Key Takeaways
Proudly flown from vehicles or defiantly roll at political rallies , the yellow " Do n’t Tread on Me " flag — with its horrendous coil rattlesnake — has become a rally cry for right - offstage America . The historic flag , known as the Gadsden signal flag , originated in compound clock time and was resurrected by the forward-looking - day Tea Party drift in 2010 .
Today , the Gadsden flag has taken on dour overtone . The coiled - snake flag has been embraced by fringe political groups including the anti - government reserves that stormed the Capitol Jan. 6 , 2021 , wheredozens of " Do n’t Tread on Me " flagswere displayed . Tragically , one of the five protestors killed in the crush of people outside the Capitol was shoot earlier that daycarrying the Gadsden signal flag .
The history of the Gadsden flag — particularly the symbolism of therattlesnake — is close link up with Benjamin Franklin , one of the most belovedFounding Fathers . But sadly , the nearly 250 - year - old flagstone has become so politicized that even some historical flag aficionados wo n’t vaporize it today .
‘Rattlesnakes for Felons’
The Gadsden flag is so visually striking because of three elements : the bright yellow field , the words " Do n’t Tread on Me " and the paradigm of a coil rattlesnake with its fangs bared , ready to strike .
The rattlesnake was the first of these elements to be tie in with America , say John Hartvigsen , former president of theNorth American Vexillological Association(vexillologists study the history of flags and their symbolization ) and a adviser atColonial Flag .
Hartvigsen explain that in 1751 , American colonists were bristling over the hated British practiceof shipping convicted felonsto the 13 settlement . The Crown said that it was doing the colonies a favor by facilitate them dwell quicker , but Philadelphia journalistBenjamin Franklinwasn’t having it . With his hallmark wittiness , Franklin penned a satirical clause in his newspaper , the Pennsylvania Gazette , titled " Rattlesnakes for Felons . "
" [ S]uch a crank parental concern in our Mother Country for the welfare of her children call loudly for the highest returns of gratitude , " wrote Franklin , dripping with sarcasm . " Rattlesnakes seem the most desirable returns for the human serpent sent us by our Mother Country . "
Franklin offer ship crate of venomous American rattlesnakes to London , where they could slither happily through the city ’s parks , " but specially in the gardens of the prime ministers , the lords of trade and penis of Parliament , for to them we are most peculiarly obliged . "
‘Join, or Die’
Three old age by and by , in 1754 , Franklin created one of the most indelible images in compound America . Some call it thefirst American political toon . The woodblock print , which first appeared in the pages of the Pennsylvania Gazette , draw a serpent cut into pieces represent the American colonies over the fateful words , " Join , or Die . "
The cartoon was n’t a call to arms against the British , Hartvigsen explains , because it was published during the lead - up to theFrench and Indian War . The cut off snake toon accompanied an editorial by Franklin in which he was trying to unify compound opposition to the French . He was also lobbying the British to give the colony more independent govern authority to fight the French on their own . ( It did n’t workand the British send their own army . )
The lettering , " bring together , or go bad , " was aimed at the various colonial assembly and was a call for unity , enjoin Hartvigsen . If you await closely , the Snake River in the animated cartoon is n’t understandably a rattlesnake , butthere was a superstitionin the 18th hundred that all ophidian — even a chopped up snake — could be reassemble and survive .
" The idea of unity was what different symbols of the Revolution were really talking about , " says Hartvigsen , including the circle of 13 superstar and 13 stripe on thefirst American flag .
( Side note : Franklin probably was n’t the actual creative person for the " Join , or Die " cartoon , which he called an " emblem . " The image itself was likelybased on French drawingfrom 1685 of a snake cut in two pieces with the caption " se rejoindre ou mourir , " think of " will join or die . " )
‘Don’t Tread on Me’
Over the next decade , as tenseness reached a febrility sales talk between the colonies and Britain , Franklin ’s severed snake persona go viral like a compound - era meme . In 1774,Paul Revereredesigned the mastheadof The Massachusetts Spy , a Boston newspaper , to include a severed snake look off with a wing dragon , the symbol of Britain .
Then war lastly broke out in 1775 . Christopher Gadsden was a firebrand nationalist from South Carolina and a brigadier general in the Continental Army . He was elect to the First Continental Congress , where he serve on the marine committee . Gadsden decide that the Colonial Navy needed a flag that would tell it from pirate vessels and also muster the sailor against oppressive British rule .
