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Unleash the Kraken flag (U.S.)

image located by William Garrison, 28 November 2023
based on photo

Description

See also:

Description

This flag is referred to sometimes as the "Release the Kraken" flag, although the slogan on this particular version reads: "Unleash the Kraken". It is a catchphrase from the 1981 movie "The Clash of the Titans," [the slogan was used again in its 2010 remake] but in late 2020 it was used to signal a U.S. presidential election-fraud conspiracy on social media. The "Kraken" is a mythical mammoth, octopus-looking sea-creature from Scandavian folklore. Its association with political fraud started when Mrs. Sidney Powell, as a legal advisor to then-Pres. Trump, was on the Nov. 13, 2020 "Fox Business" television program with moderator Lou Dobbs -- just a week after Trump's election defeat. During the program, when asked about what actions might be undertaken to overturn Biden's election, Mrs. Powell said that she had evidence that proved that Pres.-elect Joe Biden had been fraudulently elected and that they would "Release the Kraken" of extensive litigation to fight the allegedly "stolen election" by Biden. This specific "Unleash" flag was seen at the early afternoon Jan. 6, 2021 riots/assembly by Trump supporters, who were trying to thwart the gathering of the "Electoral College" meeting that day at the U.S. Capitol building to formalize the election of Pres.-Elect Joe Biden; they were unsuccessful, and Biden was certified as haven been elected president. [So why was the photo in the news-article misquoted? Possibly because the photo-caption labeler misread the small reading on the "Unleash" flag? Or just wanted to match the article's "Release" slogan?] Other "Release the Kraken" flags exist, but this "Unleash" version is revealed here because it was photographed at the Jan. 6, 2021 riot/insurrection/attack/demonstration at the U.S. Capitol. News articles analyzing this topic include: https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/09/us/capitol-hill-insurrection-extremist-flags-soh/index.html and https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/17/technology/release-the-kraken-a-catchphrase-for-unfounded-conspiracy-theory-trends-on-twitter.html

original Jan. 6, 2021 photo (despite the below "Release the Kraken" wording, the flag actually reads: "Unleash the Kraken")
source: https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/09/us/capitol-hill-insurrection-extremist-flags-soh/index.html

William Garrison, 28 November 2023

That flag was one used at the Flags at the Capitol Hill Insurrection of 2021 (see it amoung those flags at the bottom of: http://www.loeser.us/flags/protest3.html)

Pete Loeser, 28 November 2023