by extremists who led the rebel at the USA Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021,” mentioned Jeff Cretan, a spokesperson for San Francisco Mayor London Breed. “This was an abhorrent and disgraceful second in our nation’s historical past that threatened the very material of our democracy and continues to have an effect on those that lived by means of the violence and the assault on our elementary values.”
The choice to take the flag down outdoors Metropolis Corridor got here simply days after the New York Instances reported that the flag was flown outdoors of U.S. Supreme Court docket Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr.’s residence in Virginia final yr.
The information outlet additionally reported that in 2020, after the presidential election, the USA flag was flown upside-down outdoors Alito’s residence. U.S. flag code, which is not enforceable, specifies the Stars and Stripes ought to be flown upside-down solely “as a sign of dire misery in situations of maximum hazard to life or property.” The inverted flag was used as a logo by supporters of former President Trump who contested the outcomes of the presidential election.
The Pine Tree flag has been flown and noticed at right-wing occasions and was carried by rioters in the course of the Jan. 6 rebel.
After the New York Instances report concerning the controversial flag being flown on the justice’s residence, Alito informed Congress on Wednesday in a letter that he wouldn’t recuse himself from upcoming Supreme Court docket instances stemming from the Jan. 6 assault.
In San Francisco, metropolis officers took down the controversial flag over the weekend.
Cretan, the spokesperson for the mayor’s workplace, mentioned there was no legislative requirement to take the flag down.
In 1964, the town additionally took down the Accomplice battle flag shortly after it was first flown.
Town has flown 18 flags on the Pavilion of American Flags since June 14, 1964, and every is supposed to characterize a major second in American historical past.
However the Pine Tree flag will not be the one controversial flag within the pavilion that has been utilized by extremist teams.
The yellow Gadsden flag, which has a coiled rattlesnake and the phrases “Don’t Tread on Me,” can be displayed on the pavilion.
The flag has been utilized by right-wing organizations, together with militia teams which were linked to armed standoffs with federal authorities.
A spokesperson for Breed’s workplace mentioned it was reviewing whether or not that flag must be eliminated as properly.
