A coiled snake appears on the cover of Metallica’s self-titled album, commonly known as The Black Album.
The snake is derived from the Gadsden flag, an American historical flag featuring a rattlesnake and the motto “Don’t Tread on Me.” The album also displays the Metallica logo, angled in the upper-left area of the cover. On the original release, both elements were embossed so subtly against the black background that they were difficult to see.
That restrained design contributed to the record’s famous nickname. The official title remained Metallica, but the nearly black artwork encouraged listeners and journalists to call it The Black Album.
The cover also contains an intentional visual joke connected with Spinal Tap’s fictional album Smell the Glove. In the documentary A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica, members of Spinal Tap comment on the similarity. Later editions made the logo and snake darker gray, making them more visible than on the initial pressing.