What does "these colors don't run" mean?

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Don't tread on me - Metallica - 해석

What does "these colors don't run" mean?

In the metaphorical sense with the picture of the flag, “colors” is another word for the flag. Then the flag itself stands in for America, or specifically the American military. In this context, “run” is meant more literally.The sentence is saying that Americans will not run away from a fight.


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"These colors don't run" is a phrase that is often used to express patriotic or nationalistic sentiment. It is often ass


Joe Devney

Professional writer and editor, Master's in Linguistics.

If the sentence accompanies a picture of the American flag, it is a play on words. 

Colors and run both have more than one meaning, and the flag is both a piece of cloth and a symbol for something larger. That is the way I usually see this particular string of words used.

In the physical sense, sometimes when you wash a piece of fabric the dye can escape from the cloth and possibly attach to other clothing in the same wash load. We say that the color ran. If you are talking about a piece of clothing, the sentence would mean that the dye in the cloth is colorfast; it won’t run.

In the metaphorical sense with the picture of the flag, “colors” is another word for the flag. Then the flag itself stands in for America, or specifically the American military. In this context, “run” is meant more literally.The sentence is saying that Americans will not run away from a fight.

Don’t Tread on Me Flag - Origins and Significance


American history has another important representation that many do not know the meaning of – the “Don’t Tread on Me” flag. Americans are proud and protective of the freedom they have, sometimes even referring to themselves as the world’s freest country. The “Don’t Tread on Me” flag represents a period in history when the United States was still fighting for independence from Great Britain. Its words still resonant today.


Gadsden and Hopkins

Although he helped to create the symbol of the American rattlesnake, Benjamin Franklin’s name isn't usually associated with the rattlesnake flag. The brightly-colored, yellow Don’t Tread on Me flag is usually referred to as a Gadsden flag, named after Colonel Christopher Gadsden. Though this is less frequent, it is sometimes also referred to as a Hopkins flag, named after Commodore Esek Hopkins. Both men were milling around Philadelphia at the same time, with each making significant contributions to the history of the rattlesnake flag, and to America’s history in general. An American patriot, Christopher Gadsden led the Sons of Liberty starting in 1765 in South Carolina. Eventually, he was made a Brigadier General in the Continental Army. He was one of three Marine Committee members deciding to man and outfit the Alfred and its sister ships. As Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Esek Hopkins flew the “Don’t Tread on Me” flag on the Alfred. It is historically accepted that the flag was given to Hopkins by Gadsden. Reportedly, Gadsden believed a distinctive personal standard was vitally important for the Commodore to have.