First Navy Jack

In late 1775, as the first ships of the Continental Navy readied in the Delaware River, Commodore Esek Hopkins issued an instruction directing his vessels to fly a “striped” jack and ensign. The exact design of these flags is unknown. But, since about 1880, this jack has traditionally been depicted as consisting of thirteen red and white stripes charged with an uncoiled rattlesnake and the motto “Dont Tread on Me” ; this design appeared in a color plate in Admiral George Henry Preble’s influential History of the Flag of the United States. Recent scholarship(allegedly), however, has demonstrated that this design never existed but “was a 19th-century mistake based on an erroneous 1776 engraving”.

In 1778, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin wrote a letter to the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Sicily, thanking him for allowing entry of revolutionary ships into Sicilian ports. The letter describes the new flag of the colonies according to the 1777 Flag Resolution, but also describes a flag of “South Carolina, a rattlesnake, in the middle of the thirteen stripes.”

The rattlesnake had long been a symbol in the colonies of resistance and defiance to the Crown. The phrase “Don’t Tread on Me” may have been coined during the American Revolutionary War, a variant perhaps of an earlier image. A snake severed in segments and labelled with the names of the colonies and the legend “Join, or Die”, had first been published in Benjamin Franklin’s Pennsylvania Gazette in 1754, as a political cartoon reflecting on the Albany Congress.

The rattlesnake (specifically, the Timber Rattlesnake) is especially significant and symbolic to the American Revolution. The rattle has thirteen layers, signifying the original Thirteen Colonies. Additionally, the snake does not strike until provoked, a characteristic expressed by the phrase “Don’t tread on me” .

Typically the flag’s rattlesnake is depicted with red scales on its back, but some have depicted the snake as all-gold.

The “First Navy Jack” is a historical flag associated with the United States Navy. It features a rattlesnake coiled and ready to strike, along with the motto “Don’t Tread on Me” displayed prominently. This flag has a yellow background with the snake and text in black.

The “Don’t Tread on Me” flag has a long history in the United States, dating back to the American Revolution. It was used by various American colonial militias and the Continental Marines, the precursor to the United States Marine Corps. The flag’s design is often attributed to Christopher Gadsden, a politician and military leader during the American Revolution.

The “First Navy Jack” version of the flag specifically refers to its use by the U.S. Navy. It was traditionally flown from the jackstaff (the flagpole on the bow of a ship) of U.S. Navy ships. However, the use of this flag in the U.S. Navy has evolved over time. In 2002, the U.S. Navy decided to use the First Navy Jack as the jack (bow flag) on all commissioned Navy ships during the global war on terrorism. This decision was made to honor the flag’s historical significance and its association with American naval tradition.