Navy SEAL and Purple Heart recipient Marcus Luttrell and Forged Clothing showed their support for actor Chris Pratt and the Gadsden flag this week, this after Pratt came under fire and was labeled a “white supremacist” for wearing a Gadsden flag T-shirt.
Forged Clothing originally posted a message in support of Pratt, which Luttrell shared on his Instagram account.
“We at @forgedclothing would like to address the ridiculous accusations that [Pratt] supports white supremacy because he wears our ‘Don’t Tread On Me’ T-Shirt,” Forged wrote. “First and foremost, we are a Navy-SEAL founded, patriotic and military-inspired brand. Our CEO and members of our Forged team served alongside military service members of all races, cultures and ethnicities. As we fought for our country, many of us wore the 1st Navy Jack flag on the sleeves of our uniforms, which the Gadsden military-authorized flag is based on. This incredibly powerful symbol was one of the first flags flown by our Continental Navy since 1776 and is still widely used by our military forces today.”
“Secondly, [Pratt] has been a great friend and loyal supporter of Forged since our paths crossed back in 2011,” Forged continued. “Since then, his support has helped both @forgedclothing and the @murphchallenge raise millions of dollars for military and law enforcement families and foundations. He has never ONCE asked for a dime in return and has always used his own funds and resources to help promote these campaigns in honor of others. [Pratt] is by far one of the most humble and selfless Americans we have ever known. We will ALWAYS have his back.”
“And finally, we are not [Nike],” Forged added. “The four tweets that have been posted by small-minded people with myopic views (one of which has already been deleted) DO NOT scare us. We will not back down and recall our Gadsden Flag shirts. Instead, we are going to re-release this design. So to the few ignorant critics offended by our patriotism and Chris Pratt’s patriotism… Standby. This one is for you! 🇺🇸 PLEASE SHARE THIS MESSAGE AND HELP US SUPPORT [Pratt] AGAINST THESE ACCUSATIONS.”
Forged is a Navy SEAL-founded clothing company that donates a portion of its sales to several military affiliated non-profits to help wounded veterans and their families. The company also creates tribute T-shirts for fallen service members, and a portion of those sales are donated to the Navy SEAL Foundation or other charity in their honor.
While the specific shirt that Pratt wore is not currently available on their website, they sell other Gadsden shirts.
Yahoo Movies UK this week labeled Pratt a “white supremacist” over a Gadsden T-shirt he wore.
In a July 16 article, which Yahoo Movies UK originally titled “Chris Pratt criticized for ‘white supremacist’ T-shirt” but now changed to “Chris Pratt criticized for T-shirt choice,” Yahoo said Pratt’s shirt featured a “controversial symbol” adopted by the Tea Party and “gun-toting supporters of the Second Amendment.”
Pratt, who is known for his roles in movies such as “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Avengers” and “Jurassic World,” wore a shirt featuring the Gadsden flag rattlesnake and phrase “Don’t tread on me” imposed over the American flag.
Yahoo Movies UK seemed to lean in to its own characterization of the Gadsden shirt, tweeting on Wednesday afternoon, “The shirt features an image adopted by a Far Right political party.”
The Gadsden flag is a yellow flag that features a coiled rattlesnake along with the phrase, “Don’t Tread on Me.” The historical flag is named for Gen. Christopher Gadsden. Gadsden designed the flag during the American Revolution in 1775, and it is seen as a symbol of American patriotism.
The U.S. Navy has always used a similar flag, the First Navy Jack, which is a flag of 13 horizontal red and white stripes and a rattlesnake, again with the phrase “Don’t Tread on Me.”
In its article, Yahoo said that, “Although it is one of the symbols and flags used by the U.S. Men’s Soccer Team, Metallica, as well as some libertarian groups, over the years the flag has been adopted by Far Right political groups like the Tea Party, as well as gun-toting supporters of the Second Amendment. It has therefore become a symbol of more conservative and far right individuals and, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission of the U.S., it also is ‘sometimes interpreted to convey racially-tinged messages in some contexts.’”
