3' x 5' Republican Party Banner Decoration Flag

The Republican Party (sometimes called the Grand Old Party or the GOP) was established in 1854 by a coalition of former Whigs, Northern Democrats, and Free-Soilers who opposed the expansion of slavery and held a vision for modernizing the United States. The Republican Party rose to prominence with the election of Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president, and presided over the American Civil War and Reconstruction. The mascot symbol, historically, is the elephant. A political cartoon by Thomas Nast, published in Harper's Weekly on November 7, 1874, is considered the first important use of the symbol.