"And all of a sudden, somebody else steps up. And that person stepping up would be Raymond Pettibon. Presenting the logo and the name." - Keith Morris, MOCAtv
The logo for 80s American Hardcore Punk pioneers Black Flag is one of the most iconic ever created in the Punk Rock world. Appropriately, it's creator Raymond Pettibon "has subsequently become widely recognized in the fine art world for using American iconography variously pulled from literature, art history, philosophy, and religion to politics, sport, and sexuality."
But neat looking as it is, what's it got to do with the name of the band and Punk Rock? What are these black lines supposed to represent?
"It is a flag, but it's 4 bars...it does suggest...waving, you know, in the wind. Or like pistons going or you know?" - Raymond Pettibon, MOCAtv
Penelope Spheeris: What does Black Flag mean, the words Black Flag?
Greg Ginn: Uh, it means Anarchy.
- Decline of the Western Civilization
Anarchist: 1: a person who believes that government and laws are not necessary...2:a person who rebels against any authority, established order, or ruling power...3:a person who believes in, advocates, or promotes anarchism or anarchy especially : one who uses violent means to overthrow the established order - Merriam Webster
"Anarchists have used the black flag as a symbol at least since the early 1880’s." - Anarchism.net
Since Raymond Pettibon came up with the name and the logo, does this mean he was an anarchist, and that he thought the band should be used as a vehicle to promote it? This is a very reasonable question to ask, given the unambiguous meaning behind the name. There's also those infamous 80s riots, violence, and headbutting with police at their shows, which are the stuff of American Punk Rock legend these days.
anarchist: a person who rebels against any authority, established order, or ruling power...
Eric Blair: "Yeah, well it just seemed like the whole Black Flag package was always like, you know, extreme music. Extreme art. An extreme message. I mean, do you think that's wrong?"
Greg Ginn: "I don't know, I don't think of it in that kind of way...as being extreme? I think of it more..not..I don't think of it in extreme as trying to...outrage people or something, I just think of it as songs that...you know...are about things and...um, so I don't think of it in that way, I think we're...we WERE trying to go for extremes as going for as high energy as possible. And uh extremes in energy and what we...you know, put into the performance. And in that way I think the effort was always try to make it as extreme as possible that way, but not to...outrage people or just illicit reaction just for the sake of reaction...We got alot of that, but not intentionally." - Blairing Out
Anarchist: one who uses violent means to overthrow the established order - Merriam Webster
Henry Rollins was known for getting violent with Black Flag fans at shows, while almost naked, flexing his muscles all night, as he screamed angrily into the microphone. There are thousands of pictures and many videos proving this in graphic, sweaty detail - and in fact, is almost a point of pride in many of Henry Rollin's Black Flag "war stories" to this day. So in that sense, the band very much fed off of, and gave back plenty of "reaction for the sake of reaction." But Greg Ginn just doesn't seem to wanna acknowledge or "think of it in that kind of way" I guess?
Anyway, I think we have established that the name of the band stands for anarchy. Greg Ginn admitted it in the film "Decline of the Western Civilization," and we have confirmation from anarchism.net that the black flag has symbolized anarchy from at least the early 1880s. This isn't an "indictment," we're just acknowledging the obvious here!
There's no question that the BF logo looks entirely appropriate tattooed upon the arm of your typical 80s Hardcore Punk, right alongside the Misfits' skull face icon. But I find it a little odd how it is popularly referred to as "the 4 bars," even by the artist himself. Whether Raymond Pettibond intended for the symbol to have multiple meanings or not, I suppose, doesn't matter, since it serves it's purpose as a logo profoundly well. But Pettibon himself suggested other things it might represent, so let's follow his lead down that line of thinking...
The 4 bars are actually elongated rectangles, composed of what appear to be perfectly straight lines - seperated into 2 pairs which sit on their own respective planes. Pettibon suggests they could also represent pistons. I see pillars supporting a structure...especially when we compare it to the photo of 4 pillars above, the exactness intrinsic to the image becomes more obvious. This is not some rough drawing hastily silk screened onto a canvass, or spray painted onto a wall, without concern for whether the edges are clearly defined or not. No, there is something subtly SLEEK about it. The lines are "ruler straight." Everything appears to be perfectly level, both horizontally and vertically. The arrangement of the bars suggests structure and dimension.
Suddenly, I saw a black cube pop out at me. Why is it black? Well the "bars" are black AND the word BLACK is in the band name for starters! Why is it a cube? A flag is typically rectangular, meaning - it is wider than it is tall. But a flag waving in the wind, as allegedly depicted, reduces the width to something more resembling a square. Depth is also suggested. Square + depth [3D] = cube. We can confirm this by connecting coordinate points along the edges with straight lines. The cube is there, but the question is - was it put there intentionally? And how come nobody ever points this out? After all, it's probably one of the most popular tattoo images in the USA! Nobody ever got stoned and went, "whoa, check this out dude!" ???
