Washingtonians gather around a fire to keep warm at the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear 2.0 in Dupont on Monday. Photo by Molly Parks.Eight years ago, during Trump’s last inauguration, thousands of people came through Dupont Circle to pick up joints in an act of both protest against the incoming administration and unity in support of recreational cannabis. Today, as Trump took his oath of office at noon, the same place saw a very different scene as about 15 people at the time gathered for activist Adam Eidinger’s “Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear 2.0.” Though the number of rally attendees fluctuated throughout the day, the 24-degree, post-snow weather, combined with what the New York Times’s Peter Baker has referred to as a “different Washington,” seemed to dampen the resistance. This time, the dozen or so DC locals joined together to grasp at straws of optimism on Martin Luther King Jr. day, expressing themselves through dance, speeches—and fashion. In particular, a historic cap. Rachel Donlan, in a heated coat, bejeweled sunglasses, and a red Phrygian cap. Photo by Molly Parks. Rachel Donlan, who has been living in Washington since 2017 and helped Eidinger organize today’s rally, was sporting a Phrygian liberty cap, a staple of the DC Marijuana Justice (DCMJ) group, which Eidinger helped found. The hat, Eidinger says, is an ancient cap repurposed during the American Revolutionary era, symbolizing liberty and freedom. He makes and sells them, and he, too, sported one on Monday. “It’s on the seal of the US Army, it’s on the seal of the US Senate, and most Americans don’t know what it is,” Eidinger said about the cap. During the American Revolution, he says, liberty poles were built from Maine to South Carolina, “and at the top of the pole was this hat.” Another attendee, who calls himself the “Duke of Hemp” and “Medicine Man,” also wore a Phrygian liberty cap with a marijuana-leaf design; attendees had been encouraged to “take edibles and come.” Adam Eidinger shows off his handmade Phrygian cap. Photo by Molly Parks. In stark contrast to the high-end fashions being worn in the Capitol Rotunda during the swearing-in ceremony, Donlan wore a black electric, heated coat and boots over several layers of pants and tops, along with bedazzled sunglasses, which she described as “adding a little me,” to give a layer of cheerfulness to her all-black outfit. “I’m trying my hardest to stay positive, which is hard to even get the words out to say,” Donlan said. “I think it’s better for us today to be together as friends rather than be alone, not knowing what’s going to happen.” Donlan said she’d hoped discouraged Washingtonians could use their rally today as an escape. “I just think it’s good to have a place where people who are on their way to go have a bad day can decide to stop and take some energy out on the dance floor.” The “Duke of Hemp” sports his green-theme look to support the DCMJ on Monday. Photo by Molly ParksThe post At a Small Rally in Dupont Circle, an Old Hat Is a Symbol of Liberty first appeared on Washingtonian.