Gadsden - Don't Tread on Me 2x3 ft. SolarGuard Nyl-Glo , 100% Made in USA with brass Grommets.

Christopher Gadsden was an American patriot. He led Sons of Liberty in South Carolina starting in 1765, and was later made a colonel in the Continental Army. In 1775, he was in Philadelphia representing his home state in the Continental Congress. He was also one of three members of the Marine Committee.

It’s no secret that Gadsden made his money as a merchant in South Carolina, and both owned and sold slaves. For context into the time period, his fellow American patriot, and slave owner, Benjamin Franklin, actually helped him design the American rattlesnake symbol used on the Gadsden flag.

Gadsden, who was often called “the Sam Adams of the South,” was delegate to the Stamp Act Congress, delegate to the First and Second Continental Congresses, and commander of the 1st South Carolina Regiment of the Continental Army. Both he and Franklin were staunch American patriots.

Gadsden presented a copy of his flag to his state legislature in Charleston. As 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!"

The Gadsden Flag was intentionally designed not to convey a racist message, but a patriotic one. Here are a few notes on the flag’s symbolism, written by his friend and colleague, Ben Franklin.

1. The Rattlesnake is found in no other quarter of the world besides America
2. The rattlesnake also has sharp eyes, and "may therefore be esteemed an emblem of vigilance.
3. She never begins an attack, nor, when once engaged, ever surrenders: She is therefore an emblem of magnanimity and true courage
4. The rattle = the number of the Colonies united in America