1 00:00:01,840 --> 00:00:07,960 Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey Brainstuff Louren 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:14,080 Speaker 1: Vogelbaum here a proudly flown from vehicles or defiantly waved 3 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:17,560 Speaker 1: at political rallies, the yellow Don't tread on Me flag, 4 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:22,000 Speaker 1: with its fearsome, coiled rattlesnake, has become a rallying cry 5 00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:27,000 Speaker 1: for right wing America. This historical flag, known as the 6 00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:30,800 Speaker 1: Gadsden flag, originated in colonial times and was resurrected by 7 00:00:30,840 --> 00:00:35,440 Speaker 1: the modern day Tea Party movement in twenty ten. Today, 8 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:39,479 Speaker 1: the Gadsden flag has taken on darker overtones. The flag 9 00:00:39,479 --> 00:00:43,000 Speaker 1: has been embraced by fringe political groups, including the anti 10 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:46,239 Speaker 1: government militias and other protesters, who stormed the Capitol on 11 00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:49,840 Speaker 1: January sixth of twenty twenty one, displaying dozens of Don't 12 00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:54,360 Speaker 1: tread on Me flags. The history of the Gadsden flag, 13 00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:58,200 Speaker 1: particularly the symbolism of the brattlesnake, is closely linked with 14 00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:01,560 Speaker 1: Benjamin Franklin and the unity of all of the colonies 15 00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:06,320 Speaker 1: that eventually became the United States. The Gadsden flag is 16 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:09,959 Speaker 1: visually striking because of its bright yellow field, though words 17 00:01:09,959 --> 00:01:12,520 Speaker 1: don't tread on Me and the image of a coiled 18 00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:17,360 Speaker 1: rattlesnake with its fangs bared ready to strike. The rattlesnake 19 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:20,080 Speaker 1: was the first of these elements to be associated with America. 20 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:25,039 Speaker 1: In seventeen fifty one, colonists were bristling over the British 21 00:01:25,120 --> 00:01:29,360 Speaker 1: practice of shipping convicted felons to the Thirteen Colonies. The 22 00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:31,479 Speaker 1: Crown said that it was doing the colonies a favor 23 00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:35,480 Speaker 1: by helping them populate faster. But Benjamin Franklin, then a 24 00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:40,520 Speaker 1: journalist in Philadelphia, wasn't having it. With his trademark wit 25 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:45,080 Speaker 1: and dripping with venomous sarcasm, Franklin penned a satirical article 26 00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:49,720 Speaker 1: for his newspaper, The Pennsylvania Gazette, titled Rattlesnakes for Felons. 27 00:01:51,320 --> 00:01:55,720 Speaker 1: Here's a sample. Such a tender parental concern in our 28 00:01:55,760 --> 00:01:59,120 Speaker 1: mother country for the welfare of her children, calls aloud 29 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:03,200 Speaker 1: for the highest rich of gratitude rattlesnakes, seeing the most 30 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:06,160 Speaker 1: suitable returns for the human servants sent us by our 31 00:02:06,160 --> 00:02:12,160 Speaker 1: mother country. So yes, Franklin proposed shipping crates of venomous 32 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:15,840 Speaker 1: American rattlesnakes to London, where they could slither happily through 33 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:19,720 Speaker 1: the city's parks, and I quote particularly in the gardens 34 00:02:19,720 --> 00:02:22,160 Speaker 1: of the Prime Ministers, the lords of Trade, and members 35 00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:26,040 Speaker 1: of Parliament, for to them we are most particularly obliged. 