School kicks 12-year-old out of class for 'Don't Tread On Me' patch

A 12-year-old Colorado boy was removed from class due to a patch on his backpack that showed the Gadsden flag.

Reading "DON'T TREAD ON ME," the Gadsden flag has its roots in Benjamin Franklin's Join, or Die cartoon, which features a snake and calls for colonial unity. It was introduced in 1775 as a flag for the Continental Navy.

t has served as a symbol of national strength, but officials at the Vanguard School in Colorado Springs took the young student out of class because they argued the flag has "origins in slavery."

Despite the school's attempts to have the boy remove the patch and return to class, neither he nor his mother gave any ground toward the school's persistence.