Poll for Flag Challenge Number 247: A Return to Truth

[Deleted member 108228]

FLAG CHALLENGE #246:
A Return to Truth

Description:
Make a flag showing a extremist religious/political group.

It can be of any ideology/religion/political group, just as long as they are fundamentalist in their doctrine/implementation.

The Unparalleled Revolution: The Workingmen's Party of America

The federal response to the Great Depression has not been going smoothly under the auspices of President Palmer, and numerous groups presenting themselves as the saviors of the nation have come to the fore to challenge the political establishment in the 1936 elections. Although Huey Long and the rest of the Populist-Progressives see the Constitutional Unionists as a dead letter and have shifted their attention to campaigning against the newly formed Christian Party, out west something strange is brewing, as the Workingmen's Party, long the party of government in the Golden State and the rest of the west coast, has prepared to expand across the country, spreading Kearney-London Socialist Nationalism to every corner of the land.

With an agenda of wealth redistribution more radical than Long and a successful legacy of purifying California with which to challenge the upstart Pelley and his Silver Legion, the party is poised to make gains in the Congress, and possibly even to seize the presidency, all the better to cure the nation of the evils of capitalism and racial infiltration. Although now explicitly a national party, the WPA has not changed its flag, seen by many members of the party as a debt owed to their roots. The flag is a color-inverted version of the 1846 Bear Flag, the official flag of the California Republic before its annexation by the United States in 1850, with a California golden bear and an Arm, Hammer and Star representing Socialist Nationalism.

*Basically the Bear Flag Revolt succeeds, with the California Republic fighting alongside the US in the Mexican-American War and retaining the area of OTL California and Nevada when it gets annexed. Workingmen's Party leader Denis Kearney is elected governor in 1878, instituting a Jim Crow system aimed primarily at the Chinese population of the state, though his successor Jack London relaxes the parts of the system aimed at the state's Hispanic population in recognition of their important contribution to the Republic's fight for independence, and was also quite fond of the Japanese.

In the 1896 election, William Jennings Bryan loses out on the Democratic nomination, taking the Populists with him when he bolts the party, while Roosevelt does the same with the Republican Progressives in 1912. The dregs of both establishment parties coalesce into the Constitutional Unionists while the two radical parties merge. While they're looked down on as at best a regional threat compared to the Populist-Progressives and the Christian Party (which is far larger than real life, having absorbed quite a few southern Democrats), the WPA has an unsettlingly deep bench of support across the nation, and robust plans to purify the country, end capitalist and religious exploitation with a good strong rope and get grand revenge on the British Empire and Hongxian China for perceived interference in American interests.*

Palmarian Catholic Church (Iglesia Palmariana)

Right after his self-proclamation as Pope in 1978, Clemente Domínguez (as Gregory XVII) personally pondered of creating symbols that would represent his organization, with emphasis on his claim as the "legitimate" successor to Pope Paul VI and, in extension, the whole Palmarian Church as the "true" Catholic Church. After consulting his advisers on such matter, he firmly decided that creating symbols, most specifically an emblem and a flag, was a necessity in order to distinguish the Palmarians (the true Catholic church) from the rest of the society (the Gentiles, as seen from the Palmarian point of view). As direct contact with the "Gentiles" were already been restricted, the Palmarian emissaries had to disguised themselves to contact local amateur heraldic enthusiasts, who responded with letters suggesting symbols that highlighted its heritage through the group's whole name, la Iglesia Cristiana Palmariana de los Carmelitas de la Santa Faz (Palmarian Christian Church of the Carmelites of the Holy Face), something that Gregory XVII/Clemente Domínguez had gladly accepted, as evidenced in the letters of response using his civilian name. It was said that the Palmarian emissaries paid the local heraldic enthusiasts a sum of 49 million pesetas.

The flag of Palmarian Church reflected its claimed Carmelite heritage by using the brown color at the top, despite the obvious and understable opposition from the mainstream Carmelite orders, who declared that such use was considered as usurpation. At the bottom of the Palmarian bicolor is yellow, representing the claimed legitimacy of the said organization as the legitimate Catholic church, most especially its leader as the true Pope. At the upper left corner is the coat of arms of the Palmarian Church, which also reflected its heritage as a Carmelite order and its claim as a legitimate Catholic Church.

The Sons of Liberty
The modern Sons of Liberty are a terrorist organisation based primarily in the North American Provinces of the Imperial British Commonwealth.
Their primary aim is secure "independence" of what they call the American Colonies from the "British Yoke" despite all provinces essentially having self governance and representation in the Commonwealth Council & Parliament.
Other aims generally include white and male supremacy.
Their willingness to target civilians and refusal to engage politically have ensured most countries label them a terrorist group.
Their flag derives from that of the original late 18th century Sons of Liberty, an organisation aimed at promoting independence of the eastern coast due to lack of representation in British Government, that became defunct following the establishment of the Chamber for Colonial Affairs under King Frederick I. It consists of 5 red and 4 white stripes. The modern group have added a red ringed pentagram. Both the stripes and star are alleged to represent the 5 liberties but only Freedom from Tax, Freedom to Carry Arms, and Freedom of Absolute Speech, are consistently present in the various tracts sent out by members.

