“Don't Tread on Me” was issued to rock radio but never released as a commercial single from Metallica's The Black Album.
The album had five commercial singles: “Enter Sandman,” “The Unforgiven,” “Nothing Else Matters,” “Wherever I May Roam,” and “Sad but True.” “Don't Tread on Me” followed as a promotional radio release but did not receive the same commercial single treatment.
Its title references the motto associated with the Gadsden flag, whose coiled snake also appears on the album cover. The song therefore links one of the record's lyrical titles directly to its visual design.
This distinction is easy to miss because radio promotion and commercial single release are different categories. A song can receive airplay support without being issued as a retail single, which is what happened here.