The Black Liberation Flag, also known as the Afro-American Flag, Pan-African Flag, and the UNIA Flag, is a symbol of African and African-American unity and pride. In the 1960s this flag became a symbol of Black liberation in the United States. This design was first adopted in 1920 as the official banner of the African Race at a meeting of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA) held in New York City.

The World Peace Association (WPA) was based in Jenkins, Minnesota. The flag was dedicated at Odessa, New York, in May of 1958. It was used at the exhibit for the association at the Brussels World's Fair.

In the 1960's a strong protest movement was born among the draft age college students to protest the Vietnam War. At first the student protesters used crude peace symbols, usually black painted on white backgrounds, at their rallies. The peace symbol was also spray painted on walls and clothing.

Two more Vietnam War Era protest flags that are still in use are the "Missing In Action, Prisoner of War" Flags (MIA/POW) being flown by those wishing to remind people that there are still American soldiers missing in action and possibly being held as prisoner by the Vietnamese government. These flags can be found with white and black backgrounds, and with silver, white or red lettering. The flags state: "You are not forgotten." Interesting enough, in 1990, Congress adopted the MIA/POW flag as a symbol of our nation's concern and commitment to resolving as fully as possible the fates of Americans still held prisoner, or missing and unaccounted for in Southeast Asia," thus making it a national flag which entitles it to be flown above all State flags.

MIA/POW Flag (Type #2)		MIA/POW Flag (Type #3)

The second type of protest flag to come out of the Vietnam War era is from those angered with the secret use of Agent Orange to defoliate the Vietnam jungles, and especially about the harmful health effects the use of this chemical had on people and troops who came in contact with it.

In 1966, in Oakland, California, Huey Newton and Bobby Seale founded the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. The Panthers practiced what they called "self-defense" for the minority communities against the U.S. government, and fought to establish revolutionary socialism through mass organizing and community based programs. The party was one of the first organizations in U.S. history to militantly struggle for ethnic minority and working class emancipation, and their agenda was the revolutionary establishment of real economic, social, and political equality across gender and color lines.

This Ecology flag was first made by the San Francisco based Paramount Flag Company in 1967. This flag was based on the Stars and Stripes, but used dark green instead of blue and light green instead of red. The colors were said to represent "pure air and green land" and environmental action.

The American Indian Movement (AIM) is a Native American activist organization in the United States. Founded in 1968, AIM calling itself the "Trail of Broken Treaties," began championing the cause of Indian unity. AIM was founded by Dennis Banks, George Mitchell, Herb Powless, Clyde Bellecourt, Harold Goodsky, and Eddie Benton-Banai in Minneapolis to address issues of Native American poverty, housing, treaty issues, and police harassment.

The "Flag of Earth" was designed by an Illinois farmer named James Cadle shortly after the first manned landing on the moon in 1969. It consists of a blue circle, representing the earth, on a black background. To the left is a segment of a large yellow circle, representing the sun. On the lower right is a small white circle, representing the moon.

The Earth Flag, often called the Earth Day Flag, was designed by John McConnell in 1970. It is the photographic image of the earth taken during the flight of Apollo 10 in 1969, viewed from above the Indian Ocean just east of the Cape of Good Hope, on a background of dark blue.

This rainbow colored flag is the Italian Peace Flag, which dates from the 1970s. In Italian, the word "PACE" means "PEACE." This foreign flag has in recent years enjoyed some success in the United States as a substitute for the more commonly used and traditional Peace Flag, and is still popular in Italy and parts of Europe today.

This interesting variation of the U.S. flag has its red stripes repainted into the seven colors of rainbow. The remaining red stripe retains its original shade, and the dark blue stripe near the bottom is in the same shade as the canton. It was originally popular in the 1970s with the "Rainbow Children" and other similar counter culture groups, but has gained new life as a Gay Rights/Gay Pride flag today. It was originally used by the "Hippy" generation at their Rainbow Gatherings, but the flag, now re-purposed, was used at the Gay Rally in Dallas in 2008, and again in San Francisco during the 2009 Gay Pride Parade.

Policy on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender behavior in the United States is a hot political and social issue. Five states and one district (Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, and District of Columbia) have legalized same-sex marriage. Sexual acts between persons of the same sex have been legal nationwide in the United States since 2003, pursuant to the US Supreme Court ruling in Lawrence v. Texas. Openly lesbian and gay members of the US military is subject to a "Don't ask, don't tell" policy, but President Barack Obama indicated during the 2008 presidential campaign, and also during his 2010 State of the Union Address, his desire to end this policy.

