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First Flags of the United States

Join Or Die

The rattlesnake was the favorite animal emblem of the Americans even before the Revolution. In 1751 Benjamin Franklin's Pennsylvania Gazette carried a bitter article protesting the British practice of sending convicts to America. The author suggested tht the colonists return the favor by shipping "a cargo of rattlesnakes, which could be distributed in St. James Park, Spring Garden, and other places of pleasure, and particularly in the noblemen's gardens." Three years later the same paper printed the picture (as seen above) of a snake as a commentary on the Albany Congress. To remind the delegates of the danger of disunity, the serpent was shown cut to pieces. Each segment is marked with the name of a colony, and the motto "Join or Die" below. Other newspapers took up the snake theme.

By 1774 the segments of the snake had grown together, and the motto had been changed to read: "United Now Alive and Free Firm on this Basis Liberty Shall Stand and Thus Supported Ever Bless Our Land Till Time Becomes Eternity"

Other authors felt the rattlesnake was a good example of America's virtues. They argued that it is unique to America; individually its rattles produce no sound, but united they can be heard by all; and while it does not attack unless provoked, it is deadly to step upon one.

The Culpeper Flag

The Culpeper Don't Tread On Me Flag reportedly was first used as the banner for a group of about one hundred minutemen in Culpeper County, VA who formed part of Colonel Patrick Henry's First Virginia Regiment of 1775. In October-November 1775, three hundred such minutemen, led by Colonel Stevens, assembled at Culpeper Court House and marched for Williamsburg. Their unusual dress alarmed the people as they marched through the country. The words "Liberty or Death" were in large white letters on the breast of their hunting shirts. They had bucks' tails in their hats and in their belts, tomahawks and scalping knives.

The rattlesnake device occurs on several Revolutionary War flags. The rattlesnake's eye, supposedly brighter than any other creature's and with no eyelids, is the symbol of vigilance. It is said that the snake never begins an attack, but once aroused it never surrenders. The snake was also portrayed with 13 rattles, symbolic of the 13 American colonies.

The Culpeper Ensign
(often referred to as a "Navy Jack")

Subsequently, there was a Naval rendition of the Culpeper Minutemen Flag. This was one of the first flags to show 13 stripes, one for each American colony, along with the rattlesnake (although some sources say that this was a poisonous sea snake). It features the snake above the warning, Don't Tread On Me. As previously mentioned, the rattle snake had become a traditional symbol of the American Colonies and the Colonial Navy apparently adopted the sea going version of this and the Culpeper name stuck with it.

This flag is believed to have flown aboard the Continental Fleet's flagship Alfred, in January, 1776. This flag or one of it's variations was used by American ships throughout the Revolution.

The Gadsden Flag

In 1775 Christopher Gadsden was in Philadelphia representing his home state of South Carolina in the Continental Congress.

Gadsden and Congress chose a Rhode Island man, Esek Hopkins, as the commander-in-chief of the Navy. The flag that Hopkins used as his personal standard on the Alfred is the one we would now recognize. It's generally accepted that Hopkins' flag was presented to him by Christopher Gadsden, who felt it was especially important for the commodore to have a distinctive personal standard. Gadsden also presented a copy of this flag to his state legislature in Charleston. This is 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!"

Sources
www.usflag.org
U.S. Flag Depot - www.usflagdepot.com
The Culpepper Flags - http://gen.culpepper.com