The motto connected to the Gadsden flag and the snake imagery on Metallica’s The Black Album is “Don’t Tread on Me.”
Metallica included “Don’t Tread on Me” as a song on the 1991 album, and the cover depicts a coiled snake derived from the imagery of the Gadsden flag. The flag traditionally features a rattlesnake above the words “Don’t Tread on Me,” a phrase associated with resistance and personal liberty in American history.
The song appears as an album track rather than one of the record’s five commercial singles. It did receive rock-radio promotion after the album’s release, which can lead to confusion about its official single status. The connection between the song title and the cover image is intentional and gives the otherwise minimal artwork a political and historical reference.
The album’s official title remains Metallica, not Don’t Tread on Me or The Black Album. Fans use “The Black Album” because the initial cover used a nearly black background with subtly embossed band and snake emblems. The flag reference is therefore a visual and lyrical link within the album, not its formal title.