The coiled snake on Metallica's 1991 album Metallica, known as The Black Album, was derived from the Gadsden flag.
The cover places a coiled snake in the lower-right corner and the band's angled logo in the upper-left. On the initial release, both symbols were embossed against a black background, making them intentionally difficult to see and helping inspire the album's familiar nickname.
The Gadsden flag is associated with the motto “Don't Tread on Me.” That phrase also appears as the title of a song on the album, creating a direct connection between the packaging and the track list.
The cover's minimal design was partly intended to keep attention on the music. It is sometimes confused with other black album covers, especially the fictional “Smell the Glove” sleeve from This Is Spinal Tap, which Metallica jokingly acknowledged in its documentary.