Benjamin Franklin famously used the rattlesnake as a symbol long before the Gadsden Flag came about. In 1754, he published a satirical cartoon in his Pennsylvania Gazette featuring a segmented rattlesnake with the caption “Join, or Die.” The cartoon was meant to encourage the American colonies to unite against external threats, such as the French and their Native American allies. This image later became an iconic rallying symbol for unity during the Revolutionary War.
Franklin even wrote about the rattlesnake as a fitting emblem for America in an anonymous letter to the editor in 1775, published in The Pennsylvania Journal. He noted its unique qualities: it doesn’t strike unless provoked, and it represents vigilance and perseverance. Franklin’s writings influenced the Revolutionary War’s symbolism and, by extension, helped shape the meaning behind the Gadsden Flag and its warning: “Don’t Tread on Me.”
