We are part of a team of researchers at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism and Columbia University’s Engineering and Journalism schools that has been developing a tool called VizPol, which helps journalists identify unfamiliar political symbols, since April 2019. Nina had the idea to help improve journalists’ understanding of visual political symbols at a right-wing rally in 2018 after she saw a TV journalist fail to point out a contradiction between what an interviewee was saying and what a symbol she had tattooed on her forearm suggested about her political beliefs. As part of keeping the app’s database up-to-date with the constantly evolving landscape of symbols, we have paid close attention to the various symbols appearing at political rallies across the political spectrum in the United States.
Advertisement
At the January 6 “Save America” rally, and the subsequent violent storming of the Capitol, Donald Trump followers telegraphed their ideologies through a variety of familiar and unfamiliar flags and logos. Some of these, particularly many well-known right-wing symbols and groups including the Three Percenters, the Oath Keepers, the Gadsden Flag, and 2nd Amendment references, have already been chronicled by other journalists, so there is no need to delve into every symbol photographed at the Capitol. However, after scanning over a thousand photographs and hours of video from the event, we identified characteristics unique to the event, distinct from its antecedents, that were evidenced by the presence of some specific symbols.In addition to group prayers and Jericho marches, which are ritualistic prayer walks, notable Christian symbols appeared at the January 6 rally.
Christian imagery
“Jesus Saves” signs and an enormous "Jesus 2020" banner could be seen on the east side of the Capitol shortly before it was breached.
The 20th-century Christian flag was flown by many attendees.
Below we can see a symbol of the cross on a man’s T-shirt under a sign reading “In God We Trust,” transplanted from a cross that was popular during the Crusades.
Advertisement
This evokes a reading of the pro-Trump movement as a white, Christian war on the other. Steve Bannon, Trump’s former advisor, has often been quoted saying the West is in “the beginning stages of a global war against Islamic fascism,” which he places within the long and selectively chosen history of Christian-Muslim conflict going back to the Crusades. As demonstrators climbed on government vehicles and cheered from the Capitol steps, one supporter read a message on his phone saying, “Yahweh let good prevail over evil in your mighty name. Praise you for your army. Put your badge of protection all around them. Amen.”While Christian imagery at right-wing demonstrations is not a new phenomenon (demonstrators at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in August 2017 flashed some Crusades symbols), the overwhelming presence of it at the Capitol suggests the importance of this event in particular to the religious right. As a complement to overt Christian imagery, some demonstrators flew the “Straight Pride” flag, designed by Super Happy Fun America, a far-right pro-Trump organization known for organizing the 2019 “Straight Pride Parade” in Boston. They chartered six buses to transport about 300 agitators to the Capitol on January 6.
Advertisement
The presence of QAnon symbols has been growing at right-wing rallies, but on January 6th QAnon clearly took center stage.
Proponents of QAnon include disgraced Lt. General Michael Flynn and newly elected Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. QAnon in its current form began in October 2017 when someone called “Q”, claiming to be a high-level government operative with “Q”-level clearance, began posting anonymous “intel drops” on a 4chan thread titled “The Calm Before the Storm.” In recent months, Trump’s lawyers Lin Wood and Sidney Powell, who have become heroes to QAnon adherents, unable to find any true evidence to support their allegations of voter fraud, released almost 200 pages of documents, mostly containing conspiracy theories. When interviewed about these documents, Powell said their contents would “release the kraken”, a reference to the gigantic sea monster from Norse mythology. At least one demonstrator carried an “Unleash the Kraken” flag.
Advertisement
We found many images of people brandishing “Q” imagery, slogans with the hashtag #SaveOurChildren,” flags with “Where We Go One, We Go All,” and messaging asking other Q supporters to “Trust the Plan” (a call to still keep faith in Q even after Q incorrectly predicted that Biden would lose the election).
