SOUTH CAROLINA NAVY FLAG

The rattlesnake was a favorite device with the Colonists, and its origin as an American emblem is a curious feature of our national history. Although no original of this flag exists, the flag of the South Carolina Navy was depicted in the background of a 1776 English mezzotint of "Commodore Hopkins, Commander-in-Chief of the American Fleet", by Thomas Hart, 22 August 1776. It depicts two ships, each flying an ensign. One ship flies the New England Pine Tree ensign with the mottos "Liberty Tree" and "An Appeal to God". The second ship flies an ensign with a rattlesnake, similar to the Gadsden Flag, running diagonally across thirteen stripes, with the motto "Don't Tread Upon Me".

In a letter from Paris to the Ambassasor of the King of the Two Sicilys dated October 9, 1775, Benjamin Franklin and John Adams wrote:

". . .Some of the States have vessels of war distinct from those of the United States. For example, the vessels of war of the State of Massachusetts Bay have sometimes a Pine Tree; and those of South Carolina a rattlesnake, in the middle of thirteen stripes. . ."

Similar in description to that depicted by Hart, the flag would have flown on the "South Carolina", built as "Le Indien" in the Netherlands for the Continental Navy. The ship had been promised to John Paul Jones but, due to protests from the British, it was not delivered to him. Instead, it was sold to a French company which, in turn, leased it to South Carolina.