Anti-Flag was an American
punk rock
Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...
band formed in
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
, in 1988. The band was known for its
left-wing
Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...
political activism. For the majority of the band's career, their members included
Justin Sane (vocals and guitar), Chris Head (guitar), Pat Thetic (drums), and Chris Barker, also known as Chris No. 2 (vocals and bass).
Gaining popularity through the punk underground, Anti-Flag controversially signed to
RCA Records
RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...
and released their major label debut ''
For Blood and Empire'' in 2006. It contained singles such as "The Press Corpse" (which was the band's only appearance on the US
Alternative Airplay chart) and "This is the End (For You My Friend)", which featured in multiple video games.
The band remained active past their commercial peak, releasing a total of thirteen albums, the last of which came out months before their disbandment. The band also operated their own record label,
A-F Records.
Anti-Flag suddenly broke up in July 2023 amidst several rape and sexual assault allegations made against Sane. The other members directly condemned him and disbanded. In March 2024, Sarhadi's legal team learned that Sane had sold his Pittsburgh home and transferred funds to a bank account in Ireland, where he holds dual citizenship. They later claimed that Sane had successfully fled the United States, although they could not confirm the country to which Sane moved.
History
Early years (1988, 1992–1996)
Anti-Flag was originally formed in 1988 by Justin Sane and Pat Thetic. Various guitarists and bassists joined and left the band during the band's early years, including Sane's sister, Lucy Fester, who was formerly part of the Chicago band Toothpaste. The band failed to solidify and disbanded after performing in just one show.
In 1992, Sane and Thetic reformed the band with Andy Flag as their bassist. A 17-song demo album called ''17 Songs'' was released the same year.
First three albums (1996–1999)
In 1996, Anti-Flag released their first album, ''
Die For the Government'', on
New Red Archives. Andy Flag left the band in mid-1996 because of personal disputes with Justin. After Andy's departure in 1996, Sean Whelan from the Pittsburgh band the Bad Genes briefly filled in as their bassist. During this time, Sean was also playing in another band (57 Defective) with Pittsburgh guitarist Chris Head, whom he introduced to Anti-Flag.
In early 1997, Chris Head began filling in on bass. In late 1997, Jamie Cock took over as the new bassist, giving Chris Head his preferred role as the second guitar. The band's current lineup was finalized in 1999 when Chris Barker, also known as Chris No. 2, replaced Jamie Cock on bass.
In 1998, Anti-Flag released their second full-length album, ''
Their System Doesn't Work for You''. The album contained all nine Anti-Flag songs from the 1996 Anti-Flag/
d.b.s. split album ''North America Sucks'', as well as 10 new unreleased songs. The band decided to release the album independently, and ''Their System Doesn't Work for You'' became the debut release for the band's own
A-F Records.
In 1999, Anti-Flag released the album ''
A New Kind of Army'' on
Go-Kart Records/
A-F Records. The album addressed topics such as abortion, political corruption, racism,
fascism
Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...
, troubled youth, police brutality, and unity amongst American youths. The cover art page unfolded into a poster featuring the phrase, "Too smart to fight. Too smart to kill. Join now. A new kind of army." In addition, the band had a disclaimer at the bottom of its album cover, which said, "Anti-Flag does not mean Anti-American. Anti-Flag means anti-war. Anti-Flag means unity."
Fat Wreck Chords (2000–2004)
In 2000, Anti-Flag was invited to participate in
Vans Warped Tour
The Warped Tour is a touring rock music festival that toured the United States and Canada each summer from 1995 until 2019, and returned in 2025 for its 30th anniversary. By 2015, Warped was the largest traveling music festival in the United S ...
. During this time, the members of Anti-Flag met
NOFX
NOFX () was an American punk rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983. Bassist/lead vocalist Fat Mike, rhythm guitarist Eric Melvin and drummer Erik Sandin were original founding and longest-serving members of the band, who have appeared on every ...
