Gadsden flag
Encyclopedia
The Gadsden flag is a historical American flag
Flag of the United States
The national flag of the United States of America consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars alternating with rows...

 with a yellow field depicting a rattlesnake
Rattlesnake
Rattlesnakes are a group of venomous snakes of the genera Crotalus and Sistrurus of the subfamily Crotalinae . There are 32 known species of rattlesnake, with between 65-70 subspecies, all native to the Americas, ranging from southern Alberta and southern British Columbia in Canada to Central...

 coiled and ready to strike. Positioned below the snake is the legend "DONT TREAD ON ME." The flag was designed by and is named after American general and statesman Christopher Gadsden
Christopher Gadsden
Christopher Gadsden , a soldier and statesman from South Carolina, was the principal leader of the South Carolina Patriot movement in the American Revolution. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress and a brigadier general in the Continental Army during the War of Independence...

. It was also used by the Continental Marines as an early motto flag. It was the first flag ever carried into battle by the United States Marine Corps, during the American Revolution.

Snake symbolism

The timber rattlesnake
Crotalus horridus
Crotalus horridus, the timber rattlesnake, is a species of venomous pitviper found in the eastern United States. This is the only rattlesnake species in most of the populous northeastern United States. No subspecies are currently recognized....

 and eastern diamondback rattlesnake
Crotalus adamanteus
Crotalus adamanteus is a venomous pit viper species found in the southeastern United States. It is the heaviest venomous snake in the Americas and the largest rattlesnake. It featured prominently in the American Revolution, specifically as the symbol of what many consider to be the first flag of...

 both populate the geographical areas of the original thirteen colonies. Their use as a symbol of the American colonies can be traced back to the publications of Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...

. In 1751, he made the first reference to the rattlesnake in a satirical commentary published in his Pennsylvania Gazette
Pennsylvania Gazette (newspaper)
The Pennsylvania Gazette was one of the United States' most prominent newspapers from 1728, before the time period of the American Revolution, until 1815...

. It had been the policy of Britain
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...

 to send convicted criminals to America, so Franklin suggested that they thank the British by sending rattlesnakes to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.
In 1754, during the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...

, Franklin published his famous woodcut of a snake cut into eight sections. It represented the colonies, with New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

 joined together as the head and South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

 as the tail, following their order along the coast. Under the snake was the message "Join, or Die
Join, Or Die
Join or Die is a 2003 album by Amen. It was the first album published by the Refuse Music label and was limited to 2000 copies with the first 1000 copies hand numbered by Casey Chaos in his blood...

". This was the first political cartoon published in an American newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...

.

As the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

 grew, the snake began to see more use as a symbol of the colonies. In 1774, Paul Revere
Paul Revere
Paul Revere was an American silversmith and a patriot in the American Revolution. He is most famous for alerting Colonial militia of approaching British forces before the battles of Lexington and Concord, as dramatized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, Paul Revere's Ride...

 added it to the title of his paper, the Massachusetts Spy, as a snake joined to fight a British dragon
Dragon
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...

.
In December 1775, Benjamin Franklin published an essay in the Pennsylvania Journal under the pseudonym American Guesser in which he suggested that the rattlesnake was a good symbol for the American spirit:

"I recollected that her eye excelled in brightness, that of any other animal, and that she has no eye-lids—She may therefore be esteemed an emblem of vigilance.—She never begins an attack, nor, when once engaged, ever surrenders: She is therefore an emblem of magnanimity and true courage.—As if anxious to prevent all pretensions of quarreling with her, the weapons with which nature has furnished her, she conceals in the roof of her mouth, so that, to those who are unacquainted with her, she appears to be a most defenseless animal; and even when those weapons are shewn and extended for her defense, they appear weak and contemptible; but their wounds however small, are decisive and fatal:—Conscious of this, she never wounds till she has generously given notice, even to her enemy, and cautioned him against the danger of stepping on her.—Was I wrong, Sir, in thinking this a strong picture of the temper and conduct of America?"

Gadsden's flag

In fall 1775, the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 was established to intercept incoming British ships carrying war supplies to the British troops in the colonies. To aid in this, the Second Continental Congress
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that started meeting on May 10, 1775, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, soon after warfare in the American Revolutionary War had begun. It succeeded the First Continental Congress, which met briefly during 1774,...

 authorized the mustering of five companies of Marines to accompany the Navy on their first mission. The first Marines enlisted in the city of Philadelphia, and they carried drums painted yellow, depicting a coiled rattlesnake with thirteen rattles, and the motto "Don't Tread On Me." This is the first recorded mention of the future Gadsden flag's symbolism.

