The rattlesnake as an emblem seems to have been somewhat of a favorite among the colonists. Besides Franklin's snake of the many initials--which, indeed, might have stood, or coiled, for any sort of serpent--there was the one borne by Patrick Henry's men when they forced the Governor of Virginia to pay for the powder which he had carried away from the colonial magazine. Then, too, there was a third variety of snake, the one that stretched itself across a colonial naval flag and proclaimed--from the top of the mast--"Don't tread on me." On another flag the rattlesnake appeared coiled in the roots of a pine tree and ready to strike. The Culpeper Minute Men of Virginia had a coiled snake on their flag. In the winter of 1775 there appeared in the _Pennsylvania Journal_ an article setting forth the propriety of choosing the rattlesnake to represent America. The style of the article and its keenness are like Franklin, but there is no proof that he was its author. Whoever did write it notes that the "rattler" is peculiar to America; that the brightness of its eyes and their lack of lids fit it to be an emblem of vigilance. It never begins an attack and never surrenders, never wounds till it has given warning. The writer had counted the rattles on the naval flag, and found them to be exactly thirteen, the number of the colonies. He had also noted that the rattles were independent of one another, and yet most firmly united; and that while one rattle alone is incapable of producing any sound, the ringing of the thirteen together is sufficient to alarm the boldest man living. Whether Franklin wrote this or not, let us at least be thankful that these arguments did not prevail, and that on the flag of the United States there are stars and not serpents.
Washington, chosen commander-in-chief, set out on June 21, 1775, on his eleven-days' ride to Boston. From Philadelphia to New York he was escorted by the Philadelphia Light Horse Troop. It was an escort worth having. Their uniform was "a dark brown short coat, faced and lined with white; high-topped boots; round black hat, bound with silver cord; a buck's tail, saddlecloths brown edged with white, and the letters 'L.H.' worked on them. Their arms were a carbine, a pair of pistols and holsters; a horseman's sword; white belts for the sword and carbine." Officers of the militia, the Massachusetts members of the Continental Congress, and many others were also of the company. The horses pranced, the music played, and the cavalcade started from the Quaker City for the war that was to make the country free. The flag that was borne before them is now carefully preserved between two heavy plates of glass, and is kept in the Troop's armory, in a fireproof safe made expressly for that purpose. The banner is only forty inches long, but its richness makes up for its lack of size. It is of yellow silk with heavy silver fringe. Around the flag is a graceful running vine. The crest is a horse's head. In the center are figures representing Fame and Liberty. Under them is the motto, "For these we strive." Some verses written many years ago say of this flag:--