The bright yellow flag with a coiled timber rattlesnake and the words Don’t Tread on Me is one of the most recognized and most contested symbols in America. This episode traces its biography, from Benjamin Franklin’s sarcastic 1751 suggestion to ship rattlesnakes to England and his Join or Die cartoon, to Christopher Gadsden’s 1775 design for the Continental Navy.

We look at how the symbol was torn apart during the Civil War, revived by the libertarian movement in the 1970s, adopted by the Tea Party, and remixed by groups across the political spectrum. We also examine the legal fights it has sparked, including the New Rochelle armory case, an EEOC workplace complaint, and the 2023 Colorado Springs school controversy, plus its life in pop culture and internet memes.

• Franklin’s reading of the rattlesnake as a symbol of vigilance, unity and restraint
• Why the flag worked as psychological warfare on an American warship in 1775
• How a 15-star version flown in Boston Harbor in 1861 was destroyed by an angry crowd
• How courts and the EEOC have handled a symbol that means different things to different people
• Why the No Step on Snek meme is an example of semantic bleaching