An interesting fusion of the "Gay Rights, Gay Pride" Flag and the "Rainbow Children" Flag of the 1970s has resulted in this interesting flag. The New "Old Glory" Rainbow Flag is a more recent development. It basically adds a familiar blue canton of 50 stars to the Gay Pride flag to stress that equal rights for gays and lesbians are crucial in all 50 states. This strange merging of the long haired "Rainbow Children" of the 60s and 70s with the Gays of the 90s is an interesting vexillological development.

The African American Unity Flag was designed by Vincent Paramore as part of the African American Unity Flag Association (AAUF) grant. The Flag "tells the history of a people who originated from Africa and found themselves in a new land stripped of their religion, culture, language and history. It also memorializes black heroes and heroines known and unknown. The AAUF [flag] Serves to salute our continued progress for total freedom and equality."

The Gulf Wars and later the Afghanistan War brought a whole new generation of Peace Protests to life, and with them a whole new set of flags to wave.

New Peace Flag (Type #3)		New Peace Flag (Type #4)

• Type #1 features the traditional peace symbol done with 50 five-pointed stars.
• Type #2 is a marriage of the Ecology Flag and the Peace flag.
• Type #3 has an enlarged plain white peace symbol on either a blue, black, green, or a white background with a black symbol.
• Type #4 turns the Italian Pace Flag upside down, adds a white stripe and white peace sign and the English translation of "Pace," i.e. "Peace," to the mix.

This flag was first flown at the African American Flag House in Charleston, South Carolina, on July 3, 1995, just one day before our nation's 4th of July celebration. The African American Flag House foundation hoped the flag would become "a positive and unifying symbol that represents the enormous historical investment of African Americans in the Nation, their defense of the Constitution of the United States, and the promise of opportunity for all. This original flag proclaims African Americans as an important part of the rich mosaic of the United States of America, its protectorates and territories."

In the summer of 1996, a flag symbolizing the values of the Hip Hop Nation was officially revealed in San Francisco. The Hip Hop Unity Flag is the brain child of community activist James P. Queen, who is the President of Racial Unity Inc. The flag features the colors of our human family: Black, Brown, Red, Yellow and White. Unlike most flags whose stripes are laid horizontally the Hip Hop Generation-Unity Flag's stripes stand vertical/side by side. The significance of this is to show equality because no color is above the other. In short, the flag stands for unity.

The One World Flag was designed by David Bartholomew in 1996. He claims it occurred to him in a dream. It consists of a traditional yin-yang symbol, blue above and green below, representing the planet earth living in harmony, on a background of white, representing peace. The edges are formed of colored bars, red above, yellow on the right, white below, and black on the left, representing the four compass directions.

The District of Columbia Statehood Movement was a political movement that advocated making the District of Columbia a state which dates back to the 1970s. Statehood would give the citizens of Washington, DC, full representation in the United States Congress and full control over their own local affairs, which they don't enjoy at this time. Unfortunately, there is very little political support in Congress for the proposal and since 2003 the proposal seems mostly abandoned.

These defaced American flags were a part of a protest sponsored by the radical Adbusters Media Foundation against their perceived take-over of the American government and society by multi-national corporations. They described themselves as: "a global network of culture jammers and creatives working to change the way information flows, the way corporations wield power, and the way meaning is produced in our society."

This version of an Earth Flag has been in use by an environmental advocacy and activist group called the Knights of Gaia since 2004. The flag is based on James Cadle's "Flag of Earth," first proposed in 1969.

Since Hawaii became part of the United States there have been several local groups or movements whose goals were independence for Hawaii. The Nation of Hawai'i is a pro-independence group of people who claim descent from the original inhabitants of the islands. They use a white-yellow-black horizontal tricolored flag with a "Kahili" symbol in the middle yellow band. The Ka Lahui Hawai, also known as the Polynesian Sovereignty Movement, are another group desiring independence who use a flag with a white constellation of stars placed on a dark blue field.

Hawai'i Ko Aloha Flag 2004

A third group, known as Hawai'i Ko Aloha claim to represent all the lineal descendants of Hawaiians from Maka'ainana to Alii. The colors of the background of their Flag represent the Nine islands of the inhabited Hawaiian chain prior to the arrival of the western exploiters. The saying Hawaii ko Aloha means "Love of our land of Hawaii."

