What was the deal with the Gadsden Flag?

The flag features a coiled rattlesnake, which appears on most depictions to be red or orange, in the center of a yellow background. Below the snake, the words "Don't Tread on Me" are printed in a simple, albeit bold, red font. The Gadsden flag was named after the man who designed it, Christopher Gadsden, a U.S. congressman who served as a brigadier general during the American Revolutionary War. Prior to the American Revolutionary War, rattlesnakes were a common symbol in America, and in 1751 Benjamin Franklin even suggested that they be used as a symbol for the American colonies. In his opinion, rattlesnakes were a perfect representation of the colonies for several reasons:<br><br>There is nothing more segmented than a rattlesnake, which has many distinct vertebrae that can easily be separated from one another. For this reason, the rattlesnake was a symbol that Franklin often used to describe the 13 separate colonies, which were all considered to be the same but were also all independent of one another in certain ways.<br><br>Franklin and other people of his time often depicted the rattlesnake in a cut-up, segmented manner, which symbolized the 13 colonies. When a rattlesnake sheds its skin, it does so all at once, which Franklin saw as another reason why it should be used as a symbol for the 13 American colonies. In his opinion, the rattlesnake shedding its skin was a symbol of the American colonies shedding the tyranny and oppression of the Monarchy.<br><br>Another reason why Franklin felt that the rattlesnake was a good representation of the American colonies was because there were no rattlesnakes in Great Britain. As a result, he often used images of rattlesnakes to represent America, while images of other snakes were used to represent Great Britain. This served Franklin's purposes well, as the venom from a rattlesnake is far more deadly than the venom from most other snakes. Plus, rattlesnakes were only found in the American colonies, which made them a powerful symbol of the independence of the colonies.