's
Fat Mike, owner of the
Fat Wreck Chords record label. This meeting built a friendship between them that would lead to Anti-Flag releasing two albums under Fat Wreck Chords.

In 2001, Anti-Flag teamed up with punk music producer
Mass Giorgini to record the album ''
Underground Network'' on
Fat Wreck Chords. The album's release is arguably the moment Anti-Flag emerged from the hardcore underground into more of a mainstream spotlight. The album addressed the topics of
fascism
Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...
(specifically neo-Nazis infiltrating the "hardcore scene") and the
foreign policy of the United States
The officially stated goals of the foreign policy of the United States of America, including all the bureaus and offices in the United States Department of State, as mentioned in the ''Foreign Policy Agenda'' of the Department of State, are ...
. The album was the first of theirs to contain the now-commonplace booklet filled with essays from historians and political commentators, most notably Professor
Howard Zinn
Howard Zinn (August 24, 1922January 27, 2010) was an American historian and a veteran of World War II. He was chair of the history and social sciences department at Spelman College, and a political science professor at Boston University. Zinn ...
.
In February 2002, Anti-Flag released the album ''
Mobilize'' on
A-F Records. The album featured eight new studio tracks, as well as eight live tracks of songs from other albums. In the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, Anti-Flag spoke out against the push for war with the album's title track, "911 for Peace". During this time, many music stores took Anti-Flag's records off their shelves, as their music was labeled as "anti-American."
In 2003, Anti-Flag released the album ''
The Terror State'' on
Fat Wreck Chords, which primarily focused on criticizing the
Bush Administration's actions regarding the
War on Terrorism. As before, a booklet filled with essays by the band and other political commentators was included in the album. The album also contained a song called "Post-War Breakout," whose lyrics were originally written by
Woody Guthrie. The track's music was arranged by the members of Anti-Flag, as Guthrie had never committed the arrangements to paper.
On October 8, 2004,
U.S. Representative Jim McDermott gave a speech in the House of Representatives, commending Anti-Flag for their work in encouraging young people to register and vote.
RCA (2005–2009)
In 2005, Anti-Flag signed a two-album record contract with the
major label RCA. In an interview with British newspaper ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', Justin Sane explained the band's move to a major label:
The first of these two albums, ''
For Blood and Empire'', was released on March 21, 2006. The album's main focus is criticism of the U.S. government's mishandling of the
War on Terrorism. The album's lead single, "This Is The End (For You My Friend)," is featured in the video game
Madden NFL 07 and
NHL 07. This single strays from the theme of war and instead focuses on troubled youth. They finished their "War Sucks, Let's Party" United States headlining tour in April and worked on some side projects such as the
African Well Fund and Start to Finish MS Now.
Throughout Anti-Flag's career, numerous other bands have been added to the roster of the band's own label,
A-F Records. These bands include
The Code, Pipedown,
Much the Same, The Vacancy,
The Unseen,
Modey Lemon, Thought Riot, Tabula Rasa, and many others.
On November 25, Anti-Flag revealed that their latest album was called ''
The Bright Lights of America''. The album was produced by
Tony Visconti and was released on April 1, 2008. The album's title single was released exclusively on iTunes on February 12, 2008. A video of the song was released some weeks later.
In 2008, while on tour with Canadian band
Billy Talent in Europe,
Justin Sane and Chris No. 2 joined
Billy Talent singer
Ben Kowalewicz and guitarist
Ian D'Sa, singing their new song "
Turn Your Back" from their upcoming unreleased album. The two also play on the single version of the song.
In March 2009, Anti-Flag was forced to cancel a series of tours after Sane broke his collarbone at the UEA LCR in Norwich by jumping off the stage, trying to stop someone that was throwing objects at the band.
SideOneDummy (2009–2014)
On September 30, 2008, Chris No. 2 started posting on his blog that the band had begun to work on their seventh studio album. On December 2, Anti-Flag began recording the album, starting with "The Economy is Suffering... Let It Die".
