Black Flag (band)

Black Flag is an American punk rock band that started in 1976 in Hermosa Beach, California. Originally called Panic, the group was put together by guitarist Greg Ginn and singer Keith Morris. They are seen as one of the earliest hardcore punk acts and also helped lay the groundwork for post-hardcore. After splitting up in 1986, the band came back together in 2003 and again in 2013.

Rollins era (1981–1986)

That second reunion led to a legal fight: Ginn kept the Black Flag name with a rotating lineup, while another group called FLAG formed with former members Morris, Chuck Dukowski, and Bill Stevenson. A highly public lawsuit followed, and the result allowed both versions to exist and tour. The 2013 reunion lasted more than a year and produced the band’s first studio album in nearly thirty years, What The... (2013).

Ginn announced a third reunion in January 2019. Black Flag’s sound took the raw simplicity of the Ramones and added atonal guitar solos reminiscent of Johnny Thunders of the New York Dolls, along with frequent tempo changes in later years. Most lyrics were written by Ginn and, like other punk bands of the late 1970s and early 1980s, carried an anti-authoritarian, nonconformist message, often touching on social isolation, neurosis, poverty, and paranoia. These themes deepened after Henry Rollins joined as lead singer in 1981.

Nearly all of the band’s music came out on Ginn’s independent label, SST Records. Through the 1980s, Black Flag’s sound and reputation grew. Besides being central to hardcore punk, they were innovators in the first wave of West Coast American punk rock and are considered a major influence on punk subculture both in the U.S. and abroad. They were among the earliest punk groups to mix in heavy metal melodies and rhythms, and their music often included free jazz and contemporary classical elements, especially in Ginn’s guitar work.

The band also released instrumentals and played longer, slower, more complex songs at a time when most of their peers stuck to a fast, raw, three-chord style. Within punk subculture, Black Flag is highly respected for pushing a DIY punk ethic and aesthetic. They are often seen as pioneers of underground do-it-yourself record labels. Through constant touring across the United States, Canada, and occasionally Europe, they built a dedicated cult following.

Formation and early years (1976–1981)

Originally called Panic, Black Flag was formed in 1976 in Hermosa Beach by Greg Ginn and Keith Morris. Morris was supposed to play drums, but Ginn, impressed by his energy and charisma, insisted he become the frontman. Early on, Ginn and Morris struggled to find bandmates, especially a reliable bassist, so they often rehearsed without one—a factor that helped shape Ginn’s distinctive guitar sound.

Ginn’s brother Raymond Pettibon and SST house producer Spot filled in during rehearsals. Ginn and Morris were inspired by the raw, stripped-down attitude of bands like the Ramones and the Stooges. Ginn later said, “We were influenced by the Stooges and then the Ramones; they inspired us. Keith and myself saw the Ramones when they first toured LA in 1976.

After we saw them, I said if they could do it we could do it. I thought Keith would be a good singer and after seeing the Ramones, it made him think that he doesn’t have to be some classical operatic singer.” Chuck Dukowski, bassist of Würm, liked Ginn’s band and eventually joined, forming a committed quartet with Ginn, Morris, and drummer Brian Migdol. Dukowski pushed the band to rehearse much more often, sometimes seven days a week. Their first performance was in December 1977 in Redondo Beach, California.

To avoid confusion with another band called Panic, they changed their name to Black Flag in late 1978. Their first show under that name took place on January 27, 1979, at the Moose Lodge Hall in Redondo Beach. Future Black Flag vocalists Dez Cadena and Ron Reyes were both in the audience that night. The name came from Ginn’s brother, artist Raymond Pettibon, who also designed the band’s logo: a stylized black flag made of four black bars.

Iconography

Pettibon explained, “If a white flag means surrender, a black flag represents anarchy.” The name also echoed the anarchist symbol, the insecticide of the same name, and the British heavy metal band Black Sabbath, one of Ginn’s favorites. Ginn said he was “comfortable with all the implications of the name.” The band spray-painted the simple, striking logo all over Los Angeles, drawing attention from both supporters and the LAPD. Pettibon designed all of the band’s early flyers and album covers through the 1980s.

Opportunities for punk bands to play in Southern California were scarce—the Los Angeles club The Masque was the center of the scene but rarely admitted bands from outside L.A. proper. Black Flag organized their own gigs, performing at picnics, house parties, schools, and anywhere else available. They called club owners themselves to set up shows and plastered hundreds of flyers—usually Pettibon’s severe, haunting comic-strip panels—on any surface to promote performances. Dukowski said the “minimum [number of flyers] that went out was 500 for a show.” Black Flag shows were regularly broken up by the LAPD, often violently.