Don't Tread on Me - A Few Things You May Not Know About The Gadsden Flag
Many of us are quite familiar with the famous flag that warns enemies of America--foreign and domestic--not to tread on Her. However, there are some very interesting, and very appropriate details about the flag that are unknown to most.
Many speculate that the Rattlesnake was chosen as the snake for the motto because it is a snake indigenous only to the Americas. The snake also has commonalities with what America is envisioned to be. The following is taken from a colonial publication called The Pennsylvania Journal, submitted by "An American Guesser": "She never begins an attack, nor, when 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." The 'guesser', who most now agree to be Benjamin Franklin himself, went on to write, "I confess I was wholly at a loss what to make of the rattles, 'till I went back and counted them and found them just thirteen, exactly the number of the Colonies united in America; and I recollected too that this was the only part of the Snake which increased in numbers. ... '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. One of those rattles singly, is incapable of producing sound, but the ringing of thirteen together, is sufficient to alarm the boldest man living."
For the full letter written by An American Guesser to The Pennsylvania Journal, click here.
To get your own Gadsden Flag t-shirt, hat, or fleece, click here.
