Welcome to popular Wiki of the Day where we read the summary of a popular Wikipedia page every day. With 119,046 views on Thursday, 23 May 2024 our article of the day is Pine Tree Flag. The Pine Tree Flag (or the An Appeal to Heaven Flag) was one of the flags used during the American Revolution. The flag, which featured a pine tree with the motto "An Appeal to Heaven", or less frequently "An Appeal to God", was originally used by a squadron of six frigates that were commissioned under George Washington's authority as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in October 1775. The pine tree is a traditional symbol of New England. The phrase "appeal to heaven" is used in John Locke's Second Treatise on Government to describe the right of revolution . It is the official maritime ensign for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, though the script was removed in 1971. It was used by state navy vessels in addition to privateers sailing from Massachusetts. Use of the flag fell out of fashion until the 2020s, when it became seen as a symbol of support for former President Donald Trump among a religious strand of his "Stop the Steal" campaign. By 2024, The Associated Press reported that the Pine Tree Flag had become appropriated as a "banner of the far-right" by Christian nationalist and pro-Trump groups that believed in false claims that the 2020 election was stolen, and had been carried by rioters during the January 6 United States Capitol attack. This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 03:26 UTC on Friday, 24 May 2024. For the full current version of the article, see Pine Tree Flag on Wikipedia. This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes. Follow us on Mastodon at @[email protected]. Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast. Until next time, I'm Salli Neural.