Noun phrases and pronouns are objects, subjects in English

In ancient times, political party adherents or supporters of any cause proudly wore badges on their coats to proclaim on which side they stood or which cause or leader they supported.

Yet, as it so often happens in Kenya nowadays , principles and loyalty were part of the game only as far they served the interests of the parties concerned. Quite often, people changed their allegiances, but they did not have to go to any registrar of parties; society wasn’t organised then. By literally turning ones coat to hide who or what one supported, one changed allegiance. That is the origin of the phrase ‘turncoat’.