1st Navy Jack Flag / Don’t Tread On Me Red Flag

Double Nylon Embroidered

Choose Your Size: 2×3 or 3 x 5 ft.

This flag is specified by the U.S. Navy as the jack for its oldest warship in regular commission, a tradition which keeps an historic American flag in regular use.The first navy jack shows a rattlesnake superimposed across 13 horizontal alternating red and white stripes with the motto “DONT TREAD ON ME”. It was first employed by Commodore Esek Hopkins in the fall of 1775 as he readied the continental navy in the Delaware River. His signal for the whole fleet to engage the enemy was the striped jack and ensign flown at their proper places. The temporary substitution of this jack represents a historic reminder of the nation’s and navy’s origin, and will to preserve and triumph. This is the Naval rendition of the American Colonial Flag in use at the beginning of the American Revolutionary War.

This is one of the first flags to show 13 stripes (one for each American colony) along with the poisonous Sea Snake. It features the sea snake above the warning, “DONT TREAD ON ME”. The lack of an apostrophe in “DONT” is based on the only rendition we have of the flag during the revolution, a print made by Thomas Hart in August, 1776. That print clearly shows the word with no apostrophe. The rattle snake had become a traditional symbol of the American Colonies and the Colonial Navy adopted the sea going version of this. The most obvious reason for the snake to be the symbol of the American Colonies was that the rattlesnake was only found in the American Colonies and nowhere else in the world. The origin of the slogan (Don’t Tread On Me) pertains to the snakes deadly strike and the idea that it is best left alone. In 2002 the Secretary of the Navy directed that all U.S. Navy ships raise the historic Navy Jack and continue to do so throughout the global War on Terrorism.