Claim: The Gadsden flag was named after Christopher Gadsden, an American general.

Christopher Gadsden -LRB- February 16 , 1724 -- August 28 , 1805 -RRB- was the principal leader of the South Carolina Patriot movement during the American Revolution and a soldier and politician from South Carolina . He was a delegate to the Continental Congress and a brigadier general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War , a merchant , a slaveholder and slave trader . He was also the designer of the famous Gadsden flag .