Where Did the 'Don't Tread on Me' Flag Come From?

the Gadsden flag has taken on darker overtones. The flag has been embraced by fringe political groups, including the anti government militias and other protesters, who stormed the Capitol on January sixth of twenty twenty one, displaying dozens of Don't tread on Me flags. The history of the Gadsden flag, particularly the symbolism of the brattlesnake, is closely linked with Benjamin Franklin and the unity of all of the colonies

that eventually became the United States. The Gadsden flag is visually striking because of its bright yellow field, though words don't tread on Me and the image of a coiled rattlesnake with its fangs bared ready to strike. The rattlesnake was the first of these elements to be associated with America. In seventeen fifty one, colonists were bristling over the British practice of shipping convicted felons to the Thirteen Colonies. The Crown said that it was doing the colonies a favor

by helping them populate faster. But Benjamin Franklin, then a journalist in Philadelphia, wasn't having it. With his trademark wit and dripping with venomous sarcasm, Franklin penned a satirical article for his newspaper, The Pennsylvania Gazette, titled Rattlesnakes for Felons.

Here's a sample. Such a tender parental concern in our mother country for the welfare of her children, calls aloud for the highest rich of gratitude rattlesnakes, seeing the most suitable returns for the human servants sent us by our

mother country. So yes, Franklin proposed shipping crates of venomous American rattlesnakes to London, where they could slither happily through the city's parks, and I quote particularly in the gardens of the Prime Ministers, the lords of Trade, and members of Parliament, for to them we are most particularly obliged. Three years later, in seventeen fifty four, Franklin published one of the most indelible images of colonial America. It's one

of America's earliest political cartoons. The woodblock print, which was likely etched by another artist, first appeared in the pages of the Pennsylvania Gazette and depicting a snake cut into pieces representing the American colonies over the fateful words join or die. The cartoon wasn't a call to arms against the British because it was published during the lead up to the French and Indian War. The cartoon accompanied an editorial by Franklin in which he was trying to unify

colonial opposition to the French. Ironically, he was probably inspired by a similar French drawing from the sixteen eighties. If Franklin was also lobbying the British to give the colonies more independent governing authority to fight the French on their own. It didn't work, and the British said their own army. The inscription joiner die was aimed at the various colonial assemblies and was a call for unity. There was a superstition in the eighteenth century that all snakes, even a

chopped up snake, could be reassembled and survive. For the article, this episode is based on How Stuff Works. Spoke with John Hartvigsen, former president of the North American Vexillological Association and a consultant at colonial flag. Vexillologists study the history of flags and their symbolism. He explained the idea of unity was what different symbols of the Revolution were really

taught talking about. He mentioned that includes the circle of thirteen stars and thirteen stripes on the first American flag. Over the next decade, as tensions reached a fever pitch between the colonies in Britain, Franklin's severed snake image went viral, a colonial era meme. In seventeen seventy four, Paul Revere redesigned the masthead of the Massachusetts Spy, a Boston newspaper, to include a severed snake facing off with a winged dragon,

the symbol of Britain. If you look closely, these snakes and these cartoons aren't clearly rattlesnakes. But between these images and that earlier piece of satire, along with popular drawings of rattlesnakes published by nature historians earlier in the seventeen hundreds, a concept was coming together. The Revolutionary War finally broke out in seventeen seventy five. One Christopher Gadsden was a firebrand patriot from South Carolina and a brigadier general in

the Continental Army. He was elected to the First Continental Congress, where he served on the Marine Committee, and Gadsden decided that the colonial navy needed a flag that would distinguish it from pirate vessels and also rally the sailors against oppressive British rule. That's when he came up with his famous yellow flag with its coiled rattlesnake and macho motto