The Blue Lives Matter flag
America First Groypers
Advertisement
Revolutionary War-era imagery
Advertisement
Another, less popular Revolutionary War era flag on display was the Bunker Hill Flag, commemorating the battle of Bunker Hill, flown by men dressed as Revolutionary War soldiers.
Neo-Confederate and state’ rights imagery
At a demonstration featuring speeches by Trump loyalist Roger Stone and far-right activist Ali Alexander at Freedom Plaza in Washington D.C. the night before the violent storming, a demonstrator carried an 1860s South Carolina secession flag, which flew over Charleston shortly after the state seceded from the Union.
Advertisement
The flag of Taunton, Massachusetts, adopted in 1774 to commemorate the Sons of Liberty (a revolutionary organization founded in 1765 to fight taxation by the British) driving American Loyalists out of Taunton was also flown. A militia-like organization branding itself the Sons of Liberty, New Jersey was present at the rally.
There was a variant of the Texas flag with the words “Come and Take It,” a popular expression among gun-rights activists emblazoned upon it.
These words were written on a flag dating to the 1830s and the Texas revolution against Mexico, and are themselves a reference to the epigram, first used by Spartan king Leonidas in 480 BC, to defy the Persian king Xerxes’ demand that he lay down his arms. White nationalists have exalted Sparta and Spartan ideals of battle to preserve the European purity of their homeland against the brown, Persian invaders. In a similar vein, white supremacists put great stock on Norse symbols. Like the Nazis in the 20th century, they see Nordic symbols as a symbol of an imaginary pure white European-descenced society. Jake Angeli, perhaps the poster child for Wednesday’s attempted coup, was wearing Viking horns and had a tattoo of a Valknot on the left side of his chest. According to the ADL, though non-racists use the Valknot too, “white supremacists, particularly racist Odinists, have appropriated the Valknot to use as a racist symbol. Often they use it as a sign that they are willing to give their life to Odin, generally in battle.” He also has what appears to be Thor’s hammer tattooed onto his stomach.
Advertisement
Several flags flew the cartoon lion logo of a supposedly new “Continental Army flag” designed by VDare, an anti-immigrant organization, SPLC-designated hate group and website known for publishing many well-known white supremacists. One had superimposed the lion onto a map of Minnesota. Others simply flew a flag featuring a lion. This could be related to the VDare lion or to Lion Guard, a group of vigilantes that patrol Trump rallies.
We also saw logos promoting the Patriot Party of Mississippi and what appears to be a new entity called the Great American Patriot Party, both using similar lion-themed iconography.
Finally, we saw several current flags of U.S. states, including but not limited to North Carolina, Texas, Florida, Missouri, Tennessee, Indiana, Idaho, and Kansas. Taken together, and especially seen among the historic Revolutionary- and Civil War-era versions of other state flags, the state flags echoed the historic American conservative commitment to federalism and states’ rights.The Epoch Media group, a pro-Trump disinformation media company used the rally as a branding opportunity. Giant flags with photographs promoting Epoch’s NTD.TV journalists could be seen waving in the wind amid the crowds at the Washington Monument. Started in 2000 in New York City as The Epoch Times, a free newspaper which advocated for Falun Gong dissidents and against the Chinese Community Party, the Epoch Media Group now counts billions of social media views annually. It has emerged as a full-on Trump PR machine promoting conspiracy theories including the patently false claim that antifa operatives were behind the Capitol breach.
The Epoch Media Group
Advertisement
Along with Epoch Media branding, Trump voters displaying anti-China propaganda were present with large banners and posters. The narrative being peddled is that under the Democrats, America will turn into communist China.
Though it is also popular among Vietnamese-origin immigrants as a symbol of identity, the flag of South Vietnam, seen at the Capitol could be interpreted as a symbol of a fight against Communism, as South Vietnam fought against Communist North Vietnam in the Vietnam War. Along with “antifa,” “fake news,” and “libtards,” the expression “Chicom” has entered the Trump ecosystem of insults.