# Gadsden Flag Don T Tread On Me

The Gadsden Flag is a 1775 American Revolutionary War design showing a coiled rattlesnake on a yellow field above the phrase DON'T TREAD ON ME. It picked up new life online through Tea Party rally imagery in 2009 and the No Step on Snek parody variant that spread on 4chan and Reddit in 2015 and 2016.

## Overview
The Gadsden Flag pairs a coiled rattlesnake baring its fangs with the phrase DON'T TREAD ON ME on a bright yellow background, one of the older American flag designs still in wide public use[1]. It is named after South Carolina Continental Congress delegate Christopher Gadsden and was flown by the newly launched American Navy in 1775[1].

Around 2009 the design saw heavy display at Tea Party protest rallies, which pushed it back into public view and made both the snake and the DON'T TREAD ON ME phrase a frequent target for parody online[3]. The flag also stayed in regular military use, and beginning September 11, 2002, all U.S. Navy ships were ordered to fly the related First Navy Jack[2].

## How It Spread
The flag stayed in circulation as a patriotic and military symbol for centuries, and supporters of U.S. national soccer teams like Sam's Army and The American Outlaws flew it starting in the late 1980s[3]. Its biggest modern comeback came during 2009 Tea Party protests. Rick Wyatt, who runs a flag store in Glen Burnie, Maryland, told the Boston Globe that his Gadsden inventory started evaporating and a year's worth of sales came in a single day[1].

The Tea Party association drew backlash. In New Rochelle, New York, the city council voted 5-2 to have the flag removed from a local military armory after complaints that it had turned into a Tea Party symbol[2]. The United Veterans Memorial and Patriotic Association took the case toward court with help from the Thomas More Law Center[2].

Online, the design turned into a template. Around mid-to-late 2015, parody images swapping DON'T TREAD ON ME for the intentionally misspelled No Step on Snek spread across 4chan, Tumblr and Reddit[3]. On January 20th, 2016, Reddit user Pazda posted a /pol/ compilation that included a minimalist Comic Sans pls no step version, and it pulled more than 4,500 points before archival[3]. On October 21st, 2016, Redditor DeltaHDot uploaded a photo of U.S. military personnel holding up a hand-drawn no step on snek flag to r/funny, where it earned over 6,340 points inside a week[3].

## How to Use
Common convention is to keep the coiled snake and the yellow field but swap the caption with an intentionally misspelled or joke phrase, with No Step on Snek being the parody line that took off[3]. Crude MS Paint drawings and Comic Sans typography are typical shortcuts, following the pls no step template that circulated on Reddit and 4chan in 2016[3].

## Frequently Asked Questions
### What is Gadsden Flag Don T Tread On Me?
It is a historical American flag showing a coiled rattlesnake on a yellow background above the phrase DON'T TREAD ON ME, first flown by the American Navy in 1775[1].

### Where did Gadsden Flag Don T Tread On Me come from?
The design was ordered as an official flag by Colonel Christopher Gadsden in 1775 after he saw the Marines of the new American Navy using a similar coiled-snake motif[3].

### What does Gadsden Flag Don T Tread On Me mean?
It started as a Revolutionary War warning against British encroachment and was picked up in 2009 as a Tea Party protest symbol, which is what pushed it into meme territory[1][2].

### How do you use Gadsden Flag Don T Tread On Me?
The template swaps the DON'T TREAD ON ME line for an absurd misspelled phrase like No Step on Snek, often with crude drawings or Comic Sans[3].

### Is Gadsden Flag Don T Tread On Me still popular?
The base flag is still a common patriotic and military symbol, and the No Step on Snek parody peaked in 2016 with viral Reddit posts on r/funny and /pol/[3].

## References
1. [https://archive.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2010/06/13/flag_daze/](<https://archive.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2010/06/13/flag_daze/>)
2. [https://www.foxnews.com/us/gadsden-flag-called-tea-party-symbol-removed-from-new-york-military-armory](<https://www.foxnews.com/us/gadsden-flag-called-tea-party-symbol-removed-from-new-york-military-armory>)
3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/gadsden-flag-dont-tread-on-me](<https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/gadsden-flag-dont-tread-on-me>)
4. [https://www.apstudent.com/ushistory/docs1751/joindie.htm](<https://www.apstudent.com/ushistory/docs1751/joindie.htm>)

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