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Upside-down American flags are popping up in real life and online<\/a> in support of Donald Trump<\/strong> after a New York jury returned with a guilty verdict<\/a> on all 34 counts against the former president and presumptive Republican nominee.<\/p>\n The symbol, popular among some avid Trump supporters since his 2020 election defeat, has made a resurgence across conservative social media accounts after he was convicted on Thursday of falsifying documents to cover up a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels<\/strong> to illegally influence the 2016 election.<\/p>\n Soon after Thursday\u2019s verdict, Trump loyalists, including Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene<\/strong><\/a> of Georgia, posted an inverted U.S. flag on X, formerly known as Twitter. By Saturday afternoon, more than 10 million people had viewed it.<\/p>\n Other high-profile supporters include The Heritage Foundation, the conservative group behind the GOP\u2019s Project 2025<\/a> playbook. According to Reuters, a Miami chapter of the Proud Boys<\/a>, a far-right militant group, posted an inverted flag on the message channel Telegram, as did a similar group called Patriot Voice, with the words: \u201cIn dire distress.\u201d<\/p>\n The flag has become more prominent in pro-Trump circles after the New York Times<\/em> reported<\/a> that the inverted flag was flown outside the Virginia home of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito<\/strong> just over a week after the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters who falsely believe the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Trump by Joe Biden<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Alito has since claimed that this was all his wife\u2019s decision<\/a>, resulting from a dispute with neighbors, despite the timeline of the alleged incidents not lining up. The justice has also refused to recuse himself from a pair of upcoming cases concerning Jan. 6 and presidential immunity.<\/p>\n Trump was thrilled<\/a> when he learned that Alito would stay on the bench.<\/p>\n \u201cCongratulations to United States Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito for showing the INTELLIGENCE, COURAGE, and \u2018GUTS\u2019 to refuse stepping aside from making a decision on anything January 6th related,\u201d Trump wrote<\/a> on Truth Social. \u201cAll U.S. Judges, Justices, and Leaders should have such GRIT.\u201d<\/p>\n The U.S. flag code<\/a>, though not legally enforceable, states that flags should not be flipped unless they portray a sign of \u201cdire distress.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, it was used as a symbol of protest long before MAGA supporters started employing it. The upside-down flag was utilized<\/a> in the anti-slavery movement in the mid-1800s. Anti-war demonstrations during the Vietnam War used the inverted emblem to criticize the U.S. government\u2019s actions abroad.<\/p>\n In 1974\u2014three decades before Alito became a Supreme Court justice\u2014the court ruled in favor of a university student who hung an American flag with peace symbols on it upside down after the killing of four anti-Vietnam War protesters.<\/p>\n Following the verdict, Trump supporters online have also been calling<\/a> for a civil war and revolution\u2014a turning against the \u201ctraitors\u201d<\/a> who celebrated the conviction of their candidate.<\/p>\n Flying next to the upside-down flag outside of Trump Tower on Friday was another flag inscribed with a simple message: \u201cTrump or Death,\u201d with the former president\u2019s face sandwiched between the years 1776 and 2024.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n