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[[File:Gadsden flag.png|right|175px]]

[[File:Gadsden flag.png|right|275px]]

The '''Gadsden Flag''' is a combination of the rattlesnake symbol with a defiant '''"Don't Tread on Me"''' slogan, and is a symbol of [[American]] [[independence]] and [[freedom]]. The Gadsden Flag was first seen painted onto the drums of some of the first enlisted [[United States Marine Corps|United States Marines]] in 1775.<ref name=gadsdenhistory>Chris Whitten. [http://www.gadsden.info/history.html Gadsden Flag History: An American Guesser], Gadsden.info, 2001-2009.</ref> Although [[Benjamin Franklin]] helped create the American rattlesnake symbol, his name isn't generally attached to the rattlesnake flag; the yellow "Don't tread on me" standard is usually called a Gadsden flag, for Colonel [[Christopher Gadsden]], or less commonly, a Hopkins flag, for Commodore [[Esek Hopkins]].<ref>[http://www.foundingfathers.info/stories/gadsden.html Don't Tread on Me: Gadsden Flag], FoundingFathers.info, July 5, 2001.</ref>  

The '''Gadsden Flag''' is a combination of the rattlesnake symbol with a defiant '''"Don't Tread on Me"''' slogan, and is a symbol of [[American]] [[independence]] and [[freedom]]. The Gadsden Flag was first seen painted onto the drums of some of the first enlisted [[United States Marine Corps|United States Marines]] in 1775.<ref name=gadsdenhistory>Chris Whitten. [http://www.gadsden.info/history.html Gadsden Flag History: An American Guesser], Gadsden.info, 2001-2009.</ref> Although [[Benjamin Franklin]] helped create the American rattlesnake symbol, his name isn't generally attached to the rattlesnake flag; the yellow "Don't tread on me" standard is usually called a Gadsden flag, for Colonel [[Christopher Gadsden]], or less commonly, a Hopkins flag, for Commodore [[Esek Hopkins]].<ref>[http://www.foundingfathers.info/stories/gadsden.html Don't Tread on Me: Gadsden Flag], FoundingFathers.info, July 5, 2001.</ref>