Who’s Planting American Flags in Piles of Shit on Valencia Street?

Apologies in advance for a gross (and kind of dumb) subject.

San Francisco has its fair share of oddball characters. One of my favorites is the artist who plants tiny American flags into piles of feces they find along Valencia Street.

Are these flags a clever way to draw attention to the copious amount of shit on the street? Or perhaps they are commentary on the state of politics in the U.S.?

Maybe both. Who knows?!

The first time I spotted one of this shit flags was in January 2025, right around Trump’s second inauguration. Seems like a big coincidence if you ask me.

I don’t know anything about the people behind this ongoing art project, but I’d love to get to the bottom of this mystery. If you ever see someone walking down Valencia with a bunch of American flag toothpicks, please find out more.

A toothpick that has been stuck into a piece of poop on the sidewalk. The toothpick has a tiny American Flag printed on it. The poop is light brown and along the curb of the sidewalk. It looks moist. I can't tell what sort of animal it came from.
01/21/2025
A toothpick that has been stuck into a piece of poop on the sidewalk. The toothpick has a tiny American Flag printed on it. This poop is very dark and dry. It is on a metal great near the base of a tree.
06/28/2026
A toothpick that has been stuck into a piece of poop on the sidewalk. The toothpick has a tiny American Flag printed on it. Near the poop is another piece of poop. Possibly from the same creature.
05/26/2026
Two pieces of poop near the base of a tree. Both pieces have tiny American flags planted into them. One piece is much lighter and moister than the other one, so these were probably shitted out by different people or creatures.
04/25/2026
A toothpick that has been stuck into a piece of poop on the sidewalk. The toothpick has a tiny American Flag printed on it. The poop is in three small pieces, that each have a consistent color and texture.
07/12/2026
A toothpick that has been stuck into a piece of poop on the sidewalk. The toothpick has a tiny American Flag printed on it. This poop is interesting because it has a distinct change in texture and color mid poop. It goes from looking like clumps of dark dirt to a a lighter color and grassy texture. Like the creature ate some hay.
07/13/2026
A toothpick that has been stuck into a piece of poop on the sidewalk. The toothpick has a tiny American Flag printed on it. The poop looks big and very dry.
06/26/2026
A toothpick that has been stuck into a piece of poop on the sidewalk. The toothpick has a tiny American Flag printed on it. This feces looks almost like diarrhea.
02/12/2026