Reformers since the early 1990s have been trying to get congressional term limits approved. In the elections of 1994, part of the Republican platform was to pass legislation setting term limits in Congress. They proposed a constitutional amendment to limit members of the Senate to two six-year terms and members of the House to six two-year terms. However, since constitutional amendments require a two-thirds majority, it failed.

Although this flag isn't historical in the sense that it ever waved during the American Revolution, some contemporary flag companies are today selling a version of the "Join or Die" flag. There is no historical documentation to support this flag's existence, but this flag was used in the opening titles and credits of the somewhat inaccurate seven-part historical HBO melodrama "John Adams," released in the 2008, and based on the Pulitzer prize-winning book of the same name by David McCullough.

The Tea Party movement is a conservative political movement in the United States that grew throughout 2009 into a series of locally and nationally coordinated protests. The Tea Party protests were a series of protests across the United States that focuses on smaller government, fiscal responsibility, individual freedoms and upholding a conservative view of the Constitution. The protests were partially in response to several Federal laws: the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and a series of healthcare reform bills. The name "Tea Party" refers to the Boston Tea Party of 1773 when American colonists destroyed British tea rather than paying what they considered a tax that violated their right to "No Taxation without Representation." In the 2010 Congressional elections, it became a recognized part of the Republican political party, and successfully ran several conservative Congressional candidates under its name.

Culpeper Minute Men Flag 1775

Several Tea Party flags have been reported being seen at Tea Party Rallies; one a modified "Betsy Ross" flags with a Roman Numeral II placed in the center of the 13-Star pattern representing the "Second American Revolution," another, less seen, but reported was a variant slightly renascent of a Confederate States of America flag. The flags most popular, however, hands down, is the modern replica of the Gadsden Flag showing a coiled rattle-snake with 13 rattles on a yellow background with the black lettered motto "Don't Thread On Me," although the Culpeper Minute Men Flag has also been seen. Snakes? Anyone?

This flag, named after right-wing activist Gail Nyberg, who apparently designed it, is being sold at the "Sipsey Street Irregulars" website. Based on the belief that during the American Revolution, the active forces in the field against the King's tyranny never amounted to more than 3% of the colonists, militia groups calling themselves by such names as the "Three Percenters," (Threepers), the "Sipsey Street Irregulars" and the "Oath Keepers" (led by Nevada lawyer Stewart Rhodes, a former staffer of Congressman Ron Paul), have sprung up expressing anti-government (especially anti-current administration) and anti-gun control sentiments. These groups claim to be the ones who "the Founders counted on to save the Republic when everyone else abandoned it."

Basically, these groups consist of radical extremist American gun owners who are preparing to "defend" themselves and "their right to bare [sic] arms" against perceived "enemies, foreign and domestic," and who warn all those they call "collectivists" (those who favor gun control "control" the government), to leave them and their guns alone. The Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League have labeled these groups as anti-government, extremists, and racists.

A "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear" took place on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on Oct 30, 2010. Billed as an "anti-extremism" gathering, it was organized by Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert.

United States voter dissatisfaction with the apparent inability of the politicians in Washington D.C. to work together birthed a "In the Fall, Fire Them All" ground swell that resulted in many people voting against all incumbents regardless of their political views in the 2010 Congressional Elections. This seriously harmed the Democratic majority and cost them control of Congress.

The recent attempt to legalize marijuana in California brought a whole new set of flags to wave. Interestingly enough the growers themselves helped defeat the proposition on the election ballot. Ah, capitalism...

Legalize Marijuana Flag (Type #3)		Legalize Marijuana Flag (Type #4)		Legalize Marijuana Flag (Type #5)

A whole rash of flags appeared on the market, supporting the legalization of marijuana and the use of "medical" marijuana. These are a few examples. Type #1 - places marijuana leaves on the stripes and canton; Type #2 - tries to mix conservation, recycling and marijuana use; Type #3 - plays a word game using the popular ipod as a ploy; Type #4 - features a marijuana leaf and the word "blunt," slang for a tobacco leaf that is often used to roll marijuana cigars. They come in flavors such as cherry and peach and are used to camouflage the potent smell of pot. Type #5 - centers a leaf and the word "Marijuana" on a horizontal red-yellow-green tricolor.

The COEXIST Movement has sprung up, especially on college campuses, across the country. The goal of this movement is to embrace tolerance for all belief systems. The chief promoter of this movement is the music industry and the pop icon Bono from the band U2. Hollywood and the fashion industry also promotes this movement with an array of clothing products, gear and bumper stickers, including a flag. Not surprisingly, this is not a popular movement with most fundamentalist groups or churches.

