Today American taxpayers in more than 300 locations in all 50 states will hold rallies – dubbed “tea parties” – to protest higher taxes and out-of-control government spending. And the banner uniting all of these concerned Americans? Well, the Gadsden Flag of course!
The Gadsden Flag has traditionally been seen as a symbol of American patriotism. The traditional imagery associated with the Gadsden Flag was first seen in the year 1775. The Second Continental Congress had just authorized the first 
ever mission for the new American Navy, and among the first marines to enlist during this time were men from Philadephia. These marines are best known for carrying their symbolic yellow drums depicting a coiled rattlesnake with 13 rattles, with “Don’t Tread On Me” being their now famous motto.
It is commonly believed that the flag itself had been inspired by these symbolic drum-carrying Marines from Philadelphia, with Continental Colonel Christopher Gadsden of South Carolina as its creator. At the second Continental Congress, Gadsden submitted his flag to then commander in chief of the Navy Esek Hopkins, and the rest was history!
The Gadsden Flag is still flown in Charleston, South Carolina – the city where Chrisopher Gadsden first presented the flag. It was flown in the wake of the September 11th attacks, most notably by US Customs officials and harbor patrol boats in US ports. The Gadsden Flag is also commonly flown by many Boy Scouts troops, and has even been featured in a few movies and television shows, most notably in the 2000 film The Patriot. But now, the Gadsden Flag is prepared to take on its new role — as the banner of the Tax Day Tea Party rallies popping up all over America.
According to The Wall Street Journal,
“The protests began with bloggers in Seattle, Wash., who organized a demonstration on Feb. 16. As word of this spread, rallies in Denver and Mesa, Ariz., were quickly organized for the next day. Then came CNBC talker Rick Santelli’s Feb. 19 “rant heard round the world” in which he called for a “Chicago tea party” on July Fourth. The tea-party moniker stuck, but angry taxpayers weren’t willing to wait until July. Soon, tea-party protests were appearing in one city after another, drawing at first hundreds, and then thousands, to marches in cities from Orlando to Kansas City to Cincinnati.”
There are currently between 300 and 500 protests planned to occur in various cities around the world today, and there is sure to be a tea party near you. For more information or for tea party locations, be sure to check out www.taxdayteaparty.com
If you’re planning on attending one of the many Tax Day Tea Parties across the country, or if you already have, feel free to drop off a comment and let us know how it went!
I flew the Gadsden Don’t Tread On Me on 9/12/09 at Wash DC with 1.7 +
Million Patriots. These great Americans represented all this great nation stands
for !! We will not stop untill we take back OUR country from the corrupt
socialists now in power !! Stand with us. God Bless AMERICA
The 1970 era “My Generation” my generation, (British rock band, The Who, featured as ‘entertainment at the 2010 Super Bowl”) had an expression of deep approval that was short ( two words), sweet and to the point. “Right On”. So, to my fellow American patriot Charlie Lacombe, I have a two word reply. “Right On”.
I am a proud American tax paying citizen from California. Today I became enlightened to the truth and history of the Gadsden flag. I am proud that the Bald Eagle, a noble bird of prey, is our National bird. I speculate that the snake Christopher Gadsdsn put on his flag may not be the Timber Rattlesnake that Benjamin Franklin referred to in his publications. South Carolina is a southern state, and as such could have been inhabited by the Eastern Diamond Back, the largest rattlesnake in the U.S. I can be a “snake in the grass” when provoked, however that snake is the Mojave Green Diamond Back, one of the most lethal of our countrys snakes. President Obama: “Don’t Tread on Me”.
Can you please define the term moderation in the sentece “Your comment is awaiting moderation”? I am so proud to have posted my first ever comment to a “blog”. I am Bill Holst, 57, and I am proud to be an American. Can President Obama make the same statement? Please advise.
[...] the Gadsden and all that it stands for by picking up a Gadsden t-shirt [...]
I am 29 hardworking,and care about my friends family and my business’s future like most Americans,I love my country, and have respected those who serve it,I visited this site to learn more about the” Gadsden flag ” and what it means, i feel i need to show everyone who looks at my flag a reminder that,we the people need to,get back behind the wheel,and put the people who are ruining this country in “check” and make sure they”Don’t tread on me”
after all if we in our community’s do not take a leadership roll then, who else do we leave the responsibility to ? our schools can’t teach the kids,most television is junk food for the mind lulling us into following the herd,and there are no jobs,wake up people! speak up,speak out and exercise your constitutional rights.
I am Bill Holst, 57, and I am proud to be an American. I too, am tired of liberals trying to brainwash me into what to think, how to think, snd when to think. One great American patriot once said in a “farewell” speech. “Be wary, if you let “Government” get so large that it can take care of all your needs, then it can also take away all of your freedoms”. I believe that Patriot was George Washington. By the way here is a question that is sure to stir up controversy, so here goes. I was alive in 1959, and as a grammer school student, we always celebrated George Washington’s and Abraham Lincoln’s
Birthdays as seperate National Holidays. Why did they “disappear”? Is today’s “Presidents Day” just a little vague? I want America to recognize George Washington and Abraham Lincoln as the great American heros they are. So to my fellow patriot, Pete Smith, I say your feelings are. “Right On”.