Overview

Elon Musk's 14 Flags Posts refers to a series of Twitter / X posts by Elon Musk in which he replies with 14 American flag Emojis in response to political posts supporting the Republican party and President Donald Trump. Some people believe a conspiracy theory that the number of flags, which is purportedly always 14, is a reference to the "14 words," a code term for the white supremacist slogan, "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children," which consists of 14 words. The 14 flags post became the subject of online discourse in February 2025, particularly after Musk used it in response to Trump's tweet reading, "He who saves his Country does not violate any Law."

Background

On January 15th, 2025, Elon Musk made a post to X^[1] responding to a video of former President Ronald Reagan talking about living in a free government, garnering over 120,000 likes in a month. His response consists of 14 American flag Emojis.

Musk used the 14 U.S. flags three more times over the next month. On February 2nd, he responded to an X^[2] post reading, "The Democrat Party has tanked to 31% favorability. The party has imploded," with the flags. On February 15th, he used them in response to Trump's tweet reading, "He who saves his country does not violate any law."^[3]

On February 17th, 2025, Musk used the 14 flag Emojis in response to a post by Vice President J.D. Vance reading, "Happy President’s Day to the GOAT," garnering over 432,000 likes in two days.^[4]

Online Reactions

The 14 flags posts, in particular the one posted on January 15th, 2025, garnered viral spread and inspired discourse online, with some believing it to be a reference to the white supremacist "14 words" slogan.

For instance, on February 15th, 2025, the tweet was posted to /r/nothinghappeninghere^[5] titled, "I don't think the 14 flags are just a coincidence," garnering over 570 upvotes in four days.

On February 17th, the tweet was posted to the subreddit /r/MarchAgainstNazis,^[6] the post reading, "Elon Musk doing more nazi shit. I would encourage every American, whenever possible, to remind Musk and his companies what we think about nazis through direct action," garnering over 3,000 upvotes in two days.

That same day, a post was made to the subreddit /r/ExplainTheJoke^[7] sharing a Goose Chasing Guy meme about the meaning of the flags, garnering over 45,000 upvotes in two days.

Also on February 17th, X^[8] user @gregjstoker posted the tweet, writing, "[Elon] is involved in a system of communication with white supremacists and he’s not even giving dog-whistles anymore. The 14 word slogan posted at 11:14pm among white supremacists […] When fascism comes to America it’ll be wrapped in a flag. Most sane people will argue it’s already here…" garnering over 59,000 likes in two days.

On February 18th, 2025, X^[9] user @reddit_lies posted a screenshot of the post to the subreddit /r/ExplainTheJoke to defend Musk's 14 flags, writing, "Reddit is a completely broken nonsensical place now," garnering over 1,100 likes in a day.

Search Interest

External References