Revolutionary War Flag Tied to January 6 Now Hangs at Education Department

A Senior Official Displays the Controversial Banner

A flag that once flew on George Washington’s warships is stirring up trouble at the Department of Education.

Murray Bessette, a top official in the agency’s policy office, has been displaying an “Appeal to Heaven” flag outside his Washington D.C. workspace.

The banner features a green pine tree on white fabric with the words “An Appeal to Heaven” across the top. It dates back to 1775, but its recent history is what has people upset.

The same flag appeared everywhere during the January 6 Capitol riot, and it has become a symbol for Christian nationalist groups who believe America should be governed by biblical law.

Workers Union Calls for Removal

The president of the Education Department workers’ union did not hold back. Rachel Gittleman said the agency has no place for symbols carried by insurrectionists.

She pointed out that employees have already faced threats, harassment, and low morale since January. Now they must walk past a flag that critics say represents intolerance and extremism.

The department pushed back, with a spokesperson saying union members care more about political fights than student test scores.

Neither side has indicated whether the flag will stay or go.

Washington Commissioned the Original Banner

The flag has legitimate Revolutionary War roots.

In October 1775, George Washington needed a way to identify his small fleet of six schooners hunting British supply ships near Boston.

His secretary, Colonel Joseph Reed, proposed a simple design with a pine tree on white fabric and the words “An Appeal to Heaven” across the top.

Washington approved it, and the banner became one of the most important flags of the early revolution.

Massachusetts later adopted it as the official flag of its state navy in 1776.

Philosopher John Locke Inspired the Motto

The phrase on the flag comes from serious political philosophy.

John Locke wrote in his 1690 Second Treatise of Government that when people are denied their rights and have no earthly court to hear their case, they have the liberty to appeal to heaven.

The Founding Fathers quoted Locke more than any other political writer during the 1760s and 1770s. Signer Richard Henry Lee once said the Declaration of Independence was largely copied from Locke’s work.

The colonists understood exactly what they meant when they put those words on a flag.

Pine Trees Meant Rebellion to Colonists

The tree on the flag was not random decoration.

White pines in New England grew over 250 feet tall and made perfect ship masts for the British Royal Navy.

King George III banned colonists from cutting down any pine over 12 inches in diameter, even on their own land.

When officials started enforcing this rule in 1772, a New Hampshire mill owner named Ebenezer Mudgett led a group that beat the sheriff and his deputy with tree switches.

The Banner Disappeared for Two Centuries

After the Stars and Stripes became the national flag in 1777, the Appeal to Heaven banner faded from view. It remained a historical curiosity, occasionally appearing in paintings or on commemorative stamps.

Massachusetts kept using it for its naval ensign until 1971. San Francisco flew it outside City Hall alongside other historic flags for decades.

But most Americans had never heard of it, and those who saw it assumed it was just another relic from the founding era with no modern political meaning.

An Evangelical Pastor Brought It Back

Everything changed in 2013 when Dutch Sheets, an influential figure in the New Apostolic Reformation movement, received the flag at a Texas Bible college graduation ceremony.

Sheets believed God was sending him a prophetic message that America needed to return to its Christian foundations.

By 2015, he launched a nationwide tour called “An Appeal to Heaven” and published a book with the same title.

He gave flags to politicians including Sarah Palin and encouraged followers to fly them over courthouses and statehouses as symbols of spiritual warfare.

Rioters Brought Dozens to the Capitol

When supporters of President Trump stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, Appeal to Heaven flags were everywhere in the crowd.

Photographs and videos from that day show the banners on the front lines where rioters clashed with police officers. Dutch Sheets himself spent much of the riot leading a prayer call with 4,000 participants.

Religion scholar Matthew Taylor has said no Christian leader did more to mobilize believers to be in Washington that day than Sheets.

The flag became permanently linked to the insurrection in many people’s minds.

Justice Alito Flew One at His Beach House

The controversy went to the highest levels of government in May 2024.

The New York Times reported that an Appeal to Heaven flag had been photographed flying outside Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s New Jersey vacation home multiple times during the summer of 2023.

This came just days after reports that an upside-down American flag, another symbol used by election deniers, had flown at his Virginia residence.

Alito blamed his wife for both flags and refused to recuse himself from cases involving January 6 or the 2020 election.

Speaker Johnson Defends His Display

House Speaker Mike Johnson has kept an Appeal to Heaven flag outside his Capitol Hill office since before he became Speaker in late 2023.

When asked about it, he said it was a gift from a pastor and that he appreciates its Revolutionary War history.

Johnson claimed he was unaware the flag had been adopted by far-right movements or the Stop the Steal campaign.

Defenders say the flag’s original meaning should not be erased by how some groups have used it recently.

Education Department Is Second Agency This Year

The flag at Bessette’s office is not the first time a federal agency has displayed the banner in 2025.

In June, the Small Business Administration flew an Appeal to Heaven flag at its Washington headquarters during a Flag Day ceremony.

Administrator Kelly Loeffler posted photos of the event on social media.

Senator Ed Markey demanded answers about who approved the display and whether it violated principles of government neutrality.

The flag came down after about a day, but no official explanation was given. Now the same symbol hangs at the department responsible for the nation’s schools.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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