2/5/2005 05:51:38 PM|||Mike|||Erik and I were wondering about this flag we saw:

Turns out the story is about some Marines that were called up to intercept a ship full of gunpowder. They had a drum with the snake and "Don't Tread on me" painted on it, so "An American Guesser", who was probably Ben Franklin, "guessed" that the rattlesnake was the national symbol, and explained why.

The original picture apparently showed a snake with 13 1/2 rattles, the 1/2 representing Canada, sort of foreshadowing the boring Monroe Doctrine. That's the one that says this (in general) continent is no longer available for colonization and in particular, Spain, Portugal, drop it - neither of you get jack round these parts anymore.

I like the snake better than the eagle, personally. Eagles are so Roman Empire.

One thing the Guesser didn't mention, but is true nevertheless: a rattlesnake doesn't, having bitten what stepped on it, go back to bite somebody else who looks kind of like the first person. A real American Rattlesnake would be finishing the job in Afghanistan and perhaps Saudi Arabia, not trying to gift-wrap venom in Iraq.
|||110764750816423994|||The Rattle-Snake as a Symbol of America