okay because I haven't seen anyone else do this a thread on this yet, a short list of historic flags carried by the Capitol mob, and why they matter:

(cw obviously some ugly ideology)(also some terrible historical takes)

I won't be doing photos, y'all can google them if you need to see. I'm not keen to clog my feed with those. Anyways.

First up, obvs, the Confederate battle flag. A lot of these out. A whole lot of people think it was the official Confederate flag, but it wasn't- it was only used because the actual flag was too similar to the Union flag, and soldiers got confused on the battlefield.

So why is it now the most recognisable Conf. flag? Because, uh, the KKK adopted it in the 40's. There were about a dozen confederate battle flags. There's a reason this one is the one you know.

Next: the Betsy Ross flag, usually recognised as the first USA flag. They carry it because it hearkens to 'original', 'traditional' American values. They see themselves as defenders of America, as akin to George Washington.

The Gadsden flag- that yellow one with the snake and 'Don't Tread on Me'. It's a Revolutionary War flag (actually I think it predates the War?) but it was used by American rebels. The sentiment, again, is that these people see themselves as rising up against their oppressors.

The Gadsden one also was used by the Tea Party a lot, who again, saw themselves as victims rising up. This feeds into the myth that these people are working class/underprivileged people. The majority aren't, they just want to be victims.

the 'Come and Take It' flag. From the Texan War of Independence against Mexico. Also variants of other flags with this motto on them. Again, these people see themselves as fighting for independence against oppression.

Along those lines, the Culpeper Minuteman flag, aka the Gadsden with the phrase 'Liberty or Death' along the bottom. This is particularly interesting to me, as the 'liberty' here seems to only be the liberty for them to do what they want.

The Culpeper Minutemen didn't full disband until they were absorbed into the Virginia Confederate army, who, I would point out, did not exactly fight for 'Liberty for All'.

Assorted State flags. I saw Maryland, Texas, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. Two common themes: first, all confederate states. Second, and there's a reason for this: all flags that incorporate one of the Confederate flags.

The reason, of course, is that up until a few years ago, every state that was part of the Confederacy.... incorporated one of its flags into the State Flags. I'm pretty sure Mississippi only changed theirs in 2020.

In 2001, the great state of Georgia changed their flag so that it no longer incorporated the Confederate Battle Flag. Now it's based on the First National Flag of the Confederacy.

There was also some idiot carrying the flag of the European nation of Georgia, which I'm assuming was an amazon purchase gone wrong, but whatever.

There were a couple non-American national flags, actually, but the one that really caught my eye was Canada. I didn't know until a few weeks ago that the Proud Boys were founded in Canada. America's Hat, come get y'all's goons.

I'm neither Canadian nor extremely familiar with Canada's history, but, current politics aside: their political history is quite similar to America's. Colony, fought for freedom, killed a ton of Natives and called it 'wilderness'.

the Thin Blue Line Flag. although most of us think of as a 'modern' Blue Lives Matter shindig, it's actually pretty old- the NYPD used it at least in 1922. This one is extra wild because, as we know, a LEO was killed in the protests.

But the Blue Line is no longer actually about supporting the police- it's now about being in opposition to BLM. Again, this is an intentional choice by these people to consider themselves as under attack, as victims.

Along those lines- I spotted like a dozen Marine Corps flags, and at least one each from all the other military divisions. I'm hesitant to go too much into this, because it's hard to know if the carriers were veterans, active duty, or just randos with flags.

the South Carolinian Naval Flag- a Revolutionary War flag that popped back up in the Civil War. Are you detecting a theme? I'm detecting a theme.

Finally, not a flag per se, but a symbol *on* a bunch of flags: the fish, aka the ichthys, aka that stylised fish used by early Christians to spread messages whilst avoiding persecution. Relevant for two reasons:

first, a whole lot of these rioters belong to evangelical Christian sects. No, I personally don't think they truly follow Jesus Christ, but they sure belong to the Church and that's what matters.

Second, and this is a key feature of the modern American evangelical movement: they consider themselves TO BE PERSECUTED.

And that, I think, is the overarching theme here.

I'm sure I missed some flags, but all the ones I saw? They have something in common. They are the symbols of rebels, of underdogs, of people who are, or believe themselves to be, fighting against Tyranny.

And they are flags from every point in the USA's history. Again, and again, this is the theme of American culture: rising up against oppressors.

Unfortunately... "When you're used to privilege, equality feels like oppression".

That's what we're seeing now.

Every step we take towards a more equal society- a certain group is gonna see that as oppression. And they're going to rise up, with what they perceive as the weight of history to support them.

So, historians, it's on us.

They're still gonna rise up, but we can at least get the truth about history out there. We can make it clear that they aren't the ones being oppressed. This is our duty, and something we can contribute, now.

Museums Are Not Neutral.