Use | Banner |
---|---|
Proportion | Varies, generally 2:3 |
Adopted | December 20, 1775 |
Design | A yellow banner charged with a yellow spiraled timber rattlesnake facing toward the hoist sitting upon a patch of lush green grass, with thirteen rattles, representing the thirteen colonies, the words Dont Tread on Me positioned below the snake in black font |
Designed by | Christopher Gadsden |
This article is part of a series on |
Libertarianism in the United States |
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The Gadsden flag is a historical American flag with a yellow field depicting a timber rattlesnake [1] [2] coiled and ready to strike. Beneath the rattlesnake are the words Dont Tread on Me. [lower-alpha 1] Some modern versions of the flag include an apostrophe.
The flag is named after Christopher Gadsden, a South Carolinian delegate to the Continental Congress and brigadier general in the Continental Army, [4] [5] who designed the flag in 1775 during the American Revolution. [6] He gave the flag to Commodore Esek Hopkins, and it was unfurled on the main mast of Hopkins' flagship USS Alfred on December 20, 1775. [5] [7] Two days later, Congress made Hopkins commander-in-chief of the Continental Navy. [8] He adopted the Gadsden banner as his personal flag, flying it from the mainmast of the flagship while he was aboard. [5] The Continental Marines also flew the flag during the early part of the war. [6]
The rattlesnake was a symbol of the unity of the Thirteen Colonies at the start of the Revolutionary War, and it had a long history as a political symbol in America. Benjamin Franklin used it for his Join, or Die woodcut in 1754. [5] [9] Gadsden intended his flag to serve as a physical symbol of the American Revolution's ideals. [5]
The flag has been described as the "most popular symbol of the American Revolution." [5] Its design proclaims an assertive warning of vigilance and willingness to act in defense against coercion. [10] This has led it to be associated with the ideas of individualism and liberty. [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] It is often used in the United States as a symbol of right-libertarianism, classical liberalism, and small government, as well as for distrust or defiance against authorities and government. [17] [18] [19]
Many variations of the Gadsden flag exist. The motto may or may not include an apostrophe in the word "Don't"; [20] : 339 the typeface used for the motto may or may not use a serif typeface. The rattlesnake is sometimes shown as resting on a green ground; representations dating from 1885 and 1917 do not display anything below the rattlesnake. The rattlesnake usually faces to the left, and the early representations mentioned above face left. However, some versions of the flag show the snake facing to the right.
This section needs additional citations for verification .(September 2022) |
The timber rattlesnake can be found in the area of the original Thirteen Colonies. Like the bald eagle, part of its significance is that it was unique to the Americas, serving as a means of showing a separate identity from the Old World. Its use as a symbol of the American colonies can be traced back to the publications of Benjamin Franklin. In 1751, he made the first reference to the rattlesnake in a satirical commentary published in his Pennsylvania Gazette . It had become the policy of the British Parliament to send convicted criminals to Britain's North American colonies (primarily the Province of Georgia), so Franklin suggested that Americans thank Parliament by sending rattlesnakes to Britain. [21]
In 1754, during the French and Indian War, Franklin published Join, or Die , a woodcut of a snake cut into eight sections. It represented the colonies, with New England joined as the head and South Carolina as the tail, following their order along the coast. This was the first political cartoon published in an American newspaper. [22]
In 1774, Paul Revere added Franklin's iconic cartoon to the nameplate of Isaiah Thomas's paper, the Massachusetts Spy , depicted there as fighting a British griffin. [23]
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 and its valuation for vigilance, assertiveness, individualism, unity, and liberty: [24]
[...] there was painted a Rattle-Snake, with this modest motto under it, "Don't tread on me." [...] 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 [...] The Rattle-Snake is solitary, and associates with her kind only when it is necessary for their preservation [...] 'Tis curious and amazing to observe how distinct and independent of each other the rattles of this animal are, and yet how firmly they are united together, so as never to be separated but by breaking them to pieces. [...] The power of fascination attributed to her, by a generous construction, may be understood to mean, that those who consider the liberty and blessings which America affords, and once come over to her, never afterwards leave her, but spend their lives with her.
The rattlesnake symbol was first officially adopted by the Continental Congress in 1778 when it approved the design for the seal of the War Office.[ citation needed ] At the top center of the seal is a rattlesnake holding a banner that says, "This we'll defend". This design of the War Office seal was carried forward—with some minor modifications—into the subsequent designs as well as the Department of the Army's seal, emblem and flag.[ citation needed ] As such, some variation of a rattlesnake symbol has been in continuous official use by the US Army for over 243 years.
