Anti-Flag在1988年由Justin Sane和Pat Thetic在他们的家乡宾夕法尼亚州匹兹堡组成。

乐队名字体现了两个人在故乡的经历：Justin和Pat在参加当地hardcore演出的时候，经常看到身着印有美国国旗夹克的演出赞助商高呼“自由不等于法西斯”的口号，然而这些赞助商却会常常参与打击“反对派”的暴力活动。Justin和Pat看到了挥舞的美国国旗，同时也看到一个法西斯式的镇压工具。

1993年，由于Andy Flag的加入，乐队重新组合，Andy担任当时乐队的贝司手。1996年，乐队在New Red Achives旗下录制了第一张专辑，名为Die For The Government。由于Andy和Justin为私人问题的争吵，专辑发布不久后，Andy Flag离开了乐队。

Anti-Flag are an American punk rock band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The band is well known for political activism, focusing on anti-war activism, anti-imperialism, class struggle, human rights, and various sociopolitical sentiments. The line-up includes singer/guitarist Justin Sane and drummer Pat Thetic, who founded the band; later members are guitarist Chris Head, and singer/bassist Chris Barker (#2) who replaced Jamie "Cock" Towns, who had replaced original bassist Andy Flag in 1997 following his departure one year prior. Anti-Flag is known also for their advocacy of progressive political action groups such as Greenpeace and Amnesty International. Most recently, the band has declared solidarity with the global Occupy Together movement.