At the Congress, Continental
Continental Army
The Continental Army was formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in...

 Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

 Christopher Gadsden represented his home state of South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

. He was one of seven members of the Marine Committee who were outfitting the first naval mission.

Before the departure of that first mission in December 1775, the newly appointed commander-in-chief
Commander-in-Chief
A commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function. As a practical term it refers to the military...

 of the Navy, Commodore
Commodore (USN)
Commodore was an early title and later a rank in the United States Navy and United States Coast Guard and a current honorary title in the U.S. Navy with an intricate history. Because the U.S. Congress was originally unwilling to authorize more than four ranks until 1862, considerable importance...

 Esek Hopkins
Esek Hopkins
Commodore Esek Hopkins was the first and only Commander in Chief of the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War. He was also an accomplished merchant captain and privateer.-Early life and career:...

, received the yellow rattlesnake flag from Gadsden to serve as the distinctive personal standard of his flagship. It was displayed at the mainmast.

Gadsden also presented a copy of this flag to the Congress
South Carolina General Assembly
The South Carolina General Assembly, also called the South Carolina Legislature, is the state legislature of the U.S. state of South Carolina. The legislature is bicameral and consists of the lower South Carolina House of Representatives and the upper South Carolina Senate. Altogether, the General...

 of South Carolina in Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...

 in 1776. This was recorded in the South Carolina congressional journals:

Col. Gadsden presented to the Congress an elegant standard, such as is to be used by the commander in chief of the American navy; being a yellow field, with a lively representation of a rattle-snake in the middle in the attitude of going to strike and these words underneath, "Don't Tread on Me!"

Contemporary significance

Considered one of the first flags of the United States, the flag was later replaced by the current Stars and Stripes
Flag of the United States
The national flag of the United States of America consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars alternating with rows...

 (or Old Glory
Old Glory
Old Glory is a common nickname for the flag of the United States, bestowed by William Driver, an early nineteenth century American sea captain....

) flag. Since the Revolution, the flag has seen times of reintroduction as a symbol of American patriotism
Patriotism
Patriotism is a devotion to one's country, excluding differences caused by the dependencies of the term's meaning upon context, geography and philosophy...

, a symbol of disagreement with government, or a symbol of support for civil liberties.

The First Navy Jack
First Navy Jack
The First Navy Jack is the current U.S. jack authorized by the United States Navy. The design is traditionally regarded as that of first U.S. naval jack flown in the earliest years of the republic.-History:...

, which was directly related to the Gadsden flag, has been in use by the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 since its beginnings. In 1977, the Secretary of the Navy directed that the ship in active status with the longest total period of active service shall display the First Navy Jack until decommissioned or transferred to inactive service, at which time the flag shall be passed to the next ship in line with appropriate honors. The display of this jack by the oldest ship in the fleet is intended as a form of recognition to promote pride of service, enhance morale, and contribute to the tradition of naval service. USS Enterprise
USS Enterprise
USS Enterprise may refer to the following vessels:-United States of America:In watercraft, the prefix "USS" or "U.S.S." is applied to ships commissioned by and for the United States Navy. Private citizens also use the name unofficially...

 (CVN 65) became the oldest active ship in the United States Navy upon the decommissioning of USS Kitty Hawk
USS Kitty Hawk
Two ships of the United States Navy have been named USS Kitty Hawk: was a cargo ship and aircraft transport that served during World War II was the lead ship of the Kitty Hawk-class aircraft carriers, and was in commission between 1961 and 2009...

 (CV 63) on 12 May 2009. Enterprise is only the third aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...

 ever to hold the honor of flying the First Navy Jack.

In addition, since the first Patriot Day
Patriot Day
In the United States, Patriot Day occurs on September 11 of each year, designated in memory of the 2,977 killed in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Most Americans who were alive during the events refer to the day as "Nine-Eleven ", "September Eleventh", or some variation thereof...

 on September 11, 2002, which commemorates the lives lost in the September 11 attacks, the First Navy Jack has been flown on all active naval ships for the duration of the global war on terror. The rattlesnake from the flag is also shown on the U.S. Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

's Drill Sergeant Identification Badge
Drill Sergeant Identification Badge
The Drill Sergeant Identification Badge is a military badge of the United States Army which was first issued on January 15, 1958. It is also nicknamed the "pumpkin" patch due to its appearance when worn in the non-subdued pin-on version and in the color sew-on version worn before insignia was...

.

