The rattlesnake first entered American political imagery through Benjamin Franklin. In 1751, Franklin published a satirical essay in the *Pennsylvania Gazette* suggesting colonists repay Britain for shipping convicts to America by sending rattlesnakes to England8. Three years later, in 1754, he published the famous "Join, or Die" cartoon, depicting the colonies as segments of a severed snake, urging unity during the French and Indian War1.

By 1775, the rattlesnake had become a popular symbol across all thirteen colonies, appearing on buttons, badges, currency, and flags8. That October, the Continental Congress authorized five companies of Marines to accompany the newly formed Continental Navy. Drummers for those first Marines carried yellow drums painted with a coiled rattlesnake and the motto "Don't Tread on Me"13.

Christopher Gadsden, a South Carolina delegate to the Continental Congress and brigadier general, designed the flag bearing the now-iconic combination of rattlesnake and motto7. He presented it to Commodore Esek Hopkins, the first commander of the Continental Navy, who flew it as his personal ensign aboard the USS *Alfred*10. In February 1776, Gadsden presented a copy to the Provincial Congress of South Carolina in Charleston, where it was ordered displayed in their legislative hall7.

The design faded from prominence after the United States adopted the Stars and Stripes in 17777.

The Gadsden Flag occupies an unusual position as both a government-recognized military symbol and a politically contested icon. Since September 11, 2002, every active U.S. Navy ship has flown the First Navy Jack featuring the rattlesnake and "Don't Tread on Me" motto4. The flag is also flown beneath the U.S. flag at many military installations4.

In music, Metallica released a song called "Don't Tread on Me" on their self-titled 1991 album, with the snake featured on the cover13. The band 311 released an album and song of the same name, and hardcore group Cro-Mags made "Don't Tread on Me" one of their signature tracks13.

The EEOC's 2016 determination that the flag is not inherently racist but can carry racial undertones "in some contexts" created a legal precedent that still shapes workplace and school disputes7. The 2023 Colorado school incident demonstrated how the flag can ignite national debate overnight, with coverage from the *New York Post*, *Newsweek*, the *Daily Mail*, and Fox News5612.

LGBTQ+ groups have also used the Gadsden Flag, particularly after violent attacks including a shooting in Colorado Springs, reframing the "don't tread on me" message as a statement against anti-LGBTQ+ violence12.

The Gadsden Flag's journey from Revolutionary War standard to internet punchline spans over 250 years, driven by the symbol's stark visual simplicity and the ease with which its message can be recontextualized.

Benjamin Franklin laid the groundwork decades before the flag existed. His 1751 rattlesnake satire and 1754 "Join, or Die" cartoon established the snake as American political shorthand8. Writing anonymously as "An American Guesser" in the *Pennsylvania Journal* in December 1775, Franklin argued the rattlesnake was the ideal symbol for America: it never attacks first, never surrenders once provoked, and always warns before striking13. Paul Revere had already added a snake fighting a British dragon to the masthead of the *Massachusetts Spy* in 177413.

Gadsden himself was a significant figure beyond the flag. Known as "the Sam Adams of the South," he was a founding member of South Carolina's Sons of Liberty, served as a delegate to both Continental Congresses, and later commanded the 1st South Carolina Regiment8. He spent 42 weeks in solitary confinement after refusing to negotiate with British forces, and though elected governor of South Carolina after the war, he declined due to failing health8. He died in 1805 and is buried in Charleston8.

The flag's political malleability showed early. During the Civil War, Confederates adopted versions of the rattlesnake imagery. The *Cincinnati Daily Press* warned in September 1861 that if "Jess Davis & Co" invaded Delaware and Maryland, "the coiled snake, and 'don't tread on me' will be sent at the head of the invaders"12. In the late 1960s, Ku Klux Klan leaders embraced the flag, and in the 1970s, organizers of radical environmental group Earth First! gave speeches from Gadsden-draped stages9. Libertarian political movements began adopting the flag in that same decade6.

The Tea Party era brought the most intense debate. A 2009 report from Missouri law enforcement labeled the Gadsden Flag "the most common symbol displayed by right-wing terrorist organizations"8. That same year in Louisiana, a man was detained by police for having a "Don't Tread on Me" bumper sticker8. Harvard professor Theda Skocpol, co-author of *The Tea Party and The Remaking of Republican Conservatism*, explained the appeal: Tea Party members "feel that they're the true Americans. The most common thing people said to us in our interviews was, 'We are working to save America'"9.

The flag appeared at the January 6, 2021 Capitol breach, carried alongside Confederate flags and other political banners5. It showed up at Proud Boys rallies in Portland in 20206. Trinity College students who hung a Gadsden Flag outside their dorm in November 2022 had it removed by administrators, sparking a TikTok debate5.

The August 2023 Colorado school incident brought the flag's contested meaning to a massive audience. Twelve-year-old Jaiden Rodriguez was told to remove a Gadsden Flag patch from his backpack at The Vanguard School in Colorado Springs after a teacher claimed it had "origins with slavery"6. A video of the exchange went viral on X (formerly Twitter), racking up over 9.1 million views12. Colorado's Democratic governor retweeted criticism of the school's decision, and the school reversed course12. Historian William Deverell of USC told *Newsweek* the flag "has proven, over several centuries, to be a very malleable symbol"12.

Cornell associate professor David Bateman offered a more pointed analysis: "In the 70s and 80s, the flag became a favorite of a libertarian movement that worked with white supremacists and played footsie with Nazis," though he noted the movement had "thankfully distanced itself from that sort of thing"12. He described the flag's contemporary function as "a bridge symbol" connecting the far right to the broader conservative movement through deliberate ambiguity12.