Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey Brainstuff Louren
Speaker 1: Vogelbaum here a proudly flown from vehicles or defiantly waved
Speaker 1: at political rallies, the yellow Don't tread on Me flag,
Speaker 1: with its fearsome, coiled rattlesnake, has become a rallying cry
Speaker 1: for right wing America. This historical flag, known as the
Speaker 1: Gadsden flag, originated in colonial times and was resurrected by
Speaker 1: the modern day Tea Party movement in twenty ten. Today,
Speaker 1: the Gadsden flag has taken on darker overtones. The flag
Speaker 1: has been embraced by fringe political groups, including the anti
Speaker 1: government militias and other protesters, who stormed the Capitol on
Speaker 1: January sixth of twenty twenty one, displaying dozens of Don't
Speaker 1: tread on Me flags. The history of the Gadsden flag,
Speaker 1: particularly the symbolism of the brattlesnake, is closely linked with
Speaker 1: Benjamin Franklin and the unity of all of the colonies
Speaker 1: that eventually became the United States. The Gadsden flag is
Speaker 1: visually striking because of its bright yellow field, though words
Speaker 1: don't tread on Me and the image of a coiled
Speaker 1: rattlesnake with its fangs bared ready to strike. The rattlesnake
Speaker 1: was the first of these elements to be associated with America.
Speaker 1: In seventeen fifty one, colonists were bristling over the British
Speaker 1: practice of shipping convicted felons to the Thirteen Colonies. The
Speaker 1: Crown said that it was doing the colonies a favor
Speaker 1: by helping them populate faster. But Benjamin Franklin, then a
Speaker 1: journalist in Philadelphia, wasn't having it. With his trademark wit
Speaker 1: and dripping with venomous sarcasm, Franklin penned a satirical article
Speaker 1: for his newspaper, The Pennsylvania Gazette, titled Rattlesnakes for Felons.
Speaker 1: Here's a sample. Such a tender parental concern in our
Speaker 1: mother country for the welfare of her children, calls aloud
Speaker 1: for the highest rich of gratitude rattlesnakes, seeing the most
Speaker 1: suitable returns for the human servants sent us by our
Speaker 1: mother country. So yes, Franklin proposed shipping crates of venomous
Speaker 1: American rattlesnakes to London, where they could slither happily through
Speaker 1: the city's parks, and I quote particularly in the gardens
Speaker 1: of the Prime Ministers, the lords of Trade, and members
Speaker 1: of Parliament, for to them we are most particularly obliged.
Speaker 1: Three years later, in seventeen fifty four, Franklin published one
Speaker 1: of the most indelible images of colonial America. It's one
Speaker 1: of America's earliest political cartoons. The woodblock print, which was
Speaker 1: likely etched by another artist, first appeared in the pages
Speaker 1: of the Pennsylvania Gazette and depicting a snake cut into
Speaker 1: pieces representing the American colonies over the fateful words join
Speaker 1: or die. The cartoon wasn't a call to arms against
Speaker 1: the British because it was published during the lead up
Speaker 1: to the French and Indian War. The cartoon accompanied an
Speaker 1: editorial by Franklin in which he was trying to unify
Speaker 1: colonial opposition to the French. Ironically, he was probably inspired
Speaker 1: by a similar French drawing from the sixteen eighties. If
Speaker 1: Franklin was also lobbying the British to give the colonies
Speaker 1: more independent governing authority to fight the French on their own.
Speaker 1: It didn't work, and the British said their own army.
Speaker 1: The inscription joiner die was aimed at the various colonial
Speaker 1: assemblies and was a call for unity. There was a
Speaker 1: superstition in the eighteenth century that all snakes, even a
Speaker 1: chopped up snake, could be reassembled and survive. For the article,
Speaker 1: this episode is based on How Stuff Works. Spoke with
Speaker 1: John Hartvigsen, former president of the North American Vexillological Association
Speaker 1: and a consultant at colonial flag. Vexillologists study the history
Speaker 1: of flags and their symbolism. He explained the idea of
Speaker 1: unity was what different symbols of the Revolution were really
Speaker 1: taught talking about. He mentioned that includes the circle of
Speaker 1: thirteen stars and thirteen stripes on the first American flag.
