Now Black Mamba is !
Posted on 08/06/2016 8:41:01 AM PDT by knarf
Historian E. Stanly Godbold describes the meaning of the snake: “The snake had long been a political symbol in America; at the time of the Albany Congress in 1754 Benjamin Franklin had drawn a disconnected serpent and given it the caption, ‘Join or Die.’ The coiled, threatening rattlesnake in 1775 was a symbol of the unity that the colonies had achieved. . . . [The rattlesnake] attacked only in self-defense but was always deadly. No more fitting symbol could have been found to express the mood of the Continental Congress.”
(Excerpt) Read more at taraross.com ...
"So... Mr Franklin, what say you about this rattlesnake?"
"I recollected that her eye excelled in brightness, that of any other animal, and that she has no eye-lids. She may therefore be esteemed an emblem of vigilance. She never begins an attack, nor, when once engaged, ever surrenders: She is therefore an emblem of magnanimity and true courage. As if anxious to prevent all pretensions of quarreling with her, the weapons with which nature has furnished her, she conceals in the roof of her mouth, so that, to those who are unacquainted with her, she appears to be a most defenseless animal; and even when those weapons are shown and extended for her defense, they appear weak and contemptible; but their wounds however small, are decisive and fatal. Conscious of this, she never wounds 'till she has generously given notice, even to her enemy, and cautioned him against the danger of treading on her."
Rattlesnake? That’s racist!!
Thanks for that fascinating Gadsen back story according to Mr. Ben Franklin.
RE: “One commenter had this to say;
“So... Mr Franklin, what say you about this rattlesnake?”
“I recollected that her eye excelled in brightness, that of any other animal, and that she has no eye-lids. She may therefore be esteemed an emblem of vigilance. She never begins an attack, nor, when once engaged, ever surrenders: She is therefore an emblem of magnanimity and true courage. As if anxious to prevent all pretensions of quarreling with her, the weapons with which nature has furnished her, she conceals in the roof of her mouth, so that, to those who are unacquainted with her, she appears to be a most defenseless animal; and even when those weapons are shown and extended for her defense, they appear weak and contemptible; but their wounds however small, are decisive and fatal. Conscious of this, she never wounds ‘till she has generously given notice, even to her enemy, and cautioned him against the danger of treading on her.”
Now Black Mamba is !
SO much I never knew except for FR !
But HOW in the world did Mr. Gadsden fail to see the inherent racism in the standard he designed? How could he have missed it?
I wear the First Navy Jack “Don’t Tread On Me” flag on my hat. When the dumbsh*t Feds come after me for wearing it, I intend to tell the idiots that I live in Arizona and wear it as a reminder not to step on rattlesnakes and do not “intend” to use it to scare all of the “former slaves” running around out there these days. Since the dumbsh*ts believed Clintoon, they’ll have to believe me.
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The entire founding is racist, don’t you know. America was founded by a bunch of rich old WHITE CHRISTIAN guys! Homophobic, xenophobic, anti-feminist, racist, capitalist Christians! Yuck. They believe in God, borders, the flag, self-defense, national defense, that all men were created equal, individual freedom, family, self-determination, accountability, that God granted us life and liberty, and a whole bunch of other quaint old fashioned ideas that no longer apply to a modern scientific global democratic society so that’s why we can’t teach it to our children anymore. In a generation or two, as all the old men die off, those obsolete old ideas will fade away and be forgotten and the world will be safe for a godless, genderless, sterile, tasteless, universal, one world Marxist society. Independent nations and therefore wars between nations will be outlawed.
What about Allah? Well, like Christians, the Muslims will just have to change their beliefs. So sayeth Hillary.
What about the Constitution? Is that even a question?
And China, India, Russia, Japan? They’re all gonna come along peacefully? We’ll press the reset button.
Yeah, and I’ve got a button you can press.
The only good rattlesnake is a pan fried one.
Or sporting the outside of Cowboy boots.
Makes a good hatband too. Of course, you can use the skin AND eat the meat...
RATTLESNAKE FLAG of COLONEL JOHN PROCTOR’S 1st BATTALION
WESTMORELAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
American Revolution
“Tradition holds that the flag was made in 1775 at Hanna’s Town from a pre-existing British standard. The flag measures seventy-six inches by seventy inches. The field of the flag is red silk. The canton in the upper right hand corner consists of individual pieces of red, white and blue silk and forms two crosses. The red on white represents the English cross of St. George; the white on blue the Scottish cross of St. Andrew. The retention of the British symbol on the flag indicates that the inhabitants of Westmoreland County, although ready to resist the tyrannical acts of the British Parliament, still considered themselves loyal subjects of King George III.
In the center of the field is a rattlesnake coiled to strike. The snake’ s thirteen rattles signify the American colonies. The rattlesnake device is painted directly on the silk, as is the lettering and decorative scrollwork. The painting was obviously done by a skilled artisan. The gold banner is lettered in black, “DON’T. TREAD. UPON. ME.”; the first two letters of the word UPON have flaked away over the years. Unlike the rattlesnake on other early flags, the snake on the Proctor flag faces right toward the symbol of the British empire. Above the snake is the monogram of John Proctor and the letters, “I. B. W. C. P.”, 1st Battalion, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania or Provincials.
This flag was carried at the battles of Trenton and Princeton, and throughout the rest of the war. The flag was not flown from a pole. The staff was inserted through the sleeve on the canton side of the flag and carried by the color bearer of the battalion”
I had numerous ancestors who served in this battalion and fought in the battles mentioned
http://www.oldwestmorelandrifles.com/family.html
NOW talk about it.
Gee whiz... it’s GADSDEN.
sorry
I normally fly two flags from the back of my motorcycle; the Stars & Stripes and a Navy Jack. It’s surprising how many people don’t know what the Navy Jack is.
Also, Patrick Henry incorporated the same flag into the Culpepper Flag, his Standard for his VA Continental Army.
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