Other American flags that use a rattlesnake motif include The United Companies of the Train of Artillery of the Town of Providence, the First Navy Jack, and the Culpeper Minutemen flag, among others.
In the 21st century, the Gadsden Flag has been used by supporters of the Tea Party movement.
George Washington established the Continental Navy in 1775 as Commander in Chief of the Continental Forces, before Esek Hopkins was named Commodore of the Navy. The first ships were used to intercept incoming transport ships carrying war supplies to the British in the colonies in order to supply the Continental Army, which was desperately undersupplied in the opening years of the American Revolutionary War.
Continental Colonel Christopher Gadsden represented South Carolina in the Congress, and he was one of seven members of the Marine Committee outfitting the first naval mission. [5] [20] : 289 Paul Aron described Gadsden as a "leading advocate of an American navy." [25] The first Marines carried drums painted yellow and depicting a coiled rattlesnake with thirteen rattles along with the motto "Don't Tread on Me." This is the first recorded mention of the flag's symbolism.[ citation needed ]
Gadsden decided that the American navy needed a distinctive flag and took it upon himself to make one in 1775. [26] [6] He gave Commodore Esek Hopkins a yellow rattlesnake flag to serve as his personal standard on USS Alfred, the flagship of America's first navy squadron. [7] [20] : 289 Gadsden intended the design to serve as a physical symbol of the American Revolution's ideals. [27] The rattlesnake was seen in Charleston, South Carolina as a "noble and useful" animal that gave warning before it attacked. [5] Before being appointed to lead the Navy, Hopkins had led The United Companies of the Train of Artillery of the Town of Providence, a unit that flew a flag similar to Gadsden's. [28] [29] He unfurled the Gadsden flag on the main mast of USS Alfred on December 20, 1775, while the ship was at anchor in Chesapeake Bay. [5] [26] Whenever he was aboard, Hopkins flew the flag from the mainmast of the flagship as his personal banner. [5] Alfred was also the first recorded ship to fly the Grand Union Flag, the first national flag of the United States, when Senior Lieutenant John Paul Jones hoisted it on December 3, 1775, while the ship floated in the Delaware River near Philadelphia. [30] [7]
By winter 1775, the South Carolina Provincial Congress expected that British forces would attack Charleston and recalled Gadsden home from Congress in Philadelphia to command the 1st South Carolina Regiment. [5] By January 14, Gadsden had both his orders to return home and permission from the Continental Congress to leave. [5] On Friday, February 9, 1776, he presented an example of his yellow rattlesnake flag to president of the Congress William Henry Drayton. [5]
Gadsden's presentation of the rattlesnake flag was recorded in the South Carolina congressional journals on February 9, 1776:
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 rattlesnake in the middle in the attitude of going to strike and these words underneath, "Don't tread on me." [31]
In 1861, a ship from Georgia entered Boston Harbor flying a version of the Gadsden Flag with 15 stars on it signifying the 15 slave states. The captain removed the flag after a large and angry crowd gathered, who then destroyed it. [32]
For historical reasons, the Gadsden 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 of pre-Civil War South Carolina.
The Gadsden flag has become a popular specialty license plate in several states. As of 2022 [update] , the following states offer the option of obtaining a Gadsden flag specialty license plate: Alabama, Arizona, [33] Florida, [34] [35] Kansas, [36] Maryland, [37] Missouri, Montana, [38] Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, [39] Texas, and Virginia. [40] [41]
In the 1970s, libertarians began using the Gadsden flag as a symbol to represent individual rights and limited government. [42] The flag's prominent yellow or gold color is also strongly associated with libertarianism. [43] The libertarian Free State Project in New Hampshire uses a modified version of the flag with the snake replaced by a porcupine, a symbol of the libertarian movement. [44]
Other libertarian variants of the flag have changed the words "Don't Tread On Me" to "Don't Tread On Anyone", in one version replacing the single snake with multiple snakes of different colors, or in other cases with a porcupine.
