The Gadsden flag is a historical symbol of American patriotism. This flag features a coiled rattlesnake set against a yellow background, ready to strike. Beneath the rattlesnake are the words “Don’t Tread on Me.”
The rattlesnake was chosen for America’s readiness to defend itself against any threat. The flag has been described as the “most popular symbol of the American Revolution.” Today, groups and individuals often use it to express a strong commitment to personal liberty and limited government intervention.
The flag has been co-opted by groups and countries that did not have the original intent of it in mind. The flag is named for Christopher Gadsden, a delegate from South Carolina to the
Gadsden flag
Continental Congress who designed the flag in 1775. But it was Ben Franklin, who had designed a rattlesnake symbol in 1754, that best described it.
In December 1775, Franklin published an essay in the Pennsylvania Journal under the pseudonym “American Guesser,” in which he suggested that the rattlesnake was a good symbol of the American spirit and its valuation for vigilance, assertiveness, individualism, unity, and liberty.