On September 11, 2001, a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City and another attack on the Pentagon in Washington DC resulted in the deaths of thousands of people, including many firefighters, police, rescue, and medical personal who were attempting to help the victims. This Terrorist attack started what became known as "The War on Terrorism" and an invasion of Afghanistan led by American Troops followed. The campaign in Afghanistan was an attempt to destroy the al-Qaeda terrorist training camps inside the country and eventually resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden and several other al-Qaida leaders. In the process, the US military temporarily helped to overthrow the oppressive Taliban government. On September 11, 2011, the World remembered, the fateful day it all began...

9/11 Remembrance Flag #10		9/11 Remembrance Flag #11
9/11 Remembrance Flag #12		9/11 Remembrance Flag #13
9/11 Remembrance Flag #14		9/11 Remembrance Flag #15
9/11 Remembrance Flag #16		9/11 Remembrance Flag #17
9/11 Remembrance Flag #18		9/11 Remembrance Flag #19
9/11 Remembrance Flag #20 (actually a Canadian Remembrance Day Flag)		9/11 Remembrance Flag #21
9/11 Remembrance Flag #22		9/11 Remembrance Flag #23
9/11 Remembrance Flag #24		9/11 Remembrance Flag #25

There were no shortages of 9/11 Remembrance/Patriot´s Day flags on the market to help remember the Twin Towers Attack, the Pentagon Attack, and United Flight 93 on the 10th anniversary of the disasters. Here are just a few of the dozens seen being flown and sold. Although all these were reported being used, it should be pointed out that some of these flags may have been designed for other remembrance-type days, like the "Armistice" and "Remembrance" Days of the British Commonwealth nations, and the "Veteran's Day" and "Memorial Day" celebrations in the USA, etc., then multi-purposed.

The newest wave of American protests, originally called "Occupy Wall Street," started in New York and has now spread across the United States, with the name being modified to simply "Occupy" and you name the place (Occupy Oakland, Occupy San Francisco, etc.). The protesters claim to be tired of the large corporations, who, in their quest for more power and profit, show an apparent disregard to the economic woes of the American people. This, along with the government´s inability or unwillingness to work together to solve the financial crisis facing the nation, have apparently sparked these large and spreading protests. Recently, some of these "camp-ins" have generated escalating violence between demonstrators, citizens, and law enforcement as more dissident and extremist groups infiltrate the grassroots movement to get their share of the national spotlight. Recent examples of violence and flag burnings, especially in the San Francisco/Oakland Bay area has resulted in a loss of middle class support, while the continued lack of any clear message, direction, or leadership has further damaged the movement.

"In the Red" Flag		The Anarchist Flag
The Continental Flag		The Earth Day Flag
The 99% Stars and Stripes		American Indian Movement Flag
Corporate America Flag ("SOLD" variant framed with gun)		Corporate America Flag (defaced with "WAR" variant)
Veterans for Peace Flag		"Those Privileged Few" Flag (suggested, use undocumented)

Apparently, the movement has yet to focus its attention on any particular flag, but some of the more interesting ones used at their large demonstrations are shown here. Naturally many regular US flags are displayed, either right-side-up or upside-down (many times defaced with slogans), and a version of the U.S. flag with the stars replaced by corporate logos (first used in the 2003 Corporate America protest) is popular. For, examples, defaced variants with "SOLD" stenciled across the stripes (framed with a gun) or with the letters "WAR" and various others have been used.

Seen in use at Occupy demonstrations were also plain red flags, red and black anarchist flags, a peace flag with a black and white peace symbol on a turquoise-green field, flags of both Puerto Rico and Tennessee, Veterans for Peace flags, the Earth Flag, the 99% Stars and Stripes representing the general ignored population, and even a "Those Privileged Few" Flag apparently pointing a finger at those wealthy privileged few who control society.

Also reported used were a variety of historial and group flags, including the historical red Continental Flag with its green pine tree on a white canton, the Culpeper Minute Men Flag, and several different versions of the Gadsden Flag. The flags of the American Indian Movement, the New World Regeneration Party, and Che Guevara have also made their appearances.

Since the War Against Terrorism is like no other war the United States has entered, not a war not against another nation or people, but one against the actions of fanatical cults, reactionary groups, and individuals who use violence to attempt to force people to believe as they do, it is not surprising that the families of those who have perished in this modern crusade have sought different ways to express their grief and validate the sacrifice their families have made. Several flags have been designed to help fill this void.