In the mid-1970s, the New Left People's Bicentennial Commission used the Gadsden flag symbolism on buttons and literature. [45] [46]
Following Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization , which struck down Roe v. Wade , abortion rights activists were seen at a Texas rally carrying a version of the flag with the snake in the shape of a human uterus. [47] [48] [49] [50] This design was created by Anne Lesniak. [51]
The Gadsden flag has also been used by groups and individuals on the right. The Gadsden flag was featured prominently in a report related to the January 6, 2021, attack of the United States Capitol. [52] [lower-alpha 2]
Beginning in 2009, the Gadsden flag was widely used as a protest symbol by protesters who supported the American Tea Party movement. [55] [56] [57] It was also displayed by members of Congress at Tea Party rallies. [58] In some cases, the flag was ruled to be a political, rather than a historic or military, symbol due to the strong Tea Party connection. [59]
In 2014, the flag was used by Jerad and Amanda Miller, the perpetrators of the 2014 Las Vegas shootings who killed two police officers and a citizen. [60] The Millers reportedly placed the Gadsden Flag on the corpse of one of the officers they killed. [61]
In March 2013, the Gadsden flag was raised at a vacant armory building in New Rochelle, New York, without permission from city officials. The city ordered its removal [62] and the United Veterans Memorial & Patriotic Association, which had maintained the U.S. flag at the armory, filed suit against the city. A federal judge dismissed the case, rejecting the United Veterans' First Amendment argument and ruling that the flagpole in question was city property and thus did not represent private speech. [63]
In 2014, a US Postal Service employee filed a complaint about a coworker repeatedly wearing a hat with a Gadsden Flag motif at work. Postal service administration dismissed the complaint, but the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reversed the decision and called for a careful investigation. The EEOC issued a statement clarifying that it did not make any decision that the Gadsden flag was a "racist symbol," or that wearing a depiction of it constituted racial discrimination. [64]
In 2023, a seventh grader at The Vanguard School in Colorado Springs named Jaiden Rodriguez was removed from school for wearing several patches that were "in violation of the school’s dress code policy" including a Gadsden flag patch. [65] After high-profile backlash against the decision, including criticism from Governor Jared Polis, the school reversed its decision. [66] [67]
Street Patrol, a 1990s queer self-defense group affiliated with Queer Nation/San Francisco, used as its logo a coiled snake over a triangle holding a ribbon with the motto "Don't Tread on Me". [68] [69] Some libertarian circles use a version of the flag with the snake and motto placed over a rainbow flag. [70] Following the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting, posters containing a rainbow Gadsden flag inscribed with "#ShootBack" were placed around West Hollywood. [71]
The Gadsden flag has been used by supporters of Argentine right-libertarian president Javier Milei. [72] During Milei's inauguration, there were Gadsden flags flown [73] which is one of the first times the flag was flown with notability in a foreign inauguration. [74]
Parodies and pastiches of the Gadsden flag exist; one common design replaces the "Don't tread on me" motto with "No Step on Snek", sometimes paired with a crudely drawn snake. [75]
The Gadsden flag has made numerous appearances in popular culture, particularly in post-apocalyptic stories.
The national flag of the United States, often referred to as the American flag or the U.S. flag, consists of thirteen horizontal stripes, alternating red and white, with a blue rectangle in the canton bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows, where rows of six stars alternate with rows of five stars. The 50 stars on the flag represent the 50 U.S. states, and the 13 stripes represent the thirteen British colonies that won independence from Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War.
The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. The Continental Congress refers to both the First and Second Congresses of 1774–1781 and at the time, also described the Congress of the Confederation of 1781–1789. The Confederation Congress operated as the first federal government until being replaced following ratification of the U.S. Constitution. Until 1785, the Congress met predominantly at what is today Independence Hall in Philadelphia, though it was relocated temporarily on several occasions during the Revolutionary War and the fall of Philadelphia.
The serpent, or snake, is one of the oldest and most widespread mythological symbols. The word is derived from Latin serpens, a crawling animal or snake. Snakes have been associated with some of the oldest rituals known to humankind and represent dual expression of good and evil.
Christopher Gadsden was an American politician who was the principal leader of the South Carolina Patriot movement during the American Revolution. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress, a brigadier general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina, a merchant, and the designer of the Gadsden flag. He is a signatory to the Continental Association.
The Continental Navy was the navy of the Thirteen Colonies during the American Revolutionary War. Founded on October 13, 1775, the fleet developed into a substantial force throughout the Revolutionary War, owing partially to the efforts of naval patrons within the Continental Congress. These congressional patrons included the likes of John Adams, who served as the chairman of the Naval Committee until 1776, when Commodore Esek Hopkins received instruction from the Continental Congress to assume command of the force.
