GADSDEN (Navy) FLAG

In December, 1775, the Continental Congress provided for the fitting-out of five ships of thirty-two guns, five of twenty-eight guns, and three of twenty-four guns, making thirteen ships in all, to form a navy for the United Colonies; but no provision was made for a naval flag.

John Jay, in a letter dated July, 1776, stated that Congress had made no order "concerning Continental colors, and that captains of the armed vessels had followed their own fancies." He names as one device a rattlesnake rearing its crest and shaking its rattles, and having the motto, "Don't Tread on Me".

De Benvouloir, the emissary of Vergennes, in 1775, reportedto the French minister: "They have given up the English flag and have taken for their device a rattlesnake with thirteen rattles."

The rattlesnake was a favorite device with the Colonists, and its origin as an American emblem is a curious feature of our national history.