36 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:32,040 Speaker 1: Three years later, in seventeen fifty four, Franklin published one 37 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:35,560 Speaker 1: of the most indelible images of colonial America. It's one 38 00:02:35,560 --> 00:02:40,080 Speaker 1: of America's earliest political cartoons. The woodblock print, which was 39 00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:43,480 Speaker 1: likely etched by another artist, first appeared in the pages 40 00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:46,639 Speaker 1: of the Pennsylvania Gazette and depicting a snake cut into 41 00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:50,800 Speaker 1: pieces representing the American colonies over the fateful words join 42 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:56,120 Speaker 1: or die. The cartoon wasn't a call to arms against 43 00:02:56,160 --> 00:02:58,520 Speaker 1: the British because it was published during the lead up 44 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:01,960 Speaker 1: to the French and Indian War. The cartoon accompanied an 45 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:04,960 Speaker 1: editorial by Franklin in which he was trying to unify 46 00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:09,200 Speaker 1: colonial opposition to the French. Ironically, he was probably inspired 47 00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:12,960 Speaker 1: by a similar French drawing from the sixteen eighties. If 48 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:15,840 Speaker 1: Franklin was also lobbying the British to give the colonies 49 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:19,040 Speaker 1: more independent governing authority to fight the French on their own. 50 00:03:19,919 --> 00:03:23,440 Speaker 1: It didn't work, and the British said their own army. 51 00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:27,919 Speaker 1: The inscription joiner die was aimed at the various colonial 52 00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:32,120 Speaker 1: assemblies and was a call for unity. There was a 53 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:35,040 Speaker 1: superstition in the eighteenth century that all snakes, even a 54 00:03:35,080 --> 00:03:40,600 Speaker 1: chopped up snake, could be reassembled and survive. For the article, 55 00:03:40,640 --> 00:03:42,920 Speaker 1: this episode is based on How Stuff Works. Spoke with 56 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:47,240 Speaker 1: John Hartvigsen, former president of the North American Vexillological Association 57 00:03:47,600 --> 00:03:52,200 Speaker 1: and a consultant at colonial flag. Vexillologists study the history 58 00:03:52,240 --> 00:03:56,480 Speaker 1: of flags and their symbolism. He explained the idea of 59 00:03:56,600 --> 00:03:59,760 Speaker 1: unity was what different symbols of the Revolution were really 60 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:03,080 Speaker 1: taught talking about. He mentioned that includes the circle of 61 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:06,280 Speaker 1: thirteen stars and thirteen stripes on the first American flag. 62 00:04:08,680 --> 00:04:11,800 Speaker 1: Over the next decade, as tensions reached a fever pitch 63 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:16,360 Speaker 1: between the colonies in Britain, Franklin's severed snake image went viral, 64 00:04:16,640 --> 00:04:21,360 Speaker 1: a colonial era meme. In seventeen seventy four, Paul Revere 65 00:04:21,400 --> 00:04:25,320 Speaker 1: redesigned the masthead of the Massachusetts Spy, a Boston newspaper, 66 00:04:25,480 --> 00:04:29,080 Speaker 1: to include a severed snake facing off with a winged dragon, 67 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:33,000 Speaker 1: the symbol of Britain. If you look closely, these snakes 68 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:37,479 Speaker 1: and these cartoons aren't clearly rattlesnakes. But between these images 69 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:41,000 Speaker 1: and that earlier piece of satire, along with popular drawings 70 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:44,520 Speaker 1: of rattlesnakes published by nature historians earlier in the seventeen hundreds, 71 00:04:44,960 --> 00:04:50,039 Speaker 1: a concept was coming together. The Revolutionary War finally broke 72 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:54,520 Speaker 1: out in seventeen seventy five. One Christopher Gadsden was a 73 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:58,320 Speaker 1: firebrand patriot from South Carolina and a brigadier general in 74 00:04:58,400 --> 00:05:02,520 Speaker 1: the Continental Army. He was elected to the First Continental Congress, 75 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:06,000 Speaker 1: where he served on the Marine Committee, and Gadsden decided 76 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:08,840 Speaker 1: that the colonial navy needed a flag that would distinguish 77 00:05:08,839 --> 00:05:12,239 Speaker 1: it from pirate vessels and also rally the sailors against 78 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:16,719 Speaker 1: oppressive British rule. That's when he came up with his 79 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:20,400 Speaker 1: famous yellow flag with its coiled rattlesnake and macho motto 80 00:05:20,640 --> 00:05:24,159 Speaker 1: don't tread on me. Hart Fixen points out that the 81 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:27,039 