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Gadsden Flag (U.S.)

Historical

image by Rick Wyatt, 5 April 1998

The Gadsden Flag
Black Gadsden Flag
Gay Variant - Gadsden Flag
"Keep Fear Alive" Protest Flag 2010
Gadsden/State flags
Anti-vaccine Gadsden flags

See also:

The Gadsden Flag

The Gadsden flag is associated with Christopher Gadsden, who was a delegate to the Second Continental Congress. He presented a flag to the Provincial Congress of South Carolina on Friday, February 9, 1776. The journal of the South Carolina congress describes the flag as "an elegant standard, such as is said to be used by the commander-in-chief of the American navy; being a yellow field, with a lively representation of a rattlesnake in the middle, in the attitude of going to strike, and these words underneath, 'DONT TREAD ON ME!' "
Devereaux Cannon and Christopher Koceja, 25 September 2001

In February of 1776 - Commodore Esek Hopkins' ships put to sea for first time carrying a version of the Gadsden flag (yellow background, coiled snake, 'Don't Tread on Me').
David S. Cohen, 21 December 1997

This flag was used, as described by Gadsden, as the Commodore's flag. No apostrophe.
Dave Martucci, 21 December 1998

Black Gadsden Flag

image by Pete Loeser, 20 October 2013

Some further information just texted to me is that the Black Gadsden Flag is based on the Market Anarchy or Anarcho-Capitalist flag. Also called known the "Black and Gold" or "Black and Yellow" flag, the black represents Anarchy and the yellow/gold represents physical gold. According to my source, "Gold is a symbol of alternate and competing currencies as well as the Free Market."
Pete Loeser, 20 October 2013

image by Pete Loeser, 20 October 2013

Gay Variant - Gadsden Flag

image by Tomislav Todorovic, 23 October 2013

The gay rainbow flag with the addition of rattlesnake and inscription DONT TREAD ON ME was recently introduced. Most of its photos are still from the online shops, but the examples of its use are also appearing, like this one: https://www.facebook.com/pg/FranklinCountyLP/photos/?tab=album&album_id=598555430177125
Tomislav Todorovic, 23 October 2013

"Keep Fear Alive" Protest Flag 2010

image by Pete Loeser, 25 October 2013

A "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear" took place on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on Oct 30, 2010. Billed as an "anti-extremism" gathering, it was hosted by Jon Stewart (of Comedy Central - "The Daily Show") and Stephen Colbert (of Comedy Central - "The Colbert Report"). A huge crowd attended, and apparently it received mixed reviews, too much clowning around for some people.

The participants brought many humorous or ironic signs, many spoofing the flags present at Tea Party rallies, an example would be this modified Gadsden flag with the motto "Don't tread on me" replaced with "OMG SNAKE! HELP! SNAKE!". The red slogan "KEEP FEAR ALIVE" was also inserted into the snake's coils.
Pete Loeser, 25 October 2013

Gadsden/State flags

image by Randy Young, 5 April 2022

Yesterday, I noticed a flag flying at a home in Orange County, Virginia, that I had not previously seen. I assume that the flag has a political message, as the same house was also flying a Trump 2020 campaign flag, an American flag, and a Thin Blue Line flag. This particular one was a merging of the Gadsden flag from the American Revolution and the Virginia state flag. The two-fifths of the flag closest to the hoist consisted of a blue vertical bar with the Virginia state seal, mimicking the center of the Virginia state flag, while the other three-fifths of the flag was yellow with the rattlesnake and motto from the Gadsden flag.

I subsequently found that this flag is just one of many modern state variants of the Gadsden flag that are currently for sale on the Internet. Other state variants I found for sale online included:

* Alabama--the rattlesnake and motto from the Gadsden flag overlaid on the white field and red saltire of the Alabama state flag

* Arizona--the rattlesnake from the Gadsden flag replacing the star in the center of the Arizona state flag, with the "DONT TREAD ON ME" motto in white letters across the bottom of the flag

* Colorado--the rattlesnake from the Gadsden flag overlaid to the right of the "C" on the Colorado state flag, with the "DONT TREAD ON ME" motto in white letters centered in the bottom blue bar of the flag

* Georgia--the rattlesnake and motto from the Gadsden flag overlaid on the red-white-red tribar portion of the current Georgia state flag

* Kentucky--same as the attached Virginia variant, but with the Kentucky seal replacing the Virginia seal in the blue bar on the hoist

* Maryland--same as the attached Virginia variant, but with the entire Maryland state flag replacing the blue bar on the hoist, the Maryland flag being displayed vertically

* Nevada--the rattlesnake from the Gadsden flag overlaid in the blue portion of the Nevada state flag, positioned toward the fly, with the "DONT TREAD ON ME" motto centered on a yellow stripe below the rattlesnake

* New Jersey--same as the attached Virginia variant, but with the New Jersey coat of arms on buff replacing the Virginia seal on blue at the hoist

image by Randy Young, 5 April 2022

* North Carolina--the rattlesnake and motto from the Gadsden flag overlaid toward the fly on the current North Carolina state flag

* Ohio--the rattlesnake and motto from the Gadsden flag overlaid in the center of the Ohio state flag

* Pennsylvania--same as the attached Virginia variant, but with the Pennsylvania coat of arms replacing the Virginia seal on the blue bar at the hoist

* South Carolina--same as the attached Virginia variant, but with the Virginia seal replaced by the South Carolina crescent and palmetto

* Tennessee--same as the attached Virginia variant, but with the blue bar at the hoist replaced by a red bar, the fimbriated blue circle and stars from the Tennessee state flag centered on the bar, and thin white and blue vertical stripes separating the red bar at the hoist from the yellow of the Gadsden portion of the flag

* Texas--the rattlesnake and motto from the Gadsden flag overlaid toward the fly on the Texas state flag

* West Virginia--same as the attached Virginia variant, but with the blue bar at the hoist replaced by a white bar bearing the West Virginia seal in the center, the entire bar surrounded by a blue border, just like the West Virginia state flag
Randy Young, 5 April 2022

Anti-vaccine Gadsden flags

image by Randy Young, 6 April 2022

Yet another modern variant of the Gadsden flag from the American Revolution. This one has been used by Americans protesting mandates from the Biden Administration regarding the COVID-19 vaccine. A photograph in a Reuters news article about the US Supreme Court agreeing to hear arguments about the vaccine mandates includes a photograph of a child at a protest carrying this flag. The flag is a typical Gadsden flag, featuring the now-familiar coiled rattlesnake, mouth open with fangs and tongue displayed, centered on a yellow field. The usual motto of "DONT TREAD ON ME," however, has been replaced by a new motto in black capital letters, "DON'T VACCINATE ME."
Randy Young, 6 April 2022