“Come and Take It” was the message from the Texans in the Alamo to the Mexicans outside. It referred to “Molon labe” which was the message of the Spartans (the “300”) to the Persians. It is an ancient message of defiance.
Thanks LifePath!
"Come and take it" was a slogan used in the Texas Revolution in 1835. In March 1831, Juan Gomez, a Lieutenant in the Mexican Army, worked alongside Tadeo Ortiz, a consul at Bordeaux, France, and granted a small cannon to the colony of San Antonio.
It was then transported to Gonzales, Texas and later was the object of Texas pride.
At the minor skirmish known as the Battle of Gonzales—the first battle of the Texas Revolution against Mexico—a small group of Texans successfully resisted the Mexican forces who had orders from Juan Gomez to seize their cannon.
As a symbol of defiance, the Texans had fashioned a flag containing the phrase "come and take it" along with a black star and an image of the cannon.
This was the same message that was sent to the Mexican government when they told the Texans that they had to return their cannon—failure to comply with the Mexican's original demands led to the failed attempt by the Mexican military to forcefully take back the cannon.
The Come and Take It festival is celebrated yearly in Gonzalez, TX.
I may be wrong on my Texas hostory, but I think “Come and Take it” was the original slogan referring to the cannons the Mex government had given the settlers for use against Indians some tome before the Alamo, which more or less started the revolution.