On March 31, 2009, Anti-Flag announced that their next CD, ''
The People or the Gun'', would be released on
SideOneDummy on June 9, 2009. The band recorded the album in a home studio they built themselves. The first track of the album "Sodom, Gomorrah, and
Washington DC (Sheep in Shepherd's Clothing)" could be listened to on Anti-Flag's website. On May 1, 2009, the band performed a full set of
The Clash
The Clash were an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they are considered one of the most influential acts in the original wave of British punk rock, with their music fusing elements ...
covers at Hoodwink in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
In September 2009, Anti-Flag planned to play a show during a G-20 protest that was taking place in their hometown. However, the show was cancelled by the promoter due to severe parking restrictions and police presence near the venue. Even so, the band continued to personally take part in the protests.
In November 2009, Anti-Flag showed their support to the protesting students in Vienna, Austria by giving a speech at the main building of the
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...
. They also had one of the student representatives speak at their two shows in Vienna.
In January 2010, Anti-Flag completed a full US tour supported by
Aiden and
Cancer Bats, with various bands filling another supporting slot and local bands opening as many of the shows as possible. The tour was sponsored by
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...
,
peta2,
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by a group of Environmental movement, environmental activists. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its biod ...
, and Innes Clothing. The band followed the US tour with an Australian tour, playing the
Soundwave Festival dates in February 2010, with bands such as
AFI,
Paramore,
Escape the Fate,
A Day to Remember
A Day to Remember is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Ocala, Florida, in 2003 by guitarist Tom Denney and drummer Bobby Scruggs. They are known for their amalgamation of metalcore and pop-punk. The band currently consists of voca ...
, and
HIM. They also played two headlining dates supported by
Alexisonfire and
Comeback Kid.
Throughout mid-2010, Anti-Flag played in various festivals such as
Ruisrock
Ruisrock is a rock festival held annually on the island of Ruissalo in Turku, Finland.
Ruisrock, founded in 1970, is the second-oldest rock festival in Europe (after Pinkpop) and the oldest in Finland. The festival has attracted internationa ...
and
Woodstock en Beauce. They also played the last few dates of the
Vans Warped Tour
The Warped Tour is a touring rock music festival that toured the United States and Canada each summer from 1995 until 2019, and returned in 2025 for its 30th anniversary. By 2015, Warped was the largest traveling music festival in the United S ...
. In September 2010, the band headlined a Canadian tour with support from
the Menzingers. This tour was followed by the European Vans Off the Wall Music Tour in October, with supporting acts by
The Swellers and
Pulled Apart by Horses.
In March–April 2011, Anti-flag made a live comeback by headlining a
South American
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
tour with This Is a Standoff, and supporting
My Chemical Romance
My Chemical Romance is an American Rock music, rock band from New Jersey. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist Gerard Way, lead guitarist Ray Toro, rhythm guitarist Frank Iero, and bassist Mikey Way. They are considered one of ...
in the U.S. In May–June 2011, the band returned to Europe to play in the
Slam Dunk Festival, and play supporting
System of a Down in Milan, Italy.
On June 21, 2011,
Justin Sane announced that Anti-Flag was working on material for a new album, which was planned to be released later in the year. The album had the working title of ''Magnum''. Sane also announced plans to record a new solo album in the future, as he had also been working on some
folk-oriented solo material.
On March 20, 2012, Anti-Flag released an album called ''
The General Strike'', which was recorded and produced by the band at their home studio. The band also intended to go on The General Strike Record Release Tour with
The Flatliners and the
Have Nots. They released a lyric video for the song "1915" which talked about
Joe Hill.
In June 2014, Anti-Flag announced that they were going to release a new album called ''
A Document of Dissent: 1993-2013''. The album was a compilation of their releases from 1993 to 2013, and was planned to be released on Fat Wreck Chords, which was the band's first release with the label since ''The Terror State'' in 2003. The album was released on July 21, 2014.
