Chasing Grace

Did you know that the original colonists of the United States were once called the Sons of Liberty? I didn’t know that till I began to read about the Gadsden flag.

I once told Paul that when we get a house, I want to fly this flag on our property. He said that would be fine, as long as I first researched the history of the flag, understood where it came from and what it meant. So began my education in the history of this early American standard.

It started out as a political cartoon (America’s first) created by Ben Franklin and printed in the Boston Gazette in 1754. Eventually it found it’s way onto the Gadsden Flag, also known as the “Don’t Tread On Me” flag. It was used during the American Revolution, along with other rattlesnake styled flags. There was no standard American flag at the time. People were free to choose their own banners.

This particular flag was created by Christopher Gadsden, a patriot who led the Sons of Liberty in South Carolina starting in 1765, and was later made a colonel in the Continental Army.

From the website, interesting.com

He was also one of three members of the Marine Committee who decided to outfit and man the Alfred and its sister ships.

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 likely that John Paul Jones, as the first lieutenant on the Alfred, ran it up the gaff.

The snake symbol appeared in various forms. Besides banners and flags, it appeared on uniform buttons and paper money. (The motto in the title of this post appeared on some $20 bills in 1778, along with the image of a rattlesnake, and translates “No one will provoke me with impunity.”) 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’.” (foundingfathers.info)

I was originally attracted to the Gadsden flag because I understood it as meaning ‘if you don’t bother me, I won’t bother you’. The rattlesnake gives ample warning before striking, and as long as you steer clear of it and leave it alone, it won’t attack you. But now that I have done some research, I now know that it is a symbol of rebellion. So while I still appreciate the imagery of the rattlesnake, I don’t know that this particular flag would be a good thing to fly on my property. I’m not interested in a rebellion. What I want is to be left alone, and I want it to be known that I am perfectly willing, and able, to defend myself and my property if necessary.

It nicely represents the spirit of the Founding Fathers, and the nascent democracy that they were determined to protect and defend. For that, it should always be honored.