| Rick Flag | |
|---|---|
 The Rick Flag Jr. version of the character. Art by Tom Derenick. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Richard Flag Jr: The Brave and the Bold #25 (September 1959) Richard Flag Sr. Secret Origin #14 (1987) |
| Created by | Robert Kanigher Ross Andru |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Richard Rogers Flag Jr. Richard Montgomery Flag Sr. |
| Team affiliations | Rick Flag Jr: Suicide Squad (Task Force X) Navy SEALs United States Air Force Forgotten Heroes Rick Flag Sr: United States Army Suicide Squad (Squadron S) |
| Partnerships | Rick Flag Jr.: Amanda Waller Bronze Tiger |
| Notable aliases | Rick Flag Jr. Anthony Miller |
| Abilities | Both versions are skilled military leaders proficient in unarmed combat, armed combat, and knowledgeable in military protocol. |
| Altered in-story information for adaptations to other media | |
| Alter ego | Richard Bill Flag Sr. Richard Bill Flag Jr. |
| Partnerships | Rick Flag Jr: June Moone |
Rick Flag is the name of several characters featured inAmerican comic books published byDC Comics. Created by Robert Kanigher and Ross Andru, he made his first appearance inThe Brave and the Bold #25 (September, 1959). While originally a single character, due to the nature of his resurgence in John Ostrander'sSuicide Squad run, the history was retroactively altered to feature two Rick Flags as relatives, one existing during the World War II era and in contemporary times respectively.
The most-well known version,Richard Rogers Flag Jr. (Rick Flag Jr.), is the field commander of the modern Task Force X (Suicide Squad), a black-ops team which uses super-villains as expendable agents for dangerous missions in return for a commuted sentence. Differing in not being a criminal asset coerced and having an exemplary military record, he is considered one of Amanda Waller's loyal and trusted operatives.[1] Due to the character's existence in contemporary times, he has been altered to either be the son or grandson of the "original" Rick Flag.[2] The second version of the character,Richard Montgomery Flag Sr (or simplyRick Flag Sr.), is the father (or grandfather) of Rick Flag Jr who was retroactively stated to have led the original Suicide Squad (codenamed Squad S) duringWorld War II, composed of expendable soldiers whose experience with them left an impression on him. Rick eventually fathered his son, whom he named after him. His history as the original squad leader would influence his son's eventual placement within a new iteration decades later.[3]
The character made his live-action debut in the television seriesSmallville, played byTed Whittall.Joel Kinnaman portrayed Rick Flag Jr. in theDC Extended Universe filmsSuicide Squad (2016) andThe Suicide Squad (2021), whileFrank Grillo plays his father, Rick Flag Sr., in theDC Universe (DCU) animated seriesCreature Commandos (2024–present) and the filmSuperman (2025). Both reprise their roles in thesecond season ofPeacemaker (2025), set in the DCU.
Richard Montgomery Flag led a division inWorld War II called the Suicide Squad.[4][5] In his first mission, Flag was the only survivor. After that, his team had increasing success and decreasing casualties. After the war, he married Sharon Race.[4] In 1951, with the disappearance of theJustice Society of America and other super-heroes, PresidentHarry S. Truman again called on Flag when he created Task Force X.[4][6]
Task Force X would have two units: the military unit "Argent" (led by "Control"), and the civilian unit "Suicide Squad" which would deal with civilian matters — masked villains and the like. CommanderJeb Stuart would lead the military side to deal with national and international crises. Though Argent's recorded activity ceased after 1960, Stuart's Suicide Squad continued on.[4] Eventually, Flag sacrificed himself in stopping the formerBlackhawks' nemesis, the War Wheel.[4][6]
In 2016, DC Comics implemented a relaunch of its books called "DC Rebirth" which restored its continuity to a form much as it was prior to "The New 52". He is depicted as the father of Richard Rogers Flag and the grandfather of Rick Flag Jr.[7]
 | This article needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(August 2017) |
Flag was replaced in the Squad by his now-grown sonRichard Rogers Flag. Young Rick headed a new, public team which included his girlfriend, Karin Grace, Dr. Hugh Evans, and Jess Bright.[4] In one mission inCambodia, they were pursued by a Yeti. Evans and Bright and the Yeti fell into a crevasse, presumably to their deaths.[4]
Bright survived, angered at being left behind. Frostbitten and near-death, he was found by the Chinese, who nursed him back to health. He was then passed onto the Russians, who transformed him into a bionic monster called Koshchei the Deathless. With his expertise in engineering, Bright assisted in the creation of theRocket Red Brigade and lent a hand to the nation ofQurac in assembling theirmetahuman teamOnslaught.