Spinefarm and Beyond Barricades documentary (2015–2023)
On January 16, 2015, Anti-Flag announced they would release their ninth studio album called ''
American Spring'' on the label
Spinefarm Records. The album was released on May 26, 2015. Later in the year, Anti-Flag released a compilation album called ''
Cease Fires'' which contains two previously unreleased songs from their ''American Spring'' recording sessions and twelve songs from their ''
20 Years of Hell'' EP series. It was released on December 18, 2015. In an interview in 2016, Chris No. 2 revealed that he doesn't read books. On August 14, 2017, in reaction to the events of the 2017
Unite the Right rally
The Unite the Right rally was a White supremacy#United States, white supremacist rally that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia, from August 11 to 12, 2017. Marchers included members of the alt-right, neo-Confederates, neo-fascists, whi ...
, the band released a song titled "Racists" to the Spinefarm Records YouTube channel. On August 18, 2017, the band announced that a new album titled ''American Fall'' would be released on Spinefarm Records on November 3, 2017, by premiering a song from the album titled "American Attraction" on Anti-Flag's YouTube channel.
In early 2018, Anti-Flag toured with
Stray from the Path,
The White Noise and
Sharptooth.
From July until September 2018, Anti-Flag played with
AFI and
Rise Against
Rise Against is an American punk rock band from Chicago, formed in 1999. The group's current line-up comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist Tim McIlrath, lead guitarist Zach Blair, bassist Joe Principe and drummer Brandon Barnes. Rise Against's mu ...
in the ''Mourning in Amerika'' Tour.
On October 4, 2019, Anti-Flag released their song "Christian Nationalist" alongside an announcement of a European tour the following year. On the band's website, the song's meaning was explained by a quote from Justin:
The website also provided a list of
Republican politicians, along with sources indicating that the politicians had accepted large donations from the
National Rifle Association of America (NRA) and other gun lobbyists for the politician's support for certain policies and actions, along with a list of mass shooting incidents.
Later that same month, Anti-Flag announced their twelfth studio album, ''
20/20 Vision'', alongside the release of the song "Hate Conquers All" and the song's music video. Additional songs "Unbreakable" and "The Disease" were also released ahead of the album, which released on January 17, 2020.
Many of the songs on the album directly discuss the band's opposition of former president,
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
, which in the past, the band has avoided directly naming presidents. Justin revealed that this was done because the band believed that “Donald Trump IS the problem, so we have to go directly at the problem. You could say he’s a symptom of a larger problem and I believe that’s true, but he IS the symptom."
In support of the album, Anti-Flag embarked on a world tour with dates throughout 2020. However, many of these dates were delayed to 2021 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. Before the tour resumed, a digital-only deluxe version of the album was released under the new name, ''20/20 Division''.
That same year, a documentary released called ''Beyond Barricades: The Story of Anti-Flag''. The documentary chronicles the band over their years of touring, writing music, and activism, and features interviews from other musicians from bands such as
Rage Against The Machine
Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to Rage) was an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1991. It consisted of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim ...
,
Rise Against
Rise Against is an American punk rock band from Chicago, formed in 1999. The group's current line-up comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist Tim McIlrath, lead guitarist Zach Blair, bassist Joe Principe and drummer Brandon Barnes. Rise Against's mu ...
,
Bad Religion, and
The Menzingers.
With the pandemic putting the band's touring on hold for a long period of time, Anti-Flag was able to spend much more time than usual writing new music. Upon finishing touring for ''20/20 Vision'', Anti-Flag returned to the studio to record their next album. The band took a different approach than usual during recording by not only writing a concept album, but bringing in guest musicians for multiple tracks. The band officially announced their final album ''
Lies They Tell Our Children'' on July 29, 2022, alongside the release of the single "Laugh. Cry. Smile. Die." featuring
Silverstein vocalist Shane Told. A music video was also released for the song, which depicts an individual spray painting the walls of an abandoned school with various messages that the band deemed as lies. The album was released on January 6, 2023, coinciding with the second anniversary of the
Capitol attack.