Speaker 1: Over the next decade, as tensions reached a fever pitch
Speaker 1: between the colonies in Britain, Franklin's severed snake image went viral,
Speaker 1: a colonial era meme. In seventeen seventy four, Paul Revere
Speaker 1: redesigned the masthead of the Massachusetts Spy, a Boston newspaper,
Speaker 1: to include a severed snake facing off with a winged dragon,
Speaker 1: the symbol of Britain. If you look closely, these snakes
Speaker 1: and these cartoons aren't clearly rattlesnakes. But between these images
Speaker 1: and that earlier piece of satire, along with popular drawings
Speaker 1: of rattlesnakes published by nature historians earlier in the seventeen hundreds,
Speaker 1: a concept was coming together. The Revolutionary War finally broke
Speaker 1: out in seventeen seventy five. One Christopher Gadsden was a
Speaker 1: firebrand patriot from South Carolina and a brigadier general in
Speaker 1: the Continental Army. He was elected to the First Continental Congress,
Speaker 1: where he served on the Marine Committee, and Gadsden decided
Speaker 1: that the colonial navy needed a flag that would distinguish
Speaker 1: it from pirate vessels and also rally the sailors against
Speaker 1: oppressive British rule. That's when he came up with his
Speaker 1: famous yellow flag with its coiled rattlesnake and macho motto
Speaker 1: don't tread on me. Hart Fixen points out that the
Speaker 1: snake on the Gadsden flag has thirteen rattles, with the
Speaker 1: nub of a fourteenth, perhaps an invitation for Canadian provinces
Speaker 1: to join the fight. So did Gadsden design the flag himself,
Speaker 1: That's not clear. All we know is that Gadsden presented
Speaker 1: the flag to one commodore Hopkins, the Commander in Chief
Speaker 1: of the Navy, who proudly flew it on his flagship vessel,
Speaker 1: the US s Alfred. The Continental Marines also flew the
Speaker 1: flag during the war. By December of seventeen seventy five,
Speaker 1: the Gadsden flag had caught the attention of none other
Speaker 1: than Benjamin Franklin, who wrote an anonymous letter under the
Speaker 1: pen name an American Guesser to the Pennsylvania Journal, highlighting
Speaker 1: the similarities between this indigenous American reptile and the Thirteen
Speaker 1: Colonies a quote. It occurred to me that the rattlesnake
Speaker 1: is found in no other quarter of the world besides America,
Speaker 1: and may therefore have been chosen on that account to
Speaker 1: represent her. She never begins an attack, nor, once engaged,
Speaker 1: ever surrenders. She is therefore an emblem of magnanimity and
Speaker 1: true courage. She never wounds till she has generously given
Speaker 1: notice even to her enemy, and cautioned him against the
Speaker 1: danger of treading on her. Then, referring to the snake's
Speaker 1: thirteen rattles, Franklin returned to the theme of unity. Tis
Speaker 1: curious and amazing to observe how distinct and independent of
Speaker 1: each other. The rattles of this animal are, and yet
Speaker 1: how firmly they are united together, so as never to
Speaker 1: be separated, but by breaking them to pieces. The Gadsden
Speaker 1: wasn't the only flag flown during the Revolution. Interestingly, there
Speaker 1: was also a flag called the First Navy Jack that
Speaker 1: showed an outstretched rattlesnake on a field of thirteen red
Speaker 1: and white stripes with the words don't tread on me.
Speaker 1: All of these alternate flags were shelved after these stars
Speaker 1: and stripes became the official national flag in seventeen seventy seven. However,
Speaker 1: during the Civil War, the Southern Confederates flew the Gadsden
Speaker 1: flag alongside these stars and bars, skipping way ahead. A
Speaker 1: popular interest in historical flags was reignited around the bi
Speaker 1: centennial celebration in nineteen seventy six. To celebrate the two
Speaker 1: hundredth anniversary of the Revolution, the United States Navy flew
Speaker 1: the first Navy Jack from its vessels, and the phrase
Speaker 1: don't tread on me re entered the national vocabulary. Around
Speaker 1: the same time, the Gadsden flag was also gaining popularity
Speaker 1: among the burgeoning libertarian movement of the nineteen seventies, but
Speaker 1: twenty ten was the year that the Gadsden flag really
Speaker 1: made it's come back. The Tea Party was a grassroots
Speaker 1: political movement that fashioned itself as a modern day Sons
Speaker 1: of Liberty. Their enemy wasn't an oppressive foreign king, but
Speaker 1: the United States own big government spending and taxation. The
Speaker 1: Tea Party adopted the Gadsden flag as its own, and
Speaker 1: their influence trickled up to Congress. In twenty ten, a
Speaker 1: Tea Party loyalists in the House unfurled a Don't tread
Speaker 1: on Me flag from a balcony of the Capitol to
Speaker 1: protest President Barack Obama's health care legislation. Hart Fixen said,
Speaker 1: when the Tea Party started using revolutionary war flags, I
Speaker 1: kind of chuckled under my breath. This is interesting. The
Speaker 1: problem is that it's been carried to such extremes. Back
Speaker 1: in twenty fourteen, an African American postal worker filed a
Speaker 1: complaint of racial discrimination with the US Postal Service against
Speaker 1: a coworker who repeatedly warred work a cap sporting the
Speaker 1: Gadsden flag. The Postal Service dismissed the complaint for failure
Speaker 1: to state a cognizable claim of discrimination. However, the Equal
Speaker 1: Employment Opportunity Commission reversed the dismissal and ordered the USPS
Speaker 1: to investigate. It's said that while the Gadsden flag originated
Speaker 1: in a non racial context, it has since been quote
Speaker 1: interpreted to convey racially tinged messages in some contexts, and
Speaker 1: therefore the complaint met the legal standard to be investigated
Speaker 1: by the USPS rather than to be dismissed. Hartvigsen said
Speaker 1: that he's watched with dismay as the Gadsden flag and
Speaker 1: other historical flags have been appropriated by increasingly radical groups.
Speaker 1: The low point for him was January sixth, when historical
Speaker 1: and contemporary American flags were even used as weapons to
Speaker 1: beat Capital police officers, a far cry from the flag's
Speaker 1: original meaning of unity and benevolence. Perhaps in response to
Speaker 1: the Gadsden flag's right wing comeback, versions of it have
Speaker 1: shown up at LGBTQ plus rallies with the rattlesnake off
Speaker 1: a rainbow field and it abortion writes marches with the
Speaker 1: snake curled into the shape of a uterus. But it's
Speaker 1: still popular at right wing rallies and tea party events,
Speaker 1: and despite or because of all the fuss, there are
Speaker 1: at least a dozen states that offer a specialty license
Speaker 1: plate emblazoned with the Gadsden flag. Indeed, Kansas approved it's
Speaker 1: don't Tread on Me plate just weeks after the January
Speaker 1: sixth insurrection. Today's episode is based on the article What's
Speaker 1: the meaning of the Don't Tread on Me Flag? On
Speaker 1: how stuffworks dot com, written by Dave brus. Brain Stuff
Speaker 1: is production of iHeartRadio in partnership with house stuffworks dot
Speaker 1: Com and is produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts
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