That ’s when he came up with his celebrated yellow flag with its spiral rattler and macho motto : " Do n’t Tread on Me . " Hartvigsen point out that the snake on the Gadsden masthead has 13 rattles with the nub of a fourteenth ( perhaps an invitation for Canadian provinces to join the fight ) .
Did Gadsden contrive the masthead himself , let in the coiled serpent and the warning , " Do n’t step on Me ? " That ’s not clear . All we know is that Gadsden pose the flag to Commodore Esek Hopkins , the commander in head of the Navy , which Hopkins proudly flew on his flagship vessel , the USS Alfred . The Continental Marines also flew the masthead during the Revolutionary War .
By December 1775 , the Gadsden flag and its " Do n’t Tread on Me " shibboleth had caught the tending of none other than Benjamin Franklin , whowrote an anonymous letterto the Pennsylvania Journal highlighting the similarities between the autochthonal American reptile and the 13 colonies .
" [ I]t occurred to me that the Rattle - Snake is found in no other quarter of the macrocosm besides America , and may therefore have been choose , on that report , to play her , " wrote Franklin using the penitentiary name " An American Guesser . "
Referring to the serpent ’s 13 rattling , Franklin returned to the radical of unity : " ' Tis curious and astonishing to observe how trenchant and independent of each other the rattle of this animate being are , and yet how firmly they are united together , so as never to be separated but by break them to firearm . "
How the Gadsden Flag Made a Comeback
The Gadsden flagwasn’t the only flagflown during the Revolution . Interestingly , there was also a flagstone anticipate theFirst Navy Jackthat show an outstretched rattler on a subject area of 13 red and white stripes with the parole " Do n’t Tread on Me . "
All these alternative flags were shelved after the Stars and Stripes became the official home sword lily in 1777 . However , during the Civil War , Southern Confederatesflew the Gadsden flag alongside the Stars and Bars .
pop pastime in diachronic flags was re - take fire around the Bicentennial in 1976 . To keep the 200th anniversary of the Revolution , the United States Navy flew the First Navy Jack from its vessels and the phrase " Do n’t Tread on Me " re - entered the home mental lexicon .
Around the same time , the Gadsden flag was also gain popularity among the burgeoningLibertarian movementof the seventies ( theLibertarian Partywas found in 1971 ) .
But 2010 was the twelvemonth that the Gadsden flag really made its riposte . TheTea Partywas a grassroots political movement that fashioned itself as modern - day Sons of Liberty . The enemy in 2010 was n’t an oppressive foreign king but the United States ' own " cock-a-hoop government " spending and over - revenue . The Tea Party acquire the Gadsden pin as its own and their influence filter up to Congress .
In 2010 , Tea Party loyalists in the Houseunfurled a " Do n’t step on Me " flagfrom a balcony of the Capitol to protest President Barack Obama ’s touch wellness attention legislation .
" When the Tea Party begin using Revolutionary War flag , I kind of laugh softly under my breathing space , ' This is interesting , ' " says Hartvigsen . " The problem is that it ’s been carry to such extremum . "
Hartvigsen has watched with dismay as the Gadsden flag and other historical flags have been seize by more and more radical radical . The low point for Hartvigsen was Jan. 6 , 2021 , when diachronic and contemporary American flags were even used as weapons to beat Capitol law officers .
in person , Hartvigsen made the unmanageable decision to stop flying historical flags for fearfulness of being consociate with these " splinter radical , " as he calls them . He says that he ’s not alone .
" The tragical irony is that the Gadsden flag , like so many Revolutionary War symbols , represents unity , go back to Franklin ’s ' Join , or perish ' cartoon , " says Hartvigsen . " The veridical meaning of this flag is one and coming together for a purpose . "
The ambiguity of the " Do n’t Tread on Me " flag can be realize in the fact that the flag has at times shown up at abortion - rights marches and atvigils after the shootingsat the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando , Florida , as well as at right - wing rallies and Tea Party event .
There are at least a dozen State that pop the question a specialisation license denture emblazoned with the Gadsden flag . Indeed , Kansas approve its " Do n’t Tread on Me " platejust weeks after the Jan. 6 insurrection .
FAQs
No , the Gadsden flag has been used by various groups and movements , some of which let in the Tea Party and Libertarian front .
The rattlesnake symbolizes I and defiance against oppressive principle , as seen in Benjamin Franklin ’s writings .
