Join [Us], or Die
The use of the Gadsden Flag has a long and convoluted history. It was originally designed by Christopher Gadsden and flown in the American Colonies as a symbol of unity and resistance to tyranny. Today, ironically, it has been misused by right-libertarians and -authoritarians in support of tyranny, as is evident by its use during the storming of the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021. No longer a symbol of unity, the Gadsden Flag is often flown as a stark warning not to tyrants but to those of Us concerned for the commonwealth.
Yet, despite its convoluted history, the flag, and its use, belongs to Us; its future belongs to Us.
For Us to use and for Us to reinvent.
So here is a reimagining of the Gadsden Flag—a design for Us, a flag for use by Us.
The Gadsden Flag, Reimagined
Click on the image to download or use the gallery below.
The Timber Rattlesnake
The most important symbol in the Gadsden Flag, the Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus) is native to the lands of the original Thirteen Colonies and was early used to represent the reserved but self-preserving nature of the Colonists. For instance, it was used in 1778 on a twenty dollar bill in Georgia with the Latin phrase Nemo Me Impune Lacesset (“No One Shall Provoke Me with Impunity”). Famously, Benjamin Franklin used the rattlesnake in a political cartoon published in the Pennsylvania Journal on December 27, 1775. The cartoon depicted a snake cut into thirteen pieces, representing the Thirteen Colonies, with the phrase, “JOIN, or DIE.”
JOIN, or DIE.
Franklin’s original political cartoon of the Timber Rattlesnake, featured in the Pennsylvania Journal on December 27, 1775, with the famous phrase, “JOIN, or DIE.”
For Franklin, the word “join” served as a double warning. First, it warned others: If you don’t join the Colonies’ fight for freedom, you will be eliminated. Second, it warned the Colonists. The cartoon itself was based on the superstition that if a snake were cut into pieces and the pieces put back together before sunset, the snake would come back to life. So the second warning was for the Thirteen Colonies to come together in the eleventh hour, before it was too late.
In the Gadsden Flag, the Timber Rattlesnake is depicted with thirteen rattles in its tail, which originally symbolized the original Thirteen Colonies, but which today symbolize all fifty States and territories. The distinct patterning running down the rattlesnake’s back represents the distinct patterning of the American people, Us. The rattlesnake itself is poised for combat, ready to strike in self-defense.
Though reinterpreted, the symbol of the Timber Rattlesnake remains unchanged.
The Grass
The Timber Rattlesnake is depicted poised for combat in a plot of grass. No one knows how she got there—she doesn’t know how she got there—but it is the land that she maintains and defends, her home.
Though reinterpreted, the symbol of the grass remains unchanged.
The Color
The starkest change to come to the Gadsden Flag is in its color, changed from canary yellow to a subtle shade of pink. Three reasons justify this change. First, pink, as a shade of red, complements the green of the grass and thereby strains the photoreceptors in the human eye; the pink–green compliment is attention grabbing. Second, this particular shade of pink, known as Millennial Pink, is a generational color and thereby represents the members of the current generations, all of them, Us, on which others threaten to tread. Finally, pink, as a shade of red, warns others and Us that the hour is 11:59 p.m. It is time to join, or die.
The Phrase
The second change to come to the Gadsden Flag is in the phrase: “Dont Tread on Me” has been rewritten as “Dont Tread on Us.” This change has been done to distance the Gadsden Flag from its current misuse by right-libertarians and -authoritarians, to reimagine its use for those of Us concerned for the commonwealth.
The Meaning
The final change to come to the Gadsden Flag is in its meaning. Having been reimagined, the original mythology of the Timber Rattlesnake is restored, a mythology best captured by the “American Guesser” (Franklin) when he wrote,
I recollected that her eye excelled in brightness, that of any other animal, and that she has no eye-lids. She may therefore be esteemed an emblem of vigilance. She never begins an attack, nor, when once engaged, ever surrenders: She is therefore an emblem of magnanimity and true courage. As if anxious to prevent all pretensions of quarreling with her, the weapons with which nature has furnished her, she conceals in the roof of her mouth, so that, to those who are unacquainted with her, she appears to be a most defenseless animal; and even when those weapons are shown and extended for her defense, they appear weak and contemptible; but their wounds however small, are decisive and fatal. Conscious of this, she never wounds ‘till she has generously given notice, even to her enemy, and cautioned him against the danger of treading on her.
Was I wrong . . . in thinking this a strong picture of the temper and conduct of America? [1]
Importantly, this restoration returns the use of the Gadsden Flag to its rightful owners, Us.
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None of Us asked for the struggle that is on the horizon, and yet it belongs Us. But within this inheritance is woven a rich history, one that also belongs to Us, and one whose future is up to Us to write.
The U.S. is a backronym for Us. Join Us, or Die.
Click on the images to download. Use them. Share them. Fly them.
- Citation pending
