On every page on this site, you will find a unique, modern version of the classic Gadsden "Dont Tread on Me" flag. This page will give you a brief history of that iconography, and then I'll touch on why it have become so important to me.

The first use of a rattlesnake as a political caricature was made possible by Benjamin Franklin, first published in his "Pennsylvania Gazette" on May 9, 1754. The original publication by the Gazette is the earliest known pictorial representation of colonial union produced by a British colonist in America. The cartoon appeared along with Franklin's editorial about the "disunited state" of the colonies, and helped make his point about the importance of colonial unity.

(During that era, there was a superstition that a snake which had been cut into pieces would come back to life if the pieces were put together before sunset.)

As the American Revolution grew closer, the snake began to see more use as a symbol of the colonies. In 1774, Paul Revere added it to the title of his paper, the Massachusetts Spy, as a snake joined to fight a British dragon. In December 1775, Benjamin Franklin published an essay in the Pennsylvania Journal under the pseudonym American Guesser in which he suggested that the rattlesnake was a good symbol for the American spirit:

"I recollected that her eye excelled in brightness, that of any other animal, and that she has no eyelids She may therefore be esteemed an emblem of vigilance. She never begins an attack, nor, when once engaged, ever surrenders: She is therefore an emblem of magnanimity and true courage. As if anxious to prevent all pretensions of quarreling with her, the weapons with which nature has furnished her, she conceals in the roof of her mouth, so that, to those who are unacquainted with her, she appears to be a most defenseless animal; and even when those weapons are shewn and extended for her defense, they appear weak and contemptible; but their wounds however small, are decisive and fatal:—Conscious of this, she never wounds till she has generously given notice, even to her enemy, and cautioned him against the danger of treading on her. Was I wrong, Sir, in thinking this a strong picture of the temper and conduct of America?"

In fall 1775, the United States Navy was established to intercept incoming British ships carrying war supplies to the British troops in the colonies. To aid in this, the Second Continental Congress authorized the mustering of five companies of Marines to accompany the Navy on their first mission.

The first Marines that enlisted were from Philadelphia and they carried drums painted yellow, depicting a coiled rattlesnake with thirteen rattles, and the motto "Don't Tread On Me." This is the first recorded mention of the future Gadsden flag's symbolism.

At the Congress, Continental Colonel Christopher Gadsden represented his home state of South Carolina. He was one of three members of the Marine Committee who were outfitting the first naval mission. It is unclear whether Gadsden took his inspiration from the Marines' drums, or if he inspired them himself.

Before the departure of that first mission, the newly appointed commander-in-chief of the Navy, Commodore Esek Hopkins, received the yellow rattlesnake flag described above from Gadsden to serve as his distinctive personal standard.

Gadsden also presented a copy of this flag to the South Carolina legislature in Charleston, South Carolina. This was recorded in the South Carolina congressional journals:

Col. Gadsden presented to the Congress an elegant standard, such as is to be used by the commander in chief of the American navy; being a yellow field, with a lively representation of a rattle-snake in the middle, in the attitude of going to strike, and these words underneath, "Don't Tread on Me!"

Considered one of the first flags of the United States, the flag was later replaced by the current Stars and Stripes (or Old Glory) flag. Since the Revolution, the flag has seen times of reintroduction as both a symbol of American patriotism and as a symbol of disagreement with the government.

Source: Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Join_or_die
http://en.wikipedia.org/wki/Gadsden_FlagA Modern Version...

In 2009, Luke Bauer and Bauer Bros. LLC founded the company "DTOM Brands" which showcased a number of tattoo-style art designs, many featuring a new and modern coiled rattlesnake logo as wel as the phrase "Dont Tread On Me." I discovered their site quite by accident, as at the time I was looking for a shirt with the aforementioned historical "Join or Die" artwork.

The shirt designs became immediately popular in the rock community, and were promoted by bands such as Metallica, Three Doors Down, and Daughtry. (My guess was that this had more to do with killer artwork than political philosophy, but that's just personal speculation, I don't know for sure.)

Anyhow, I followed up the discovery with a phone call to the company where I learned that many of the designs were inspired by soldiers from a local Marine base, and at based on the conversation I had, it was pretty obvious that the folks behind the designs were patriotic americans, not just opportunist trying to make a quick buck, so I ordered several shirts.

I'm a professional graphic designer, and if there's anything I appreciate, it's a good design... and I really LOVE this modern incarnation of the Gadsden coiled rattlesnake. With my order, I got a vinyl decal which found it's place on the back window of my rig, and the more I saw it, the more I enjoyed it.

As an aside... I strongly encourage you to patronize DTOM Brands. Buy a shirt or two, you'll love them. Patriotic owners, great designs, 100% American-Made shirts. A little spendy, but worth every penny. This endorsement is 100% unpaid, FYI.I liked it so much...

I'm not a tattoo guy. At least I never thought I was. While, as an artist, I can recognize that a lot of that craft produces intricate and beautiful imagery, my standard response to the question "You ever gonna get any ink?" was that I could not imagine ANYTHING or any design that I would like so much as to have it permenantly etched into my skin.

I stand by that. I think a lot of tattoos out there are ink for the sake of ink. And while I'm sure my personal tattoo artist is glad for that business, I have met many peope who shouldn't be tattooed, or who were and later regretted it. This is something you either keep for life, hate, or spend a serious crapload of time, effort, pain and expense to remove. Better to be sure of it now, than regret it for years later.

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So, what was it that I discovered and appreciated so much that I was willing to have a crazy genius embed it into my skin? Simple - LIBERTY. And after looking at the Bauer snake for several months, giving it a ton of consideration, and working my own iconography into my design, I went under the needle for my 40th birthday.And here's my design. The rattlesnake needs no additional description, The text is a P22 Type Foundry font called "Declaration" modeled after the calligraphy of the Declaration and Constitution. The three stars are symbolic of God, Family and Country.

I added the Roman Numeral "III" two months later when I had my fill – during the American Revolution, the active forces in the field against the King's tyranny never amounted to more than 3% of the colonists. They were in turn actively supported by perhaps 10% of the population. In addition to these revolutionaries were perhaps another 20% who favored their cause but did little or nothing to support it. For more information on what a "Three Percenter" is, see the article on Sipsey Street Irregulars.

Early on, I had considered multiple alternate lines of text, including "sic semper tyrannis" (thus always to tyrants), "audentes fortuna juvat" (fortune favors the bold), "si vis pacem, para bellum" (If you wish for peace , prepare for war), and "nemo me impune lacesset" (No one will provoke me with impunity) but in the long run opted for the more traditional text of "dont tread."

The longer text strings didn't really work from a design standpoint. Furthermore, none of the other options truly communicated the information or sentiment I wished to convey (with the exception of "nemo me impune lacesset" which I have historically found paired with the reattlesnake image), and I also felt that putting it in Latin rather than English would potentially blur the message and make it less understandable by someone not educated in their meanings. After all, this is a political statement.

So now this tattoo is has become an icon of who I am and what I believe, and now you know why you can find it on every page of this website!

Don't Tread On Me!

Jeff Williams