The several branches of the United States Armed Forces are represented by flags. Within the U.S. military, various flags fly on various occasions, and on various ships, bases, camps, and military academies.
The first USS Hornet was a merchant sloop chartered from Captain William Stone in December 1775 to serve under Stone as a unit of Esek Hopkins' Fleet. The voyage would be the first military action for master's mate Joshua Barney. The vessel was damaged while sailing with the fleet and returned to base. Hornet patrolled Delaware Bay until being captured on 27 April 1777 by the Royal Navy. Hornet was taken to Jamaica, where the ship was found to be leaking and was condemned.
Esek Hopkins was an American naval officer, merchant captain, and privateer. Achieving the rank of Commodore, Hopkins was the only Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War. The Continental Congress commissioned him as Commander-in-Chief of the Navy in December 1775.
The First Navy Jack was the naval jack of the United States from 1975 to 1976 and again from 2002 to 2019. It was authorized by the U.S. Navy and was flown from the jackstaff of commissioned vessels of the U.S. Navy while moored pierside or at anchor. Since then, it is used only as a naval jack by the oldest active warship in the U.S. Navy. The design is traditionally regarded as that of the first U.S. naval jack, flown soon after independence, but this is not supported by the historical record.
The U.S. state of New Hampshire has held two seals since it declared its independence from Great Britain on January 5, 1776. While both seals have been retained, most people are only familiar with the Great Seal due to its corporate use.
The jack of the United States, referred to as the Union Jack by the U.S. Navy, is a maritime jack flag flown on the bow of U.S. vessels that are moored or anchored. In addition to commissioned U.S. Navy ships, the jack is used by the U.S. Coast Guard, the Military Sealift Command, the ships of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and other U.S. government entities. While anchored or moored, the jack is flown on the bow of a ship, and the ensign is flown on the stern. Once under way, the jack is lowered.
The timber rattlesnake, canebrake rattlesnake, or banded rattlesnake is a species of pit viper endemic to eastern North America. Like all other pit vipers, it is venomous, with a very toxic bite. C. horridus is the only rattlesnake species in most of the populous Northeastern United States and is second only to its relatives to the west, the prairie rattlesnake, as the most northerly distributed venomous snake in North America. No subspecies are currently recognized.
Join, or Die. is a political cartoon showing the disunity in the American colonies. Attributed to Benjamin Franklin, the original publication by The Pennsylvania Gazette on May 9, 1754, is the earliest known pictorial representation of colonial union produced by an American colonist in Colonial America. It was based on a superstition that if a snake was cut in pieces and the pieces were put together before sunset, the snake would return to life.
Don't Tread on Me, usually stylized fully in uppercase letters without an apostrophe, is a political slogan dating to the American Revolution.
"Don't Tread on Me" is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica from their self-titled fifth album. The title is connected with the American Revolutionary War. The words "Don't Tread on Me" constitute the motto of the Gadsden flag, and the snake image on the flag is pictured on the cover of the album.
The Culpeper Minutemen was a militia group formed in 1775 in the district around Culpeper, Virginia. Like minutemen in other British colonies, the men drilled in military tactics and trained to respond to emergencies "at a minute's notice".
The Pine Tree Flag was one of the flags used during the American Revolution. The flag, which featured a pine tree with the motto "An Appeal to Heaven", or less frequently "An Appeal to God", was used by a squadron of six schooners commissioned under George Washington's authority as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army beginning in October 1775.
The Tea Party movement was an American fiscally conservative political movement within the Republican Party that began in 2009. The movement formed in opposition to the policies of Democratic President Barack Obama and was a major factor in the 2010 wave election in which Republicans gained 63 House seats and took control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
The United Companies of the Train of Artillery of the Town of Providence, known as UTA, is a member of the Rhode Island Historic Commands, and takes part in many reenactments and state events. The unit was raised during the American Revolutionary War from the Fusiliers of Providence and the Artillery Company of Providence, making it one of the largest artillery units in Rhode Island. They fought at the Battle of Rhode Island and many other battles in the American Revolutionary War. The unit used a distinctive flag which featured a coiled timber rattlesnake with the motto "Do Not Tread On Me", above an anchor and the motto "In God We Hope", and a pair of cannons. The motif was surrounded by thirteen stars on a field of gold. This flag is one of the earliest uses of a rattlesnake on a flag and may have been the basis for the Gadsden flag. It is also one of the first uses of a circle of 13 stars to represent the thirteen colonies.
Media related to Gadsden flag at Wikimedia Commons