Andrew Shelby was fascinated with the rise of Benito Mussolini and the National Fascist Party of Italy. Andrew attended the University of Idaho from 2017-2021 where he was a history and philosophy double major. He also fancied himself a natural born leader who was always the smartest person in the room. During the Trump presidency Andrew became convinced that the U.S. was ripe for an uprising from what he referred to as the "lesser citizenry" and he felt compelled to do whatever he could to prevent such an event. He was in Washington D.C. on January 6th, 2021 and participated in the storming of the Capital building where he picked up several shards of glass as keepsakes, and inspired the title of his his manifesto, The Shards, published in 2029.

Shortly after graduating from college Andrew Shelby became a high school history teacher in rural eastern Washington state. Shelby formed the "Youth Leaders of Tomorrow" which was a volunteer organization where high school students spent weekends and summers performing community outreach and providing services to poor citizens of eastern Washington and Idaho. The YLT was often criticized for only assisting the white poor of the region and in fact, in The Shards, Shelby referred to the Youth Leaders of Tomorrow as a counterbalance to organizations that assisted underserved communities of color. While the YLT operated as a peaceful organization with altruistic aims, Shelby used it to recruit many impressionable students into his Mussolini inspired Action Squad. His Action Squad carried out acts of vandalism against minority churches, local government buildings, and other targets determined by Shelby. It did not take long before the Action Squad began to target individuals who opposed Shelby's world view with violence. Beginning in 2023 Shelby's Action Squad carried out some of the most brazen domestic terror attacks the U.S. has seen.

In 2027, Andrew Shelby was imprisoned for assaulting his opponent in the 2027 Boise mayoral race. It was in his prison cell that Shelby wrote The Shards, a rambling, unhinged, "stream of consciousness", text where Shelby rails against minority groups, homosexuals, liberals, Jews, Muslims, Asians, Indians, and Native Americans. He argues for the need of an authoritarian take over at all levels of government and advocates for a "White haven where mankind can reach its zenith free of tainted and stained blood." It is also believed that while imprisoned, Shelby orchestrated the 2028 coordinated bombings of the Seattle Times, Microsoft Headquarters, three Amazon distribution centers, and the campaign headquarters of a democratic U.S. Senator. The attack resulted in the deaths of 673 people including 14 children. While no direct connection could be made to Shelby, the Action Squad claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Upon his release from prison in late 2028 he moved to a compound in the mountains of Idaho he named Purity and has declared himself to be the leader of the American Fascist Republic. While no official borders exist for this self proclaimed nation, Shelby's followers (numbering in the tens of thousands who regularly chant passages from The Shards at large rallies) claim "all lands from the Cascades to the Great Lakes to be the the nation of the AFR with the capital of Purity." (Shelby, 2029) The federal government of the U.S has listed the AFR and the Action Squad as domestic terrorist groups and has made several attempts to infiltrate the fortified compound of Purity with little success. Shelby can sometimes be seen in the rural regions of the claimed AFR dressed in a suit of all black with red trim surrounded by an enormous Action Squad security detail. Shelby's traveling convoy generally consists of large 4x4 black pick up trucks with the AFR national flag (nicknamed The Shelby) mounted in the beds.

The Shelby flag is described as a field of black upon which is a golden Eagle of Fascism within a golden ring.
Along the hoist is a red bar upon which are Gaelic runes that have been interpreted (by Shelby) to spell SHELBY.

Oppenheimic Order of Yucca

The Oppenheimic Order of Yucca is a military order of the Atomic Brotherhood. Based out of Yucca City, the Oppenheimic Order of Yucca takes the mainstream teachings of the Atomic Brotherhood to a extreme position.
While most in the Atomic Brotherhood teach that the god Atom and his prophets sent a curse upon humanity for their sins and placed certain areas where those who disobeyed him under such a curse that anyone who dug into those areas as unholy and certain to die. In addition, any attempts to replicate the powers of Atom are strictly forbidden by the Law and the Brotherhood. The Oppenheimic Order of Yucca holds the first part to be true, but say that the powers of Atom are a blessing upon his followers and should be harness, similar to how Atom's powers were first harnessed by the Prophet Einstein and the Holy Servant Oppenheimer. Thus the Oppenheimic Order of Yucca seeks out knowledge and tools to recreate Atom's Suns (Nuclear Bombs) and Atom's Towers (Nuclear Power Plants). Recently, they've taken to invading settlements around the Yucca region searching out the materials they need to clean the wasteland of the unholy and to protect their realms with such ferocity that none will approach the Fields of Horror, a massive complex of towering thorns, images of screaming souls painted onto massive walls, and the shadows of the sinful who have had their soul taken by Atom, surrounded by blue cacti and colour changing felines.
The mainstream Atomic Brotherhood try to keep those away from the area, but the Oppenheimic sects use the places under their protection as an execution chamber for any who dare defy the will and teachings of Atom.

As of the Year of Atom 2002, the Atomic Energy Council has met to decry the Oppenheimic sects as heretical to the teachings of Atom and a holy war to be declared against them. The two religious orders are preparing for war, and the future of the wastelands will forever be changed as a bombing campaign of Yucca city has begun and an ancient evil is about to be released into the world.