Don't Tread on Me uses the motto associated with the Gadsden flag as its title.
The song appears on Metallica's 1991 album and takes its title from the phrase printed beneath the flag's coiled rattlesnake. James Hetfield wrote the lyrics, which draw on imagery of independence, strength, and national symbolism.
The title also echoes the historical use of “Don't Tread on Me” in American political and military contexts. Metallica's song is not a direct musical setting of the flag; instead, it adapts the phrase as a compact title and lyrical motif.
The track is sometimes confused with a commercial single because it received rock-radio airplay. However, it was not issued as a standard commercial single in the same way as Enter Sandman, The Unforgiven, or Nothing Else Matters.