Come and Take It Flag (Cannon Black & White) Gonzales Flag

The Gonzales Flag is a stark black-and-white banner, a simple design that acted as a stark gauntlet thrown at the feet of Mexican federal power. It was nothing more than a star, a cannon, and the old Spartan slogan updated for modern times: “Come and Take It.”

“Come and take it” is an American patriotic slogan used in 1778 at Fort Morris in Georgia during the American Revolution, and most notably in 1835 at the Battle of Gonzales during the Texas Revolution. The phrase is similar to Molon labe (come and take them), which is a classical expression of defiance reportedly spoken by King Leonidas I in response to the Persian army’s demand that the Spartans surrender their weapons at the Battle of Thermopylae.