Breakup (2023)
On July 19, 2023, the band posted an update on their
Patreon announcing their disbandment and the intention to refund fans who were subscribed. Following this announcement, their website was taken down, and the band's social media accounts were deleted. The band was on tour in
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
at the time of their disbandment, due to support
Dropkick Murphys at a show in
Prague
Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
on July 21; the band also planned to tour in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
alongside
The Bouncing Souls in fall 2023.
When asked to offer a statement regarding the breakup, the band's publicist declined to comment.
''
Stereogum
''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine.
''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several awar ...
'' and ''
Us Weekly
''Us Weekly'' is an American weekly celebrity and entertainment magazine based in New York City. ''Us Weekly'' was founded in 1977 by The New York Times Company, which sold it in 1980. It was acquired by Wenner Media in 1986, and sold to Ameri ...
'' linked Anti-Flag's July 2023 breakup to a podcast episode released on July 19, the same day as the band's dissolution, that leveled possible accusations of sexual assault against "a singer in a political punk band" believed to be frontman Justin Sane.
On July 26, Sane released a statement through his personal
Instagram
Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...
account denying the accusations and calling them "categorically false"; in his statement, Sane also explained the length of time before he made a statement, stating that he needed time to "absorb the initial shock." Meanwhile, Thetic, Head, and Barker released a statement expressing their shock and sadness upon hearing the allegations, starting with, "A core tenet of the band Anti-Flag is to listen to and believe all survivors of sexual violence and abuse. The recent allegations about Justin are in direct contradiction to that tenet. Therefore, we felt the only immediate option was to disband." Their statement ended with, "It was a privilege for us to be in the band Anti-Flag. As we seek to find our path forward we wish healing to all survivors." Following an
exposé published by ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason.
The magazine was first known fo ...
'' in September – revealing twelve additional women and girls who accused Sane of sexual misconduct, "serious sexual assaults",
grooming and rape – Thetic, Head, and Barker released a second statement directly condemning Sane, stating they believed he was "in need of serious professional help" and that "it appears you used our beliefs as a cover for egregious activities that you clearly knew we would never condone."
In November 2023, the original accuser from the July podcast episode sued Sane for sexual assault under the New York
Adult Survivors Act.
In an
amendment to her initial complaint in March 2024, the accuser questioned the rest of the band members' insistence that they were unaware of Sane's actions, accusing Thetic, Head, and Barker of being "aware of
anes practice of sexually assaulting young women and girls," and claiming that the band's self-owned
distribution company, Hardwork Distribution, "aided and abetted such behavior." The accuser also stated that "the band was approached about
anes predatory behavior at least 25 years ago and did nothing to stop him. They chose their business prospects over the welfare of their fans. For decades, these men financially and socially benefited from
anes predation while pretending not to see it."
The accuser also claimed the band unsuccessfully attempted to "coax
erforgiveness through a
restorative justice
Restorative justice is a community-based approach to justice that aims to repair the harm done to victims, offenders and communities. In doing so, restorative justice practitioners work to ensure that offenders take responsibility for their ac ...
process". At least three of the girls and women who spoke to ''Rolling Stone'' for the September 2023 exposé also claimed that Thetic, Head, and Barker were present when Sane brought teenage girls and young women backstage and on the band's tour bus.
In March 2024, the accuser's legal team stated that they believed Sane had approximately 60 victims and that one witness who came forward and had their testimony included in the accuser's lawsuit claimed that at a 2002 album release party in Pittsburgh, they witnessed "the members of Anti-Flag
inglingoutside the venue with clearly underage girls" who appeared "to be between 14 and 15 years old," and that Sane and other band members were "hugging and inappropriately kissing them."
Within days of Anti-Flag's breakup, several bands announced their departure from the band's record label
A-F Records, including Celebration Summer, Darien Gap,
Hanalei, Reconciler, Sammy Kay, and Wolves & Wolves & Wolves & Wolves.
The band American Television also announced they would find another way to distribute their upcoming album without the aid of Anti-Flag or the band's record label.
