Come and Take It Patch: The Gonzales Flag and the Shot That Started the Texas Revolution
"Come and Take It" — three words stitched on a homemade flag above a crude cannon drawing — started a revolution. The Gonzales Flag is one of the most defiant symbols in American history, and its message is just as powerful today as it was in 1835. Here's the full story.
The Cannon at Gonzales
In 1831, Mexican authorities loaned a small brass cannon to the settlers of Gonzales, Texas to help defend against Comanche raids. By 1835, tensions between the Texian colonists and the Mexican government under General Antonio López de Santa Anna had reached a breaking point. Santa Anna, consolidating power and moving toward dictatorship, ordered the cannon returned.
On September 27, 1835, Mexican soldiers arrived at Gonzales to retrieve the cannon. The colonists refused to hand it over. They buried the cannon, stalled for time, and sent riders to neighboring settlements calling for reinforcements. Within days, approximately 140 Texian volunteers had gathered at Gonzales.
The Flag
The Texian women of Gonzales sewed a flag for the confrontation: a white field with a black cannon in the center, a lone star above it, and the words "COME AND TAKE IT" below — a direct echo of the ancient Spartan battle cry Molon Labe ("Come and take them"), which King Leonidas reportedly said to Xerxes at Thermopylae in 480 BC.
The message was unmistakable: we have the cannon, we're keeping it, and if you want it, you'll have to fight us for it.
The Battle of Gonzales: October 2, 1835
On October 2, 1835, the Texians dug up the cannon, loaded it with scrap metal, and fired it at the Mexican soldiers. The Mexicans withdrew. The Battle of Gonzales — lasting only minutes — was the first military engagement of the Texas Revolution and the opening shot of the conflict that would ultimately lead to Texas independence.
It is often called the "Lexington of Texas" — the Texas equivalent of the shot heard 'round the world at Concord in 1775.
"Come and Take It" and the Second Amendment
Today, "Come and Take It" is one of the most powerful slogans in the gun rights movement — a direct response to any attempt to confiscate firearms. It connects the modern Second Amendment fight to a 200-year tradition of American defiance: from Leonidas at Thermopylae, to the colonists at Gonzales, to gun owners today.
Shop the Come and Take It Patch
Hook-and-loop backed. The cannon stays. Come and take it.