Overview

• On June 11, the SBA raised the controversial ‘Appeal to Heaven’ flag alongside the American flag at a Flag Day ceremony attended by administrator Kelly Loeffler.
• Loeffler’s June 11 post on X highlighted a new American-made flag but did not acknowledge the second banner beneath it.
• Multiple anonymous staffers reported to WIRED that seeing the flag’s evergreen tree motif and slogan “An Appeal to Heaven” was jarring and suggested the agency endorsed Christian nationalist views.
• Researchers note the banner has Revolutionary War origins but has been adopted by far-right and Stop the Steal activists, including those at the January 6 Capitol breach.
• The flag was taken down by the next morning and the display only became public when WIRED published its report on June 17.