--- title: Flags, Hate Symbols and Shirts: Decoding the Capitol Riot description: A TIME video explains what the Capitol Hill rioters' flags, patches and t-shirts really convey canonical: https://time.com/5928627/symbols-capitol/ author: Francesca Trianni article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2021-01-11T21:32:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T09:35:44.532Z article:section: Politics og:title: Flags, Hate Symbols and QAnon Shirts: Decoding the Capitol Riot og:description: TIME analyzed videos and photographs to determine what the symbols the Capitol Hill rioters carried with them tell us og:url: https://time.com/5928627/symbols-capitol/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc85551954ea29c05/698a160186f68e5a926ef963/Capitol_riot_Washinngton_KKK_1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Capitol_riot_Washinngton_KKK_1 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Flags, Hate Symbols and QAnon Shirts: Decoding the Capitol Riot twitter:description: TIME analyzed videos and photographs to determine what the symbols the Capitol Hill rioters carried with them tell us twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc85551954ea29c05/698a160186f68e5a926ef963/Capitol_riot_Washinngton_KKK_1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Flags, Hate Symbols and QAnon Shirts: Decoding the Capitol Riot  by [Francesca Trianni](https://time.com/author/francesca-trianni/)  ## Francesca Trianni Jan 11, 2021 9:32 PM UTC  Following an inflammatory speech by President Trump, rioters storm the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021\. Supporters of the President wave green 'Kekistan' or Kek banners often used by white nationalists to troll liberals according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Following an inflammatory speech by President Trump, rioters storm the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021\. Supporters of the President wave green 'Kekistan' or Kek banners often used by white nationalists to troll liberals according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.Peter van Agtmael—Magnum Photos for TIME  by [Francesca Trianni](https://time.com/author/francesca-trianni/)  ## Francesca Trianni Jan 11, 2021 9:32 PM UTC Many who took part in the rampage at the Capitol came equipped with powerful symbols emblazoned on flags, banners and t-shirts. TIME analyzed videos and photographs shared on social media after January 6, and found that in addition to Confederate flags, the mob paraded with a host of hate symbols, white supremacist banners and QAnon shirts as they descended on the nation’s capital. “I think it’s important to realize that there is essentially developing a new form of extremism, sort of a nascent extremist movement of pro-Trump extremists,” says Mark Pitcavage, a Senior Research Fellow at the Anti-Defamation League, who helped TIME review footage. “But at this point, one can’t just simply say there are mainstream Trump supporters and then there are these extremists, white supremacists or whatever, because some of those Trump supporters are no longer mainstream, they have become an extreme movement of themselves.” Michael Hayden, an investigator at the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks militia and far-right extremist activity says that the events of Jan. 6 illustrated how the “soft barriers” separating [support for Trump with support for conspiracy theories or hate groups](https://time.com/5928249/ashli-babbitt-capitol-extremism/) had collapsed. “The most salient thing for me,” he says, “is the degree to which your bread-and-butter GOP supporter, who fills out rallies and events, seem to be intermingling with extreme far-right factions: accelerationists, neo-Nazis, white nationalists, people who believe there is no political solution at all.” Flags, Hate Symbols and Shirts: Decoding the Capitol Riot ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5928627/symbols-capitol/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5928627/symbols-capitol/"},"headline":"Flags, Hate Symbols and QAnon Shirts: Decoding the Capitol Riot","datePublished":"2021-01-11T21:32:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T09:35:44.532Z","description":"How the far-right is evolving","url":"https://time.com/5928627/symbols-capitol/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc85551954ea29c05/698a160186f68e5a926ef963/Capitol_riot_Washinngton_KKK_1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Francesca Trianni","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/francesca-trianni/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc85551954ea29c05/698a160186f68e5a926ef963/Capitol_riot_Washinngton_KKK_1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Capitol_riot_Washinngton_KKK_1","caption":"2020.Washington DC. USA. Following an inflammatory speech by President Trump, protestors objecting to the certification of Joe Biden by Congress storm the Capitol. 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