A snake is shown in the coiled outline on the cover of Metallica's The Black Album.
The cover places the band's logo in the upper-left corner and a coiled snake in the lower-right. The snake is derived from the Gadsden flag, whose historic design features a rattlesnake and the motto “Don't Tread on Me.”
On the original release, the logo and snake were embossed so subtly that they could barely be seen against the black background. This near-black design inspired the album's widely used nickname, even though the official title remained Metallica.
The connection goes beyond packaging: “Don't Tread on Me” is also one of the album's songs. Later editions used dark-gray emblems that stand out more clearly than those on the first pressing.