LIVE: Foreign Flags Fly High at No Kings Protests — Are These Traitors Betraying Donald Trump’s America?

Foreign Flags at No Kings Protests: A Deliberate Provocation or Misunderstood Symbolism?

On June 14, 2025, the “No Kings” protests erupted across the United States, a massive wave of demonstrations aimed at rejecting what organizers call the authoritarian overreach of the Trump administration. Coinciding with President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday, Flag Day, and a lavish military parade in Washington, D.C., marking the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary, the protests drew millions to over 2,000 cities and towns. Amid the sea of American flags waved by protesters reclaiming patriotism, reports surfaced of foreign flags at some events, sparking a firestorm of controversy. Critics, particularly Trump supporters, seized on these images to brand protesters as unpatriotic or even traitors. But what’s the truth behind these foreign flags? Are they evidence of disloyalty, or is something else at play?

The Context: A Nation Divided

The “No Kings” protests, organized by a coalition of over 200 groups including Indivisible, the ACLU, and the 50501 Movement, were billed as a “nationwide day of defiance” against Trump’s policies, particularly his immigration crackdowns and the controversial military parade. The parade, featuring 6,700 soldiers, 150 military vehicles, and 50 aircraft at an estimated cost of $25–45 million, was criticized as a self-aggrandizing spectacle, despite Trump’s insistence it was for Flag Day and the Army, not his birthday. Protesters, galvanized by recent events like the National Guard’s deployment in Los Angeles against anti-ICE demonstrations, aimed to show that “real power rises up everywhere else,” not in staged D.C. displays.

In Los Angeles, where protests were especially intense due to Trump’s immigration raids, American flags dominated the rallies. Organizers, aware of earlier criticism over Mexican flags at anti-ICE protests, encouraged U.S. flags to counter narratives of a “foreign invasion.” Yet, scattered reports and social media posts highlighted foreign flags—Mexican, Palestinian, and others—at some events, particularly in Philadelphia, New York, and Los Angeles. These images fueled a rage-bait headline: “Foreign Flags Fly High at No Kings Protests: Are These Traitors Betraying America?” The question demands a closer look.

The Spark: Foreign Flags in the Crowd

X posts from June 14 amplified the controversy, with conservative users sharing photos of Mexican and Palestinian flags at protests, claiming they proved protesters’ disloyalty. One viral post read, “No Kings? More like No America! Why are they waving foreign flags while trashing Trump?” Another user countered, “It’s called solidarity, not treason. Immigrants are part of this fight too.” The debate raged online, with little clarity on the flags’ prevalence or purpose.

According to news reports, foreign flags were not widespread but appeared in specific contexts. In Los Angeles, Mexican flags were carried by some Latino protesters opposing Trump’s deportations, which they argued targeted American communities, including citizens. In Philadelphia, a small group of protesters carried Palestinian flags, reportedly to draw parallels between their cause and resistance to perceived authoritarianism globally. These instances were dwarfed by American flags, which organizers explicitly promoted. Ezra Levin, co-founder of Indivisible, told Newsweek, “It’s crucial protesters do not cede the narrative of patriotism or the ownership of the flag to the right wing.”

The Accusation: Traitors or Patriots?

The “traitor” label stems from a long-standing conservative critique that associates foreign symbols with anti-Americanism. Trump supporters, including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who deployed 5,000 National Guard troops to counter protests, framed the flags as evidence of “outside agitators” threatening national unity. A White House statement echoed this, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt asserting Trump supports peaceful protest but not “violence or disloyalty.” The narrative gained traction after Trump’s June 10 warning that protesters at the parade would face “very heavy force,” a comment later softened to clarify support for peaceful demonstrations.

Critics argue this framing is a deliberate distortion. Foreign flags, they say, reflect the diverse identities of protesters, many of whom are immigrants or their allies, fighting for inclusion in America. “The Mexican flag isn’t about rejecting the U.S.—it’s about saying our heritage isn’t a crime,” said Maria Gonzalez, a protester in Los Angeles quoted by Al Jazeera. Similarly, Palestinian flags were linked to broader anti-authoritarian solidarity, not anti-Americanism. Organizers emphasized nonviolence and de-escalation, with no weapons allowed at events, countering claims of hostile intent.

The Reality: A Mixed Picture

Estimates suggest over 5 million people participated in the protests, with major rallies in New York (200,000), Philadelphia (100,000), and smaller towns like Pentwater, Michigan (400 in a town of 800). While most events were peaceful, isolated incidents—like a driver in Culpeper, Virginia, striking a protester, or clashes in Los Angeles—fueled perceptions of chaos. Foreign flags appeared in these high-profile locations but were not a defining feature. Harvard’s Crowd Counting Consortium noted that the protests were three times larger than 2017’s anti-Trump mobilizations, with American flags as the dominant symbol.

The controversy recalls earlier debates, like the 2006 immigration protests where Mexican flags sparked backlash, prompting organizers to prioritize U.S. flags in later events. Here, No Kings organizers made similar efforts, but the diversity of the coalition—spanning racial, economic, and global justice causes—meant some protesters brought their own symbols. This reflects a tension: the movement’s strength lies in its inclusivity, but that same diversity opens it to misinterpretation.

The Rage-Bait Trap

The “traitor” headline is classic rage-bait, designed to inflame nationalist outrage by amplifying rare instances to paint an entire movement as disloyal. It distracts from the protests’ core message: rejecting Trump’s policies, from immigration raids to court defiance, which organizers argue undermine democracy. By focusing on foreign flags, critics sidestep the broader issues of militarization and authoritarianism that drove millions to protest.

Yet, protesters aren’t blameless. Carrying foreign flags in a charged context risks alienating moderates who might otherwise support the cause. Organizers’ emphasis on American flags shows they recognize this, but decentralized protests make uniformity impossible. The flags, whether Mexican or Palestinian, weren’t calls to overthrow America but expressions of identity and solidarity—yet their optics handed critics a potent weapon.

Conclusion: Whose Flag, Whose America?

The foreign flags at the No Kings protests were neither a betrayal nor a dominant feature. They were a small, symbolic act by some protesters asserting their place in a diverse America, but their presence was weaponized to paint a movement of millions as unpatriotic. The real story isn’t the flags—it’s the unprecedented scale of defiance against a president accused of acting like a king. As one Philadelphia protester told NPR, “The flag doesn’t belong to Trump. It belongs to us.”

This controversy reveals a deeper divide: what does patriotism mean in 2025? For No Kings protesters, it’s about defending democracy, inclusivity, and nonviolence. For their critics, it’s about loyalty to nation and leader. Both sides claim the flag, but only one seems willing to share it. As America grapples with these clashing visions, the No Kings movement marches on, foreign flags or not, determined to prove that power lies with the people, not a parade. For more details, visit nokings.us or review coverage from NPR, Newsweek, and The Guardian.