Why the flag at the center of Justice Alito controversy flew in front of a NC building, too

RALEIGH, N.C. — The flag at the center of a U.S. Supreme Court controversy has also flown in front of the North Carolina lieutenant governor’s office, to commemorate the state’s involvement in the Revolutionary War.

Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who is running for governor, flew the same flag as U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito that has gained national attention and been criticized for its connection to Jan. 6, 2021, rioters. The flag is also part of U.S. history and used in a variety of places.

Here’s what you should know about the flag, who has displayed it, and why.

Appeal to Heaven flag in NC

Called the “An Appeal to Heaven” flag, or Pine Tree flag, the flag was displayed as part of Robinson’s office celebrating Halifax Resolves Day, which is April 12, said a spokesperson for Robinson. Several photographs taken by a passerby and shared with The News & Observer show the flag flying in front of the Hawkins-Hartness House in April.

The Hawkins-Hartness House is on Blount Street, a block from the Executive Mansion and Legislative Building. The house was built in the early 1880s and was acquired by the state in 1969.

“The ‘Appeal to Heaven’ flag was displayed for our Halifax Resolves Day celebration due to its historical significance in the Revolutionary War. This flag has a rich history connected to the United States’ struggle for independence from the tyrannical British monarchy. Today, it remains a symbol of resilience, justice, and the unyielding pursuit of liberty,” John Wesley Waugh, Robinson’s spokesperson, told The N&O in a statement.

“Therefore, we felt it was fitting to fly this flag as we celebrated North Carolina’s role as the frontrunner in declaring independence from Great Britain. Additionally, I believe it is also important to note that this flag is still active as the official Maritime Flag for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,” Waugh said.

The newer version of the Pine Tree flag, used in Massachusetts, does not include any words, just the green tree on a white field.

Controversy with Justice Samuel Alito, Jan. 6

The flag has American Revolution origins but gained attention recently because it was flown at the New Jersey beach home of Alito, and he hears cases related to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and attempt to overturn the 2020 election results.

In response to a New York Times story about Alito’s flag, U.S. Rep. Eric Burlison posted a photo of himself holding the flag on social media and wrote that it “isn’t provocative and has nothing to do with Jan. 6.”

At the riot at the U.S. Capitol, several people carried the “Appeal to Heaven” flag, the Associated Press reported. Rioters also carried Confederate flags. The “Appeal to Heaven” flag has been used by supporters of the Christian right, who want to grow their religious influence in society.

An analyst at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue told the AP that those who fly the flag are often advocating for “more intolerant and restrictive forms of government aligned with a specific religious philosophy.”

Former President Donald Trump continues to face criminal charges over trying to overturn the election results in 2020, when President Joe Biden defeated him.

Robinson told a church congregation during a speech in 2021 that he thought Biden “stole the election,” The N&O previously reported. Trump has endorsed Robinson in the 2024 governor’s race.

Robinson’s campaign spokesperson declined to comment, and the statement from the lieutenant governor’s office did not address the flag’s political controversy.

Origin of the ‘Appeal to Heaven’ and Pine Tree flag

The flag was used by Founding Father George Washington during the Revolutionary War. The phrase is from a treatise written by British philosopher John Locke in 1689, about the right to revolution.

It isn’t the only historical American flag that has been used centuries later for political symbolism. The yellow Gadsden flag, with the words “Don’t Tread On Me,” became a symbol of the modern Tea Party, a 2000s conservative movement that grew after the 2008 election of President Barack Obama.

The original Tea Party, of course, was in Boston in 1773, and another example of American colonists fighting back against oppressive British rule that led to the Revolutionary War.

The “Appeal to Heaven”/Pine Tree flag, according to The Boston Herald, is long associated with New England and local history. The 1770s Pine Tree flag followed the Pine Tree Riot.

The Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests described the 1772 Pine Tree Riot as loggers and sawmill owners who pushed back against the king of England’s attempt to take trees for the crown.

North Carolina commemorates the Halifax Resolves every April. The Fourth Provincial Congress wrote about wanting to break away from British rule in the revolutionary resolves, submitted on April 12, 1776, according to NCPedia and the N.C. Division of State Historic Sites and Properties.

In a Halifax Resolves Day event on May 1 at the Hawkins-Hartness House, Robinson praised recent actions by UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Lee Roberts and students after the U.S. flag was taken down during a pro-Palestinian protest on campus, and briefly replaced with the Palestinian flag. Roberts and law enforcement officers put the U.S. flag back up.

N.C. Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson spoke during a Halifax Resolves Day event at the Hawkins-Hartness House on May 1, 2024. Photo courtesy lieutenant governor's office

Robinson said he wanted to recognize the “heroic action” of Roberts to “ensure that the American flag would continue to fly over that institution” and went on to talk about advocating for your beliefs “under the flag that unites us all.”

What U.S. Flag Code, state rules say

According to U.S. Flag Code, the U.S. flag is always to be displayed most prominently, and to the right only of another U.S. flag — meaning the furthest left to observers. It cannot be smaller than any other flag, nor lower than any other flag.

The Hawkins-Hartness House front yard has three flagpoles, with the center pole set further back. The “Appeal to Heaven” flag was flown on a flagpole on the far left, with the center and right flagpoles both flying U.S. flags.

Flag displays at many state government buildings are under the authority of the governor. The N.C. Department of Administration, which is a cabinet agency of the governor, oversees flags to be flown at half-staff on certain occasions, at the direction of the governor.

According to the North Carolina State Government Flag Guide, it is customary for the state and U.S. flag to fly on state buildings or on stationary flagpoles in front of the buildings. The official POW/MIA flag may also be flown, the guide states. The guide does not forbid any flags.

Flag Day, a national holiday, is on June 14. It commemorates the adoption of the U.S. Stars and Stripes flag on June 14, 1777. The number of stars on the flag has changed with the number of states. Flag Day observances were first reported in the late 1800s, according to the Veterans Administration.

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