For historical reasons, the flag is still popularly flown in Charleston, South Carolina, the city where Christopher Gadsden first presented the flag, and where it was commonly used during the revolution, along with the blue and white crescent flag
Flag of South Carolina
The flag of the state of South Carolina dates back to 1765 when opponents of the Stamp Act marched in protest behind a blue flag bearing three white crescents. In 1775 Colonel William Moultrie was asked by the Revolutionary Council of Safety to design a flag for the South Carolina troops to use...

 of pre-Civil War South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

.

In popular culture

Athletic apparel company Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...

 uses the image of a snake coiled around a soccer ball for an ongoing, patriotic "Don't Tread On Me" campaign in support of the United States men's national soccer team
United States men's national soccer team
The United States men's national soccer team represents the United States in international association football competitions. It is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and competes in CONCACAF...

. The phrase has become a rallying cry for American soccer fans and the Gadsden flag can occasionally be seen at national team games. A representation of the rattlesnake is contained on the inside of their uniforms which were used in the 2010 World Cup. The Philadelphia Union Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer is a professional soccer league based in the United States and sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation . The league is composed of 19 teams — 16 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada...

 expansion team in 2010, incorporated the coiled snake into its logo that was unveiled in May, 2009.

It also appears in a historical context in the 2000 film The Patriot
The Patriot (2000 film)
The Patriot is a 2000 historical war film directed by Roland Emmerich, written by Robert Rodat, and starring Mel Gibson, Chris Cooper, and Heath Ledger. It was produced by the Mutual Film Company and Centropolis Entertainment and was distributed by Columbia Pictures...

in Charleston and in battle alongside the Old Glory flag.

In the apocalyptic 2006 CBS TV drama Jericho
Jericho (TV series)
Jericho is an American action/drama series that centers on the residents of the fictional town of Jericho, Kansas, in the aftermath of nuclear attacks on 23 major cities in the contiguous United States...

, the flag makes several appearances, most notably in the series finale as Jericho's acting mayor takes down the flag of the "Allied States of America", which had been flying at the town hall following a federal coup. He replaces the red, white, and blue flag of the central government with a Gadsden Flag which the previous mayor had kept framed in his office. The scene depicts a once-collaborative
Collaboration
Collaboration is working together to achieve a goal. It is a recursive process where two or more people or organizations work together to realize shared goals, — for example, an intriguing endeavor that is creative in nature—by sharing...

 character as finally having summoned the courage to be in open defiance against a supreme government.

The heavy metal band Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...

 recorded a song called "Don't tread on me" on their self-titled fifth studio album
Metallica (album)
Metallica is the self-titled fifth studio album by the American heavy metal band Metallica. Mainly produced by Bob Rock, it was released on August 12, 1991 through Elektra Records to critical acclaim...

. The album cover features a picture of a coiled rattlesnake almost exactly like the one found on the Gadsden Flag. The song features lyrics referring to the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...

. 311's
311 (band)
311 is an American rock band from Omaha, Nebraska. The band was formed in 1988 by vocalist/rhythm guitarist Nick Hexum, lead guitarist Jim Watson , bassist Aaron "P-Nut" Wills and drummer Chad Sexton...

 eighth studio album is titled Don't Tread on Me
Don't Tread on Me (album)
-Bonus tracks:-Outtakes & Demos:#Into the Flame#Take My Money#Wandering Around#Stealing My Girl#Go#Mase - Early demo for "It's Getting OK Now"#Hotness - Early demo for "Into the Flame"- Personnel :*Shepard Fairey – artwork, design...

released 2005. The New Jersey based punk rock group Titus Andronicus
Titus Andronicus (band)
Titus Andronicus is a punk/indie rock band from Glen Rock, New Jersey, USA, formed in 2005. The group takes its name from the Shakespeare play Titus Andronicus, and has cited musical and stylistic influences as diverse as Neutral Milk Hotel and Pulp...

 features one on the cover of their self-titled album, and the flag is frequently seen with them on tour.

The bright yellow flag appears in the Disney animated television series Recess, raised above the home of the character Gustav, whose father is a Marine. It is seen in the first episode's segment "The New Kid," which addresses individuality and tyranny.

Tea Party symbol

Beginning in 2009, the Gadsden Flag has become an adopted symbol of the American Tea Party movement
Tea Party movement
The Tea Party movement is an American populist political movement that is generally recognized as conservative and libertarian, and has sponsored protests and supported political candidates since 2009...

  Nationwide it serves as an addendum to the stars and stripes
Flag of the United States
The national flag of the United States of America consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars alternating with rows...

, stressing the Tea Party platform. It was also seen being displayed by members of Congress at Tea Party rallies. Some lawmakers have dubbed it a political symbol because of the Tea Party connection, and the political nature of Tea Party supporters.

External links

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