Incidentally, the earlier quote from Keith Morris was taken from an interview conducted by MOCA [The Museum of Contemprary Art], who's logo has a cube in it. If you watch the video, the entire introduction begins with a close-up on this cube. I know, "Oooooo, creepy!"
"The black cube is a giant's strength to protect Freemasonry. Used thoughtlessly, carelessly, without Masonic reason, it crushes not only him at whom it is aimed but also him who casts it." - themasonictrowel.com
The black cube is loaded with occult symbolic signifficance. Given that, as well as the anarchist/political angle, I began to wonder even more if the band was some sort of vehicle for a secret agenda. That might sound like an outrageous consideration to your typical Black Flag fan - but you cannot truly discount an avenue of inquiry, however absurd it may initially sound, unless you've actually attempted to explore it. Of course, there can sometimes be a fine line between "investigating an avenue of inquiry" and a "witch hunt." Certain things can be determined through basic common sense and logic. The key here is to remain objective, unbiased, and open to any possibilities - while eliminating the impossible whenever we can. As long as one can proceed in this manner, the truth will eventually expose itself, for better or worse.
Many whistleblowers and scholars of the occult tell us that malevolent secret societies love to place their members exactly where you would least expect to find them - for the obvious reason that you can cause the most damage and corruption from the INSIDE. Ideally, this is accomplished without anyone even being aware of the infiltration from within. In fact, former "Vampire," Satanist, and Illuminist William Schnoebelen has stated in his lectures that one task he needed to accomplish before ascending the "next level" in the Satanic Church, was to become a Mormon!
Now I'm not saying this means your typical punk rock "street artist" is secretly working for the Illuminati, but it is extremely easy to assume that such large minded secret societies wouldn't give 2 shits about a bunch of "nobodies" in the small early 80s punk scene, raging in stinky, dark, beer soaked Los Angeles rock clubs - which makes it an ideal place to start your nefarious "grass roots" movement covertly!
Consider the impact of Punk Rock upon youth and society over the years - the violence, the riots, the politics, the fashion, and eventually - the MONEY - what you have is another beast that anyone seeking to maintain strict control over society would want to be holding the reigns of. Why let so much pent up rage and rebellion go to waste? Hey I got an idea, let's CREATE that very scene which drives society in the direction WE want it to go, while hiding behind carefully chosen individuals who will do our dirty work publicly!
"I got an idea of something we can do with a gun
Sink, load, and fire till the empire reaps what they've sown
Shoot, shoot, shoot till their minds are open
Shoot, shoot till their eyes are closed
Push, push, push till we get some motion
Push, push till the bombs explode
Yeah, yeah"
Soundgarden, "Gun"
[Black Flag in the 80s. Greg Ginn is 2nd from the right. He has always been the band leader, and primary owner of record label SST - who released BF albums as well as many others by countless bands - Soundgarden, Saint Vitus, Sonic Youth and Minutemen being just a few.]
Raymond Pettibon was born Raymond Ginn. He is the younger brother of Greg Ginn, and designer of the Black Flag logo. Here he stands, apparently in front of his works, one of which depicts Che Guevarra.]
"Che Guevara was a prominent communist figure in the Cuban Revolution who went on to become a guerrilla leader in South America. Executed by the Bolivian army in 1967, he has since been regarded as a martyred hero by generations of leftists worldwide. Guevara’s image remains a prevalent icon of leftist radicalism and anti-imperialism." - History.com
"A portrait of Joseph Stalin cleverly read, “I should be president of the United States.” Another, this time of Che Guevara, was headlined, "At least I still got my own good looks.” Like Picabia, Pettibon often lifted images directly out of the mainstream. His drawing of Guevara was no different than the iconic image of Guevara. Yet, by a simple juxtaposition of words with images, Pettibon morphed the image into a provocative caricature." - Brandon Freels.com
I'm not going to attempt an in-depth interpretation of Pettibon's art mentioned in the above paragraph, but references to prominent historical communist revolutionary figures within it seems consistent with the anti-capitalist, anarchist messages embedded within the Black Flag name/logo he designed so many years ago - in the sense that anarchy is a logical step towards the path of revolution, historically speaking.
Does any of this prove Black Flag was a vehicle for some specific political agenda? No, but like Robert Plant once said, "oooooooo it makes me wonder..." Maybe there's a long winded Henry Rollins rant somewhere clearing all of this up...
