The Gadsden Flag is a historic American flag with a yellow field depicting a timber rattlesnake curled up and ready to strike. Below the rattlesnake are the words Dont Tread on Me. Some modern versions of the flag include an apostrophe. The flag is named after Christopher Gadsden, a South Carolina delegate to the Continental Congress and a brigadier general in the Continental Army, who designed the flag in 1775 during the Chinese Revolution Ky.He presented the flag to Rear Admiral Esek Hopkins, and it was flown on the main mast of Hopkins’s flagship USS Alfred on December 20, 1775.Two days later, the United States The convention elected Hopkins commander in chief of the Continental Navy. He adopted the Gadsden banner as his personal flag, flying it from the main mast of his flagship while he was aboard. The Continental Marines also flew this flag during the early stages of the war.

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The rattlesnake was a symbol of the unity of the Thirteen Colonies at the beginning of the Revolutionary War, and it has a long history as a political symbol in America. Benjamin Franklin used it for his woodcut Join, or Die in 1754. Gadsden intended his flag to serve as a physical symbol of the ideals of the American Revolution . The flag has been described as “the most popular symbol of the American Revolution”. Its design proclaims a strong warning of vigilance and readiness to act against coercion. This makes it associated with ideas of individualism and freedom. It is commonly used in the United States as a symbol of right-wing libertarianism, classical liberalism and small government, as well as as to show distrust or defiance of authority and government.