Speaker 1: snake on the Gadsden flag has thirteen rattles, with the 82 00:05:27,080 --> 00:05:31,000 Speaker 1: nub of a fourteenth, perhaps an invitation for Canadian provinces 83 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:36,880 Speaker 1: to join the fight. So did Gadsden design the flag himself, 84 00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:41,000 Speaker 1: That's not clear. All we know is that Gadsden presented 85 00:05:41,040 --> 00:05:44,120 Speaker 1: the flag to one commodore Hopkins, the Commander in Chief 86 00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:46,880 Speaker 1: of the Navy, who proudly flew it on his flagship vessel, 87 00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:50,520 Speaker 1: the US s Alfred. The Continental Marines also flew the 88 00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:55,400 Speaker 1: flag during the war. By December of seventeen seventy five, 89 00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:58,159 Speaker 1: the Gadsden flag had caught the attention of none other 90 00:05:58,240 --> 00:06:01,440 Speaker 1: than Benjamin Franklin, who wrote an anonymous letter under the 91 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:05,280 Speaker 1: pen name an American Guesser to the Pennsylvania Journal, highlighting 92 00:06:05,279 --> 00:06:09,599 Speaker 1: the similarities between this indigenous American reptile and the Thirteen 93 00:06:09,640 --> 00:06:13,640 Speaker 1: Colonies a quote. It occurred to me that the rattlesnake 94 00:06:13,760 --> 00:06:16,480 Speaker 1: is found in no other quarter of the world besides America, 95 00:06:16,839 --> 00:06:19,680 Speaker 1: and may therefore have been chosen on that account to 96 00:06:19,800 --> 00:06:24,320 Speaker 1: represent her. She never begins an attack, nor, once engaged, 97 00:06:24,360 --> 00:06:28,440 Speaker 1: ever surrenders. She is therefore an emblem of magnanimity and 98 00:06:28,480 --> 00:06:32,440 Speaker 1: true courage. She never wounds till she has generously given 99 00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:35,400 Speaker 1: notice even to her enemy, and cautioned him against the 100 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:40,560 Speaker 1: danger of treading on her. Then, referring to the snake's 101 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:44,960 Speaker 1: thirteen rattles, Franklin returned to the theme of unity. Tis 102 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:48,599 Speaker 1: curious and amazing to observe how distinct and independent of 103 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:51,320 Speaker 1: each other. The rattles of this animal are, and yet 104 00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:54,240 Speaker 1: how firmly they are united together, so as never to 105 00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:59,839 Speaker 1: be separated, but by breaking them to pieces. The Gadsden 106 00:07:00,400 --> 00:07:04,000 Speaker 1: wasn't the only flag flown during the Revolution. Interestingly, there 107 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:06,520 Speaker 1: was also a flag called the First Navy Jack that 108 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:09,640 Speaker 1: showed an outstretched rattlesnake on a field of thirteen red 109 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:12,080 Speaker 1: and white stripes with the words don't tread on me. 110 00:07:14,280 --> 00:07:17,040 Speaker 1: All of these alternate flags were shelved after these stars 111 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:21,960 Speaker 1: and stripes became the official national flag in seventeen seventy seven. However, 112 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:25,120 Speaker 1: during the Civil War, the Southern Confederates flew the Gadsden 113 00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:30,600 Speaker 1: flag alongside these stars and bars, skipping way ahead. A 114 00:07:30,640 --> 00:07:33,840 Speaker 1: popular interest in historical flags was reignited around the bi 115 00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:38,480 Speaker 1: centennial celebration in nineteen seventy six. To celebrate the two 116 00:07:38,600 --> 00:07:41,920 Speaker 1: hundredth anniversary of the Revolution, the United States Navy flew 117 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:44,760 Speaker 1: the first Navy Jack from its vessels, and the phrase 118 00:07:44,800 --> 00:07:49,679 Speaker 1: don't tread on me re entered the national vocabulary. Around 119 00:07:49,720 --> 00:07:52,640 Speaker 1: the same time, the Gadsden flag was also gaining popularity 120 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:56,920 Speaker 1: among the burgeoning libertarian movement of the nineteen seventies, but 121 00:07:57,120 --> 00:07:59,600 Speaker 1: twenty ten was the year that the Gadsden flag really 122 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:03,080 Speaker 1: made it's come back. The Tea Party was a grassroots 123 