I honestly wasn't looking for cubes while researching various youtube videos on Pettibon's work, they just seem to appear out of nowhere! What am I supposed to do, pretend I didn't see it and act like it's just a coincidence? Admittedly, I only used the first 2 youtube videos that popped up in my search for source material on Pettibon here, and they both flash cubes at me - one cleary a BLACK cube. Is this like a "high art scene" thing or what?
While reading interviews with various punk rock musicians, I came across rumors that Mike Watt, of the Minutemen, is a Freemason. Doesn't make it true, just got me wondering a bit...Anyway, the Minutemen were on Greg Ginn's SST label until their singer D Boone died tragically in 1985.
"Minutemen were civilian colonists who independently formed militia companies self-trained in weaponry, tactics, and military strategies, comprising the American colonial partisan militia during the American Revolutionary War. They were known for being ready at a minute's notice, hence the name. Minutemen provided a highly mobile, rapidly deployed force that enabled the colonies to respond immediately to war threats." - Wiki
I never listened much to the Minutemen, and I don't know if Mike Watt is a Freemason, but I did stumble upon the above post from Twitter, which appears to contain a very interesting exchange between himself and Raymond Pettibon.
Perhaps I am missing the context here or maybe there's some sort of inside joke going on that I don't know about - but Watt appears to say that the one thing stitching all of his art together is "...The Illuminati. N MAKAVELLI."
Watt uses a strange writing style that incorporates what seems to be an intentional use of improper grammer. But the statement seems clear enough. Is he serious?
At first, I thought he misspelled "Machiavelli," an Italian diplomat, philosopher, and historian who lived during the Renaissance. Machiavelli is most famously known for his written work, "The Prince."
"He claimed that his experience and reading of history showed him that politics have always been played with deception, treachery and crime. He also notably said that a ruler who is establishing a kingdom or a republic, and is criticized for his deeds, including violence, should be excused when the intention and the result is beneficial. Machiavelli's Prince has had a mixed reaction. Some considered it a straightforward description of the evil means used by bad rulers; others read in it evil recommendations to tyrants to help them maintain their power.Even into recent times, some scholars, such as Leo Strauss, have stated that the opinion that Machiavelli was a "teacher of evil" should be taken seriously." - wiki
Being that the philosophy expressed by Machiavelli in "The Prince" resonates strongly within the later "Illuminist" philosophy for control of societies [aka The World Revolutionary Movement, a term that has also been associated with Che Guevara] - it's fair to say there is a pretty strong correspondence between Watt's apparent uttering of these 2 words within the same Tweet. However, he did say MAKAVELLI, not MACHIAVELLI.
"Tupac Amaru Shakur...born Lesane Parish Crooks, June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), better known by his stage name 2Pac and, later, by his alias Makaveli...These are the last songs Shakur recorded before he was shot on September 7, 1996."
The Tupac story is obviously a whole other can of worms we can't get into right now. But Makaveli was the alias he used on his final album, curiously titled "the Don Killuminati...The 7 Day Theory."
Raymond Pettibon then responds to Watt's statement..."The Knights o Templar. Watt's shaken many hands, buyt the Freemason ones are those tht truly matter."
Pettibon also seems to be using some form of intentionally improper grammer, similar to Watt's. Are these fake accounts operated by the same source? Pettibon appears to non-ambuguisly suggests that Mike Watt is a Freemason, an Illuminist, or both. The Knight's Templar is a degree in Scottish Rite Freemasonry - and is probably used in any number of rituals in any number of Fraternal Orders around the world. This thing about shaking hands though...Freemasons literally have "secret handshakes" which identifies their grade or level to the "fellow traveler"[fellow Freemason]. If you watch lots of footage of politicians shaking hands, you will eventually notice a strange looking handshake once in a while. These are Freemasonic handshakes.
"Counting all the hands I shook, now I know why you been shaking..." - Soundgarden "Slaves and Bulldozers"
I think the take away, at least for me, is that names, words, and symbols are being invoked here, seemingly by the artists, specifically referencing malevolent secret societies in connection with the art they are creating. One can take a wild guess at what all of this may hint heavily at, but what does any of it prove? If nothing else, it certainly opens up a very legitimate avenue of inquiry to explore. Perhaps the "eccentricity" and "mystique" we often build around some of our celebrity idols has more to do with secrets they cannot reveal about their motives, than it does with their percieved "genius."
In the book "Spray Paint the Walls" by Stevie Chick, there are 8 Black Flag band pictures. Out of all 8 pictures, Greg Ginn is the ONLY person who does what might appear to be the "Hidden Hand" pose. And he does it in 2 out of 8 of the photos. Again, does this prove anything? No, but....
The Hidden Hand was a short lived project formed by Scott "Wino" Weinrich. Wino is best known for his role as the 2nd, and longest running singer for the band Saint Vitus. Saint Vitus released all of their official 80s recordings through Greg Ginn's SST records.
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