What image on Metallica’s Black Album cover comes from the Gadsden flag?
Answer
A coiled snake
A coiled snake on Metallica’s Black Album cover comes from the Gadsden flag.
The cover places Metallica’s angled logo near the upper left and a coiled snake near the lower right. The snake is derived from the historic Gadsden flag, whose imagery includes the warning “Don’t Tread on Me.” That same phrase became the title of the album’s sixth track.
On the original release, the dark logo and snake were embossed against a black background, making both symbols subtle. Later editions used darker gray artwork that made the emblems easier to see. The nearly monochrome design is the main reason the self-titled album became known informally as The Black Album.
The artwork has also been discussed alongside Spinal Tap’s fictional black album cover, Smell the Glove. Metallica acknowledged that joke in the documentary A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica, but the actual snake imagery has a separate historical source.