Marine Corp's Gadsden flag

I came upon an article about Marine Corp Veterans from Connecticut, who want to fly the Gadsden flag over their state capital. The article mentioned that it was the original flag carried by the Marine Corp in 1775. It was a symbol that was very popular at the time and has made an unprecedented comeback today, for the freedom for which it stands for.

To read the article===> http://is.gd/d95z6

The symbol of the timber rattlesnake was being used by American colonists as far back as 1775. It had been used before as a snake that was cut into smaller pieces to symbolize that any division would lead to our defeat. This is seen in Ben Franklin's cartoon made in 1754.

By 1775 however, we are using a the symbol of a solid snake, coiled to strike, if we trample on it. This signified our attitude that we were now united in purpose and the motto, "Don't Tread on Me", is printed under the poised animal, upon a bright yellow field.

'In the fall of 1775, the British were occupying Boston and the young Continental Army was holed up in Cambridge, woefully short on arms and ammunition. At the Battle of Bunker Hill, Washington's troops had been so low on gunpowder that they were ordered "not to fire until you see the whites of their eyes."

In October, a merchant ship called The Black Prince returned to Philadelphia from a voyage to England. On board were private letters to the Second Continental Congress that informed them that the British government was sending two ships to America loaded with arms and gunpowder for the British troops.

Congress decided that General Washington needed those arms more than the British. A plan was hatched to capture the cargo ships. They authorized the creation of a Continental Navy, starting with four ships. The frigate that carried the information from England, the Black Prince, was one of the four. It was purchased, converted to a man-of-war, and renamed the Alfred.

To accompany the Navy on their first mission, Congress also authorized the mustering of five companies of Marines. The Alfred and its sailors and marines went on to achieve some of the most notable victories of the American Revolution. But that's not the story we're interested in here.

What's particularly interesting for us is that some of the Marines that enlisted that month in Philadelphia were carrying drums painted yellow, emblazoned with a fierce rattlesnake, coiled and ready to strike, with thirteen rattles, and sporting the motto "Don't Tread on Me." '
http://is.gd/d94Td

Ben Franklin writes about his preference for the timber rattlesnake as our national symbol:

"I recollected that her eye excelled in brightness, that of any other animal, and that she has no eye-lids—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?"
Franklin, Benjamin. Pennsylvania Journal, December, 27, 1775

From the Gadsden Daily News

Gadsden’s flag
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 was representing 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 his state legislature in Charleston and 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!”

Contemporary significance
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 a symbol of American patriotism.

For instance, unofficial usage of the Gadsden flag by the U.S. Government has been seen, particularly in the wake of September 11, 2001, most notably by Customs and harbor patrol boats in U.S. ports and individuals serving abroad in the U.S. Military. The First Navy Jack, which was directly related to the Gadsden flag, has also been in use by the U.S. Navy, and since the terrorist attacks is flown on all active naval ships. The rattlesnake from the flag is shown on the U.S. Army Drill Sergeant Identification Badge. In the media, Nike also used the image of a snake coiled around a soccer ball for an ongoing, patriotic “Don’t Tread On Me” campaign in support of the United States men’s national soccer team.

Many Boy Scout troops in America part of the BSA as well as their council building display the flag and incorporate it into badges and flag displays.

For historical reasons, the flag is still popularly flown in Charleston, South Carolina, being the city where Christopher Gadsden first presented the flag, and where it was commonly used during the revolution, along with the blue and white crescent flag of pre-Civil War South Carolina. It also appears in a historical context in the 2000 film The Patriot in Charleston and in battle alongside the Old Glory flag. http://is.gd/d95UF

Read more: Marine Magazine http://is.gd/d965m

The US Navy still flies the Navy Jack on it's ships. It has been currently doing it now since the attacks on the Twin Towers in New york City.

The First Navy Jack (1775): One of the first flags flown by our U.S. Navy may have been an adaptation of the "Rebellious Stripes" created at the time of the Stamp Act Congress. It featured thirteen red and white stripes. Stretched across them was the rippling form of a rattlesnake, and the words, "DON'T TREAD ON ME"- a striking indication of the colonists' courage and fierce desire for independence.

The flag we know today as the first Navy Jack (sometimes known as the "Culpepper Flag) is believed to have flown aboard the Alfred, flagship of the newly commissioned Continental fleet, in January, 1776. American ships used this flag, or one of its variations, throughout the Revolutionary War. http://is.gd/d96qR