TBA:11 OUTSIDE
Gadsden
by Tesar Freeman
During their war for independence, American fighting men carried a variety of unique flags, many featuring coiled rattlesnakes prepared to strike. After the ratification of the Paris Treaty and the end of the war, the rattlesnake and other wartime symbols fell out of popular use, to be replaced with new federally designated symbols, such as the American bald eagle and multiple variations of 13-starred and 13-red-and-white-striped flags. Today, the rattlesnake is returning as an American symbol carried by political fundamentalists who employ it not as a symbol of national unity, but as an image of distinction between themselves and the greater union.
This September, a contemporary reenactment of this pre-Betsy Ross icon, altered by the bias of current events and the slow revisions of time, will fly from Washington High School’s flagpole.