One signal that Commodore Esek Hopkins issued for the Continental Navy in the fall of 1775 was to fly a striped Jack and Ensign with thirteen alternating red and white stripes at their proper places. The rattlesnake was added as it had long been a symbol of resistance to the repressive acts of the British in colonial America. There is no historical data that the snake was actually added to the First Navy Jack flag but evidence in inconclusive whether it was or not and it has always been a part of the historical flag.