The rattlesnake on the Gadsden flag wasn't chosen at random. In 1775, Benjamin Franklin wrote that the rattlesnake was the perfect symbol for America: it never attacks without warning, never surrenders once engaged, and its thirteen rattles matched the thirteen colonies. "She never begins an attack," Franklin wrote, "nor, when once engaged, ever surrenders."
Christopher Gadsden's yellow flag with the coiled rattler and the words "Don't Tread on Me" became a naval jack and a Marine Corps emblem — and 250 years later, it still means the same thing: leave free people alone.
Other Revolutionary symbols carry the same weight. The Liberty Bell, cast in 1752, became the icon of abolitionists and suffragists long after 1776. The minuteman — the citizen-soldier ready at a minute's notice — was the original self-reliance: ordinary people, not standing armies, winning independence.
These aren't decorations. They're reminders of what ordinary Americans have done before — and can do again. See how we wear them.
Give the symbols this Christmas: See Betsy Ross Flag Poster, Don't Tread On Me Embroidered Hat, Liberty Bell Christmas Ornament and Christmas 1776. Printed gifts arrive by Christmas with US standard shipping when ordered by December 11; ebooks and printables download instantly.