The city of San Francisco removed the “Appeal to Heaven” flag amid its ongoing controversy with Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.
The flag, which dates to the Revolutionary War, has been used by some as a cry for election integrity following January 6, 2021.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the “quest for American independence” has “since been adopted by a different group — one that doesn’t represent the city’s values.”
The Chronicle described the flag as being “among several images appropriated by conservative movements and appeared conspicuously in riots at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, carried by people seeking to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s election as president.”
The flag, flown over San Francisco’s City Hall since 1964, was swapped for the American flag.
San Francisco Recreation and Parks communications manager Daniel Montes said in a statement that the “Appeal to Heaven” flag was “originally used during the American Revolutionary War, flown by George Washington’s cruisers, and is associated with the early quest for American independence.”
It has now been “adopted by a different group – one that doesn’t represent the city’s values, so we made the decision to swap it with the American flag,” he explained.
Issue with the flag began after Justice Alito’s wife displayed the flag at their beach house, causing many to call for his recusal from Donald Trump’s cases regarding January 6.
In a letter addressed to Democratic Senators, Alito said of the “Appeal to Heaven” flag, “I recall that my wife did fly that flag for some period of time, but I do not remember how long it flew. And what is most relevant here, I had no involvement in the decision to fly that flag.”
“My wife is fond of flying flags. I am not. My wife was solely responsible for having flagpoles put up at our residence and our vacation home and has flown a wide variety of flags over the years,” he continued. “In addition to the American flag, she has flown other patriotic flags (including a favorite flag thanking veterans), college flags, flags supporting sports teams, state and local flags, flags of nations from which the ancestors of family members came, flags of places we have visited, seasonal flags, and religious flags.”
Others took to social media to criticize the flag’s removal, saying it’s an effort toward “deconstruction.”
One X user said, “They have come for the Gadsden Flag, The Betsey Ross Flag, and now the Appeal to Heaven flag. Here is why:”
“One of the strategies used by every conquering culture is called ‘deconstruction’. This is when the conquering culture slanders something about a country’s history, so people emotionally detach from it, and develop a neutral memory of where they came from,” the post read. “This makes the people malleable to be brainwashed into whatever future the conquering culture has planned for them.”
“Appeal to Heaven means take your case to God. Why is the left in a tizzy about a Christian flag that symbolizes support for traditional values? Justice Alito and his wife should be applauded for their willingness to publicly stand for Judeo-Christian values,” author Carol M. Swain, Ph.D., wrote. “The Left is willing to lie, steal, and in some cases steal for their values.”
