Gadsden flag

CHILD SUSPENDED FROM SCHOOL FOR HAVE A GADSDEN FLAG ON HIS BACKPACK? IS HISTORY ACTUALLY TAUGHT IN THE SCHOOLS ANY MORE? Gadsden flag Designed by Christopher Gadsden The Gadsden flag is a historical American flag with a yellow field depicting a timber rattlesnake coiled and ready to strike. Beneath the rattlesnake are the words "DONT TREAD ON ME". Some modern versions of the flag include an apostrophe. The flag is named for Christopher Gadsden, a South Carolina delegate to the Continental Congress and brigadier general in the Continental Army who designed the flag in 1775 during the American Revolution. He gave the flag to Commodore Esek Hopkins, and it was unfurled on the main mast of Hopkins' flagship USS Alfred on December 20, 1775. Two days later, Congress made Hopkins commander-in-chief of the Continental Navy. He adopted the Gadsden banner as his personal flag, flying it from the mainmast of the flagship while he was aboard.[5] The Continental Marines also flew the flag during the early part of the war.[6] The rattlesnake was a symbol of the unity of the Thirteen Colonies at the start of the Revolutionary War, and it had a long history as a political symbol in America. Benjamin Franklin used it for his Join, or Die woodcut in 1754. Gadsden intended his flag as a warning to Britain not to violate the liberties of its American subjects.