00:08:03,080 --> 00:08:06,280 Speaker 1: political movement that fashioned itself as a modern day Sons 124 00:08:06,320 --> 00:08:10,480 Speaker 1: of Liberty. Their enemy wasn't an oppressive foreign king, but 125 00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:14,760 Speaker 1: the United States own big government spending and taxation. The 126 00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:17,560 Speaker 1: Tea Party adopted the Gadsden flag as its own, and 127 00:08:17,680 --> 00:08:21,360 Speaker 1: their influence trickled up to Congress. In twenty ten, a 128 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:24,400 Speaker 1: Tea Party loyalists in the House unfurled a Don't tread 129 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:26,640 Speaker 1: on Me flag from a balcony of the Capitol to 130 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:32,560 Speaker 1: protest President Barack Obama's health care legislation. Hart Fixen said, 131 00:08:33,160 --> 00:08:36,400 Speaker 1: when the Tea Party started using revolutionary war flags, I 132 00:08:36,640 --> 00:08:39,920 Speaker 1: kind of chuckled under my breath. This is interesting. The 133 00:08:39,960 --> 00:08:45,160 Speaker 1: problem is that it's been carried to such extremes. Back 134 00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:48,440 Speaker 1: in twenty fourteen, an African American postal worker filed a 135 00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:51,800 Speaker 1: complaint of racial discrimination with the US Postal Service against 136 00:08:51,840 --> 00:08:55,120 Speaker 1: a coworker who repeatedly warred work a cap sporting the 137 00:08:55,200 --> 00:08:59,800 Speaker 1: Gadsden flag. The Postal Service dismissed the complaint for failure 138 00:08:59,800 --> 00:09:04,360 Speaker 1: to state a cognizable claim of discrimination. However, the Equal 139 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:08,240 Speaker 1: Employment Opportunity Commission reversed the dismissal and ordered the USPS 140 00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:12,280 Speaker 1: to investigate. It's said that while the Gadsden flag originated 141 00:09:12,280 --> 00:09:15,559 Speaker 1: in a non racial context, it has since been quote 142 00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:20,440 Speaker 1: interpreted to convey racially tinged messages in some contexts, and 143 00:09:20,679 --> 00:09:23,480 Speaker 1: therefore the complaint met the legal standard to be investigated 144 00:09:23,520 --> 00:09:28,600 Speaker 1: by the USPS rather than to be dismissed. Hartvigsen said 145 00:09:28,640 --> 00:09:31,400 Speaker 1: that he's watched with dismay as the Gadsden flag and 146 00:09:31,520 --> 00:09:35,400 Speaker 1: other historical flags have been appropriated by increasingly radical groups. 147 00:09:36,280 --> 00:09:39,760 Speaker 1: The low point for him was January sixth, when historical 148 00:09:39,880 --> 00:09:43,440 Speaker 1: and contemporary American flags were even used as weapons to 149 00:09:43,600 --> 00:09:47,319 Speaker 1: beat Capital police officers, a far cry from the flag's 150 00:09:47,320 --> 00:09:53,600 Speaker 1: original meaning of unity and benevolence. Perhaps in response to 151 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:56,560 Speaker 1: the Gadsden flag's right wing comeback, versions of it have 152 00:09:56,640 --> 00:09:59,960 Speaker 1: shown up at LGBTQ plus rallies with the rattlesnake off 153 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:03,480 Speaker 1: a rainbow field and it abortion writes marches with the 154 00:10:03,520 --> 00:10:07,000 Speaker 1: snake curled into the shape of a uterus. But it's 155 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:10,120 Speaker 1: still popular at right wing rallies and tea party events, 156 00:10:10,720 --> 00:10:14,200 Speaker 1: and despite or because of all the fuss, there are 157 00:10:14,280 --> 00:10:17,160 Speaker 1: at least a dozen states that offer a specialty license 158 00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:21,920 Speaker 1: plate emblazoned with the Gadsden flag. Indeed, Kansas approved it's 159 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:24,720 Speaker 1: don't Tread on Me plate just weeks after the January 160 00:10:24,760 --> 00:10:32,720 Speaker 1: sixth insurrection. Today's episode is based on the article What's 161 00:10:32,760 --> 00:10:34,680 Speaker 1: the meaning of the Don't Tread on Me Flag? On 162 00:10:34,679 --> 00:10:37,959 Speaker 1: how stuffworks dot com, written by Dave brus. Brain Stuff 163 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:40,600 Speaker 1: is production of iHeartRadio in partnership with house stuffworks dot 164 00:10:40,600 --> 00:10:43,800 Speaker 1: Com and is produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts 165 00:10:43,800 --> 00:10:47,000 Speaker 1: from my heart Radio. Visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 166 00:10:47,080 --> 00:10:48,960 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.