San Francisco removes 'Appeal to Heaven' flag from city plaza after Alito 'scandal'—had been there for decades

The local government of San Francisco has decided to remove its "Appeal to Heaven" flag that has flown at city hall for decades. The removal comes at the same time many are up in arms that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito had the flag displayed at his vacation home in the past.

Many have attempted to connect the flag that was flown over ships controlled by George Washington to the 2021 "Stop the Steal" J6 rally in Washington DC because some were flown by people in the crowd. Demands for Alito to recuse himself from Donald Trump and J6 related cases over his wife flying a US flag upside down in response to an argument with a neighbor as well as a report showing that the "Appeal to Heaven" flag was also flown at his vacation home.  

San Francisco raised the "Appeal to Heaven" flag at its city hall building in 1964 and it was among the 18 original flags raised for Flag Day. Many have claimed that the flag is now representative of J6 and the "far-right." Despite the new narrative that the flag is associated with the J6 rally, the flag has remained up by the city hall in the Democrat-run city for the last several years and is only coming down after controversy has broken out over the flag being flown at Alito's vacation home. A video released on social media showed the apparent contradiction between more left-wing politicians complaining about Alito flying the flag while a blue city was flying it at the same time.  

City officials went to take down the flag over the weekend and told the San Francisco Chronicle in a statement that it originally was symbolic of the “quest for American independence" and has “since been adopted by a different group — one that doesn’t represent the city’s values.” 

After Alito was asked to recuse himself by Democrat politicians over the two flag instances, he released on letter on Wednesday in response, saying that he would not be recusing himself over the debacle, adding, "I was not familiar with the 'Appeal to Heaven' flag when my wife flew it. She may have mentioned that it dates back to the American Revolution, and I assumed she was flying it to express a religious and patriotic message. I was not aware of any connection between this historic flag and the 'Stop the Steal Movement,' and neither was my wife. She did not fly it to associate herself with that or any other group, and the use of an old historic flag by a new group does not necessarily drain that flag of all other meanings."