In September 2023, members of Anti-Flag informed that they were "in the process of unwinding the label, including returning master rights and physical records/merchandise to the bands," although they stated this would "take some time to complete properly."
Name and criticism
Anti-Flag explained the band name on the artwork for their 1999 release ''
A New Kind of Army'', saying, "Anti-Flag does not mean Anti-American. Anti-Flag means anti-war. Anti-Flag means the common people of the world are better off living in unity and peace. Anti-Flag means to stand against corporate greed that hurts millions while benefiting a handful of extremely rich. Anti-Flag means to fight against mindless nationalism. Anti-Flag means unity."
Anti-Flag's
anti-capitalism
Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose capitalism. Anti-capitalists seek to combat the worst effects of capitalism and to eventually replace capitalism with an alternati ...
stance drew criticism towards them when they started working with
RCA Records
RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...
in 2005, with some saying that the band was
selling out
To "sell out" is to compromise one's integrity, morality, Authenticity (philosophy), authenticity, or Principle#As moral law, principles in exchange for personal gain, such as money or power. In terms of music or art, selling out is associated w ...
. Anti-Flag defended themselves against the criticism by saying that the purpose of signing to the record label was to bring their message to more people.
Studio projects
Chris No. 2 and Chris Head work together in another band called
White Wives. They released the ''Situationists'' EP on February 15, 2011, and the album ''Happeners'' on June 28, 2011. The band and its name were based on the
Provo movement and The White Plans.
Wharf Rats, a musical partnership between Chris No. 2,
Wade MacNeil, and
P.O.S, was created on
Warped Tour
The Warped Tour is a Concert tour, touring Rock music, rock music festival that toured the United States and Canada each summer from 1995 until 2019, and returned in 2025 for its 30th anniversary. By 2015, Warped was the largest traveling music ...
and recorded in the festival's traveling recording studio. They created two songs together, namely "Oh No!" and "Capital Gains". The two songs were pressed on a limited edition 7-inch single and released on May 31 on No Sleep Records.
ANTIfest
ANTIfest was Anti-Flag's own hosted festival. It originally took place on May 3, 2012, at The Forum at the
University of Hertfordshire. ANTIfest was the first self-established festival hosted by the band, who wanted to make it an annual event. The band personally selected all of the bands that appeared, including other punk bands such as
The Bouncing Souls,
The Menzingers,
Red City Radio,
The Computers, and
The Skints. Volunteers from certain organizations also took part in the festival, including people from
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...
,
PETA, and
Emmaus.
ANTIFest also took place on July 14, 2013, at Backstage Werk in
Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
with support from ZSK,
Strike Anywhere
Strike Anywhere is an American punk rock band from Richmond, Virginia. Formed in 1999 after the demise of frontman Thomas Barnett's previous band, Inquisition, they took their name from the Inquisition song "Strike Anywhere". Their music is ch ...
,
The Computers, and
Apologies, I Have None.
Activism
Anti-Flag was involved with political activism throughout their musical career. They created many activism groups, which include The Underground Action Alliance, Military Free Zone (created to protest a clause in the
No Child Left Behind Act
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) was a 2002 United States Act of Congress promoted by the presidential administration of George W. Bush. It reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and included Title I provisio ...
, which gave military recruiters access to students' personal information), and The Bright Lights.
All members of Anti-Flag were
vegan
Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...
, and were adamant supporters of
animal rights
Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have Moral patienthood, moral worth independent of their Utilitarianism, utility to humans, and that their most basic interests—such as ...
. They were frequently featured by
PETA, and also appeared on the
Fat Wreck Chords compilation album
Liberation: Songs to Benefit PETA.
The band performed at multiple protests, including two in support of
Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to Rage) was an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1991. It consisted of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim ...
.
They performed outside the
Republican National Convention
The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the Republican Party in the United States. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal o ...
in 2008. Anti-Flag wasn't supposed to be the last band to perform at the event, but officials found out that Rage Against the Machine was going to perform after them, so they shut down the stage's power and Rage Against the Machine performed two songs using megaphones instead.