don't tread on me. Hart Fixen points out that the snake on the Gadsden flag has thirteen rattles, with the nub of a fourteenth, perhaps an invitation for Canadian provinces to join the fight. So did Gadsden design the flag himself, That's not clear. All we know is that Gadsden presented the flag to one commodore Hopkins, the Commander in Chief of the Navy, who proudly flew it on his flagship vessel, the US s Alfred. The Continental Marines also flew the

flag during the war. By December of seventeen seventy five, the Gadsden flag had caught the attention of none other than Benjamin Franklin, who wrote an anonymous letter under the pen name an American Guesser to the Pennsylvania Journal, highlighting the similarities between this indigenous American reptile and the Thirteen Colonies a quote. It occurred to me that the rattlesnake is found in no other quarter of the world besides America, and may therefore have been chosen on that account to

represent her. She never begins an attack, nor, once engaged, ever surrenders. She is therefore an emblem of magnanimity and true courage. She never wounds till she has generously given notice even to her enemy, and cautioned him against the danger of treading on her. Then, referring to the snake's thirteen rattles, Franklin returned to the theme of unity. 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 Gadsden wasn't the only flag flown during the Revolution. Interestingly, there was also a flag called the First Navy Jack that showed an outstretched rattlesnake on a field of thirteen red and white stripes with the words don't tread on me. All of these alternate flags were shelved after these stars

and stripes became the official national flag in seventeen seventy seven. However, during the Civil War, the Southern Confederates flew the Gadsden flag alongside these stars and bars, skipping way ahead. A popular interest in historical flags was reignited around the bi centennial celebration in nineteen seventy six. To celebrate the two hundredth anniversary of the Revolution, the United States Navy flew the first Navy Jack from its vessels, and the phrase

don't tread on me re entered the national vocabulary. Around the same time, the Gadsden flag was also gaining popularity among the burgeoning libertarian movement of the nineteen seventies, but twenty ten was the year that the Gadsden flag really made it's come back. The Tea Party was a grassroots political movement that fashioned itself as a modern day Sons of Liberty. Their enemy wasn't an oppressive foreign king, but

the United States own big government spending and taxation. The Tea Party adopted the Gadsden flag as its own, and their influence trickled up to Congress. In twenty ten, a Tea Party loyalists in the House unfurled a Don't tread on Me flag from a balcony of the Capitol to protest President Barack Obama's health care legislation. Hart Fixen said, when the Tea Party started using revolutionary war flags, I kind of chuckled under my breath. This is interesting. The

problem is that it's been carried to such extremes. Back in twenty fourteen, an African American postal worker filed a complaint of racial discrimination with the US Postal Service against a coworker who repeatedly warred work a cap sporting the Gadsden flag. The Postal Service dismissed the complaint for failure to state a cognizable claim of discrimination. However, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reversed the dismissal and ordered the USPS

to investigate. It's said that while the Gadsden flag originated in a non racial context, it has since been quote interpreted to convey racially tinged messages in some contexts, and therefore the complaint met the legal standard to be investigated by the USPS rather than to be dismissed. Hartvigsen said that he's watched with dismay as the Gadsden flag and other historical flags have been appropriated by increasingly radical groups.

The low point for him was January sixth, when historical and contemporary American flags were even used as weapons to beat Capital police officers, a far cry from the flag's original meaning of unity and benevolence. Perhaps in response to the Gadsden flag's right wing comeback, versions of it have shown up at LGBTQ plus rallies with the rattlesnake off a rainbow field and it abortion writes marches with the

snake curled into the shape of a uterus. But it's still popular at right wing rallies and tea party events, and despite or because of all the fuss, there are at least a dozen states that offer a specialty license plate emblazoned with the Gadsden flag. Indeed, Kansas approved it's don't Tread on Me plate just weeks after the January sixth insurrection. Today's episode is based on the article What's the meaning of the Don't Tread on Me Flag? On

how stuffworks dot com, written by Dave brus. Brain Stuff is production of iHeartRadio in partnership with house stuffworks dot Com and is produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts from my heart Radio. Visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.