Sorry, cons, the Revolution is liberal now
How the Revolutionary War aesthetic moved left.
This story was first published on June 17, 2025.
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If you start seeing Gadsden flag decals next to the Human Rights Campaign equal signs on Prius bumpers or electric Ford F-150 Lightning pickup trucks soon, know you can trace the rise of a Patriot-inspired aesthetic on the left to President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday.
Saturday’s No Kings protests against Trump was a coming out party for the sort of Resistance you remember from his first term. Organizers said more than 5 million protesters attended protests in more than 2,100 cities and towns, and sarcastic, self-aware signs are back, with slogans like “It’s So Bad Even The Introverts Are Out,” “If Kamala Was President We’d Be at Brunch Right Now,” and “Too Many Issues For One Sign” at demonstrations across the country.
But there was also a noticeable use of Revolutionary War-era symbols that for more than a decade-and-a-half have been associated with the right. Say hello to the Democratic Revolutionary Revival.
The Tea Party movement began in 2009 as a response against then-President Barack Obama’s housing bailout proposal, and at early protests, like one held near the site of the actual Boston Tea Party, some attendees dressed up in Revolutionary War cosplay, tricorn hats and all. It was the birth of a conservative Tea Party Patriot aesthetic, and Revolutionary War symbolism proliferated on the right. Think Constitution polos and t-shirts with a U.S. flag on the sleeve and “If I Charge, Follow Me, If I Retreat, Kill Me, If I Die, Avenge” on the back worn in the Target toy aisle.
What pussyhats and “In This House We…” yard signs would become for anti-Trumpism eight years later, Tea Party Patriot was to anti-Obamaism, a visual form of resistance. It was unapologetic, loud, and proud to be an American. Iconography like the “Don’t Tread One Me” Gadsden snake, the original 13-star Betsy Ross flag, and Constitution-style script “We The People” typography became especially right coded, and in some cases associated with right-wing extremism.
Alongside QAnon and Confederate symbolism, rioters during the attack at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 wore “1776” apparel and symbols for the Three Percenters, a paramilitary group named after a debunked claim that just 3% of the American colonists fought the British. The shifting political meaning of historical symbols can be best illustrated by Nike, which canceled the planned Independence Day release of Air Max 1 Quick Strikes with the 13-star flag on the back in 2019 after Colin Kaepernick criticized the design.
Today, though, there’s a new liberal equivalent to the conservative Tea Party Patriot look that reclaims well-known Revolutionary War tropes from the right, like LARPing as a colonist and “1776,” except it’s now also compatible with drag-style wigs and Pride friendly.
A Boston art collective has used “Common Sense”-style fonts to project anti-Trump messages on historic buildings around the birthplace of the American Revolution, and protesters this weekend who dressed up like George and Martha Washington or carried signs with script “We The People” messages were referencing the same design heritage. With the 250th anniversary of the U.S. next year, Democratic Revolutionary Revival taps into history with a ready-made stand-in for King George who’s obsessed with gold, treats foreign policy like a family business, and had a parade on his birthday for the Army.
As a nation born of a war of independence from a monarchy, “king” has been used as a slur in the U.S. against presidents from Andrew Jackson (see today’s History of Political Design) to Obama. For Trump, though, it’s an especially pointed line of attack since his own administration played up the comparisons to a king. Trump’s pursuit of the unitary executive theory, or expanding executive authority beyond its checks and balances, betrays traditional conservative values about small government, but it also makes it easier for liberals to rally under the banner of “No Kings.”
1776core isn’t just for Republicans anymore.
