Red Hats, Red Shirts draws inspiration from the metamessaging in René Magritte’s The Treachery of Images, exploring how symbols evolve and acquire new meanings over time. A red hat is no longer merely a red hat, as it carries layered political and cultural connotations. Beneath it, an appropriated historical photograph depicts a group of Red Shirts posing in front of a polling location in 1898. The Red Shirts, a white supremacist paramilitary group in the post Reconstruction South, used red clothing as a visible tool of intimidation against Republican candidates and Black voters. By juxtaposing these two elements, this work situates the contemporary red hat within a broader historical lineage, prompting reflection on the persistence of visual symbols in political discourse.