Yellow Gadsden flag, prominent in Capitol takeover, carries a long and shifting history
Posted Jan 7, 2021
Flown by many protesters at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, the Gadsden flag has a design that is simple and graphic: a coiled rattlesnake on a yellow field with the text “Don’t Tread On Me.” But that simple design hides some important complexities, both historically and today, as it appears in rallies demanding President Donald Trump be allowed to remain in office. As a scholar of graphic design, Iowa State University associate professor of graphic design Paul Bruski finds flags interesting as symbols as they take on deeper meanings for those who display them. Bruski contends that people use a flag not because of what is explicitly displayed, but because of what the person believes it represents – though that meaning can change through time, and with one’s perspective, as has happened with the Gadsden flag.