Meanwhile, Grace secretly bore Flag's son and placed him with an adoptive family. Later, Rick was sent to infiltrate theForgotten Heroes as a spy for the government.[4] After the "death" of the Forgotten Heroes' leader, theImmortal Man, the team disbanded and Flag worked covertly for the U.S. government.[4]
Rick Flag Jr. was then tapped by the government to lead the new Suicide Squad as formed byAmanda Waller, a role he reluctantly assumed. Immediately, Rick showed signs of instability, which were worsened when Karin Grace became the team's medic. Flag hated working with the criminals under his command, and resented the notion that he andDeadshot were alike in any way.[8]
There were bright points amongst the Suicide Squad however, as the team was not completely filled with criminals.Nightshade, although she resented Flag at first when she was forced to become an accessory to murder when she became an undercover operative in the Jihad, grew attracted to him. She was never able to admit her feelings to him however, and he took no notice.
Flag also held good relationships withNemesis andBronze Tiger, even though both were in some ways opposed to Flag. Although Nemesis had feelings for Nightshade, something to which Flag was oblivious, he stepped out of the way and respected Nightshade's feelings. Similarly, the Tiger was originally tapped to become the Squad's leader, but was instead replaced by Flag, something that the Tiger had no problems with.
The loyalty Flag had towards his teammates and Waller was evident in the fact that he did not shy away from a conflict with theJustice League to free Nemesis from Soviet captivity. He also threatened a bureaucrat who was threatening Waller's position.
This did nothing to ease Flag's mental instability, and it soon worsened. Flag led a different Squad in a deadly mission involving theDoom Patrol in which he was the only survivor.[9] The death of Karin Grace also served to amplify this and it came to a head when US Senator Cray threatened to reveal the existence of the Suicide Squad to the public.
Unbeknownst to him, Waller had already dealt with the threat, and Flag set out to assassinate Cray to ensure the existence of the Suicide Squad, even though he loathed some of its members. The Squad set out to stop him, with the clearance to do so by any means necessary. Deadshot found Flag and Cray, but instead of killing Flag, Deadshot instead murdered the senator. Flag was forced to flee, and unwittingly, the existence of the Suicide Squad was revealed.
Flag set out to destroy the Jihad team after learning that his father had previously attacked their stronghold, Jotunheim, during World War II to neutralise a Nazi prototype nuclear weapon. He left a note to Nightshade detailing his plans. The bomb was still there, buried under rubble and the Jihad were unaware of its presence. Flag sneaked in and killed his way through to the bomb itself. He battled theJihad's leader Rustam personally, just before the bomb exploded.[10]
InCheckmate (vol. 2) #6, Rick Flag is revealed to be alive and is rescued from a secret Quraci prison byBronze Tiger.[8][11] He had been imprisoned there for four years until Waller discovered him and alerted the Tiger to his whereabouts. Rick was later revealed to be leading a clandestine Suicide Squad unit at the behest of Waller, and against the expressed mandate of the Checkmate organization.
As seen inSuicide Squad: Raise the Flag #2, Rustam used his Scimitar to teleport both Rick Flag and himself toSkartaris.[12]
InRaise the Flag #5,General Wade Eiling admits that Rick Flag Jr. is not the son of Rick Flag Sr., but a soldier namedAnthony Miller who was brainwashed by Eiling into believing he was Flag's son. Miller's conditioning means that Eiling still has control of him, and uses him as part of his takeover of the Suicide Squad. Forced to activate an explosive implant in Waller's brain, Miller breaks free from his mind control enough to activate Eiling's implant instead, leaving him helpless enough to be captured. Confronted with the possibility to give up his presumed identity and return home, Miller decides that the Suicide Squad needs a Rick Flag, and refuses the offer.[13]
In 2016, DC Comics implemented a relaunch of its books called "DC Rebirth" which restored its continuity to a form much as it was prior to "The New 52". He was depicted as the son of Richard Rogers Flag and the grandson of Rick Flag Jr.[14][15] He was a soldier in Afghanistan who was incarcerated for turning down the medals that would've meant the death of his fellow soldiers. Rick Flag Jr. was later approached by Amanda Waller to lead the Suicide Squad whenBarack Obama threatened to shut it down.[16]
Rick Flag III is the son of Rick Flag Jr and Karin Grace whom also shares his name with his relatives. He was kidnapped by Koschei the Deathless, a member of theJihad, but was rescued by Nemesis of the Suicide Squad. Later, when Flag Jr. and Bronze Tiger visited Rick Flag III's adopted home, Flag Jr. refused to approach him.[17]
Having an extensive military background, Flag Jr. is considered to be an excellent military pilot and is proficient in military tactics, strategy, and leadership. Flag Jr. also has extensively combat and special operations training, making him capable in unarmed and armed combat and able to use a wide range of weaponry used by the United States' military.[2]
Rick Flag Sr. appears inJustice League: The New Frontier, voiced byLex Lang.[21] This version isHal Jordan's instructor and co-pilot during a mission to Mars. Additionally, a young Rick Flag Jr. makes a non-speaking cameo appearance.
ColonelRick Flag Jr. and GeneralRick Flag Sr. appear in media set in theDC Extended Universe (DCEU) and theDC Universe (DCU), portrayed byJoel Kinnaman andFrank Grillo, respectively.[22][23]
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