A snake appears coiled on the cover of Metallica’s 1991 album, The Black Album.
The cover shows the band’s logo in the upper-left corner and a coiled snake in the lower-right. Both emblems were initially embossed in black against the black background, making them difficult to see. That understated design helped create the album’s famous nickname, although the official title is Metallica.
The snake was derived from the Gadsden flag, an American historical flag associated with the motto “Don’t Tread on Me.” That same motto is also the title of one of the album’s songs, creating a deliberate connection between the artwork and the music.
The cover’s nearly monochrome presentation was also part of the band’s visual concept. Metallica jokingly acknowledged a resemblance to the fictional album cover in the film This Is Spinal Tap, while Lars Ulrich also cited Status Quo’s black Hello! cover as an inspiration. Later editions made the logo and snake dark gray so they stood out more clearly.