Pine Tree Flag

The Pine Tree Flag (or the An Appeal to Heaven Flag) was one of the flags used during the American Revolution. The flag, which featured a pine tree with the motto "An Appeal to Heaven", or less frequently "An Appeal to God", was used by a squadron of six schooners commissioned under George Washington's authority as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army beginning in October 1775. The pine tree is a traditional symbol of New England. The phrase "appeal to heaven" appears in John Locke's Second Treatise on Government, where it is used to describe the right of revolution. It is also used by libertarian activists and enthusiasts of the American Revolution to commemorate the Pine Tree Riot, one of the first acts of resistance by the American colonists to the Crown's authority eventually culminating in the American Revolution.