![The First Navy Jack flag consists of 13 alternating red and white stripes with a gold and red rattlesnake draped across it. In the bottom white line is black text reading “DONT [sic] TREAD ON ME”. On the left side is a canvas header with brass grommets for attachment to flagpoles.](https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-js3pyr/images/stencil/1280x1280/products/7710/9216/first-navy-jack-flag__56833.1624615081.jpg?c=2 "The First Navy Jack flag consists of 13 alternating red and white stripes with a gold and red rattlesnake draped across it. In the bottom white line is black text reading “DONT [sic] TREAD ON ME”. On the left side is a canvas header with brass grommets for attachment to flagpoles.")
![The First Navy Jack flag consists of 13 alternating red and white stripes with a gold and red rattlesnake draped across it. In the bottom white line is black text reading “DONT [sic] TREAD ON ME”. On the left side is a canvas header with brass grommets for attachment to flagpoles.](https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-js3pyr/images/stencil/100x100/products/7710/9216/first-navy-jack-flag__56833.1624615081.jpg?c=2 "The First Navy Jack flag consists of 13 alternating red and white stripes with a gold and red rattlesnake draped across it. In the bottom white line is black text reading “DONT [sic] TREAD ON ME”. On the left side is a canvas header with brass grommets for attachment to flagpoles.")
Product Description
Own a piece of American history with the American-made First Navy Jack Flag! This high-quality American historical flag is deeply rooted in American Revolutionary history, representing a symbol of independence and resistance to tyranny. Fly the First Navy Jack flag as proudly as the revolutionary warriors and navy ships did by displaying these thirteen stripes up high.
FIRST NAVY JACK FLAG FEATURES
Our First Navy Jack flag has got you covered, whether you plan on flying it in the open ocean or outside your home or office. The lightweight nylon and long-lasting digital print stand up to surf and sun, while flying majestically in even the lightest of breezes.
All First Navy Jack flags feature:
- Approximately 3' x 5'
- Authentic 1975 design
- 100% nylon
- Sewn edges
- Strong canvas heading
- Brass grommets
- American-made
*Flagpole not included. Your 3’ x 5’ First Navy Jack flag will easily attach easily to any of our outdoor flagpoles with its sturdy canvas header with brass grommets.
FIRST NAVY JACK FLAG HISTORY AND DESIGN
When was the First Navy Jack flag created? Historians, as always, debate the actual validity and history of this version of the First Navy Jack flag. What we do know is that Commodore Esek Hopkins of the Continental Navy instructed his navy vessels entering the Delaware River at the beginning of the American War of Independence to hoist a flag with 13 alternating red and white stripes. Additional correspondence between Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Sicilian allies describe a naval jack featuring the similar 13 stripes with a gold rattlesnake.'
That rattlesnake had long been a symbol of American resistance to the British, originating with Franklin’s famous 1754 "Join, or Die” political cartoon and eventually immortalized as the Gadsden flag. The “Don’t Tread on Me” phrase originated around the same time but wasn’t applied to the rattlesnake naval jack flag until 1880.
The flag’s celebrated the United States’ bicentennial with an updated design in 1976. It had another run through the 2000s and was just recently removed as the standard U.S. Navy Jack flag in 2019. The First Navy Jack flag remains in service on one ship: the world’s oldest actively commissioned vessel still afloat, the USS Constitution.
