Dont Tread On Me Vintage Stone Coaster

The Gadsden Dont Tread on Me flag is one of the most heralded symbols of American liberty since old Christopher Gadsden designed it in 1775. But the interesting thing about the rattlesnake design is that it didn't actually just pop into Gadsden's head from some divine inspiration. As far as we can tell, the first mention of the motto "Don't Tread On Me" was from an anonymous passage in the Philadelphia Journal, probably by Benjamin Franklin, describing how the Continental Congress's first Marines were boarding the man-of-war Alfred with drums painted yellow, with the motto and decidedly cranky-looking rattlesnakes emblazoned on them. Benjamin Franklin was not a fan of America using the bald eagle as a symbol because it was "a bird of bad moral character," so it wouldn't be surprising if that anonymous writer in a Pennsylvanian paper was actually him. In any event, if the story is true, I always wondered how those Marines may have painted then drums, and if they may have seen the image somewhere else. Maybe there were other colonists in Philadelphia using the Dont Tread On Me rattlesnake in different ways. So I started doing a number of different versions. I made them so that they would have an authentic 18th Century printing press feel, with distressed imperfections and period typsetting and hand lettering. This one stood out when all was said and done. I liked its unique linear patter, slightly different from the coiled versions we see.