Anti-Flag played an acoustic set at the
Occupy Wall Street protest in New York City on October 8, 2011.
They regularly supported organizations which include:
*
Democracy Now!, whose headlines they showcase on the band's homepage.
*
PETA, who was one of the sponsors of their 2010 'The Economy Sucks Let's Party' tour.
*
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...
, who was one of the sponsors of their 2010 'The Economy Sucks Let's Party' tour. Anti-Flag once donated money to them from the sales of ''The People and the Gun''.
*
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by a group of Environmental movement, environmental activists. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its biod ...
, who was one of the sponsors of their 'The Economy Sucks Let's Party' tour. Anti-Flag once collaborated with them to persuade world leaders to attend the climate conference in Copenhagen.
* Useless, who they collaborated with by selling screen-printed limited-edition T-shirts to raise money for The Kandorwahun project, and by spreading awareness of the organization.
Anti-Flag showed their disapproval of
fracking in October 2013, supporting the Clean Water Mob.
Anti-Flag's song "Die for Your Government" was sung by anti-war protesters who briefly barricaded a road to prevent U.S. troops from deploying to Iraq in August 2010.
They appeared in the 2010 ''
Sounds Like A Revolution'', a documentary on new protest music in the United States.
In 2021, Anti-Flag was among the hundreds of signatories of the "Musicians for Palestine" open letter, urging a ceasefire.
Symbol
Anti-Flag's logo is the "Gun Star", which was designed by Chris Head.
It was first used on the cover of the album ''
Mobilize''. It was later used on the band's merchandise. The logo is made up of five broken
M16 rifle
The M16 (officially Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16) is a family of assault rifles adapted from the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle for the United States Armed Forces, United States military. The original M16 was a 5.56×45mm NATO, 5.56×45mm automatic ...
s in the shape of a star. The band often used the O & X superposed symbols on the ''
Die for the Government'' LP.
Band members
Final line-up
*
Justin Sane – lead vocals, lead guitar
(1988–1989, 1992–2023)
* Pat Thetic – drums
(1988–1989, 1992–2023)
* Chris Head – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
(1997–2023), bass
(1997)
* Chris "No. 2" Barker – bass, co-lead vocals
(1999–2023)
Former members
* Lucy Fester – bass
(1988–1989)
* Andy Flag – bass, backing and occasional lead vocals
(1993–1996)
* Jamie "Cock" Towns – bass
(1997–1999)
Former touring musicians
* Erik Pitluga – drums
(2018–2023), rhythm guitar
(2020–2023)
* Josh Massie – rhythm guitar
(2019)
* Donny Donovan – rhythm guitar
(2019)
* Steve LaRussa – drums, backing vocals
(2013–2017)
* Brian Curran
(1997)
* Sean Whealen
(1998)
Timeline
Discography
;Studio albums
* ''
Die for the Government'' (1996)
* ''
A New Kind of Army'' (1999)
* ''
Underground Network'' (2001)
* ''
Mobilize'' (2002)
* ''
The Terror State'' (2003)
* ''
For Blood and Empire'' (2006)
* ''
The Bright Lights of America'' (2008)
* ''
The People or the Gun'' (2009)
* ''
The General Strike'' (2012)
* ''
American Spring'' (2015)
* ''
American Fall'' (2017)
* ''
20/20 Vision'' (2020)
* ''
Lies They Tell Our Children'' (2023)
References
External links
*
Anti-Flag's/Chris #2's BlogEastpak Antidote Tour Live review
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anti-Flag
1989 establishments in Pennsylvania
2023 disestablishments in Pennsylvania
A-F Records artists
Fat Wreck Chords artists
Punk rock groups from Pennsylvania
Musical groups established in 1989
Musical groups disestablished in 2023
Musical groups from Pittsburgh
RCA Records artists
SideOneDummy Records artists
American punk rock groups
American political music groups