House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) displays a flag associated with Christian extremism outside his office at the U.S. Capitol.
The Louisiana Republican posted flags outside his office representing the United States and Louisiana, along with a Revolutionary War-era "Appeal to Heaven" flag, which has become associated with New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) network seeking to place the government under right-wing Christian control, reported Rolling Stone.
The white flag shows an evergreen tree in the center and black letters spelling out "An Appeal to Heaven" at the top, and it was originally commissioned by George Washington as a naval flag for Massachusetts.
But for the past decade it has become a symbol of the NAR movement and their goal of establishing a “Seven Mountain Mandate" over the government.
"The 'Mandate,' as they understand it, is given by God for Christians to 'take dominion' and 'conquer' the tops of all seven of these sectors and have Christian influence flow down into the rest of society," reported Bradley Onishi and Matthew D. Taylor for the magazine. "Drawn into American politics by this aggressive theological vision, many New Apostolic Reformation leaders became very active in right-wing political circles, including one of C. Peter Wagner’s key disciples, an apostle-prophet named Dutch Sheets. Sheets is not a household name in Christian politics like Jerry Falwell or Ralph Reed or James Dobson, but he has real influence."
Sheets was given an "Appeal to Heaven" flag in 2013 by a friend who described it as the banner that flew over the nation at its birth because it predated the Stars and Stripes, and he seized upon it as a symbol of the spiritual warfare he believed would be necessary to complete a Christian nationalist revolution, and he published a book on the topic in 2015, the same year Sarah Palin endorsed his efforts an opinion piece in Breitbar after he gave her a flag.
The NAR movement and Sheets endorsed Trump's candidacy early on, and dozens of "Appeal to Heaven" flags were carried to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Sheets and his team were in Washington, D.C., eight days before the insurrection and stayed at the Willard Hotel, where Rudy Giuliani and Steve Bannon set up war rooms ahead of Jan. 6, and Sheets and 14 other NAR prophets held a multi-hour meeting at the White House with Trump administration officials, although it's not clear which officials were there.
A spokesman for Johnson told Rolling Stone that all members of Congress may post three flags outside their office, and said the speaker appreciates the “rich history of the flag."
“Rep. Johnson’s Appeal to Heaven flag was a gift to him and other members of Congress by Pastor Dan Cummins, who has served as a guest chaplain for the House of Representatives over a dozen times, under Speakers from both parties,” the spokesperson said.
