Culpeper Minute Men

Date: 1775

White field with black rattlesnake and writing. (R5)

In 1775, the Culpeper Minutemen of Virginia were organized under the command of Patrick Henry. On a white field was a rattlesnake centered and coiled with twelve rattles. Its head represented Virginia and the rattles the other twelve colonies.

Above the rattlesnake was a scroll with the inscription "The Culpeper Minute Men", beneath the snake, "Dont Tread on Me", and across the center Patrick Henry's famous words, "Liberty or Death".

This group took part in many of the principal battles of the Revolution, a large number being at Valley Forge in Pennsylvania.