But don’t dare check the legal status of individuals who are unable to provide identification. That would be discriminatory. Denying citizens the right to vote for wearing historical flags connected to the American Revolution? Totally okay.

A Texas woman was denied the right to vote on Monday because she was wearing a button bearing a Gadsden flag — the rattlesnake under the words “Don’t Tread on Me” that has become the unofficial image of the Tea Party.

Katrina Pierson, who sits on the steering committee of the Dallas Tea Party and is also involved with the Garland Tea Party, told The Daily Caller that “around 11 o’clock yesterday,” a Garland Tea Party member, reported that she was told by an election official that she could not vote unless she removed her button. A second election official, Pierson said, did not recognize the button and did not understand why the other official was not permitting the woman to vote.

According to Pierson, the woman refused to remove her button, saying it was a violation of her first amendment rights, and called the sheriff’s office. The sheriff passed the matter on to the Dallas County Election Department, which failed to act.

The woman opted not to vote until she had done more research and figured out whether or not the election official was allowed to do that. The Garland Tea Party is currently conducting that investigation on her behalf.

“If we have to file suit against the county, we will,” says Pierson.

The flag may be popular amongst tea partiers but it’s not a partisan political image. The Gadsden flag was designed by Christopher Gadsden, a Revolutionary War general and delegate to the Continental Congress. It was used as an early flag by the Marines during the war, and made a resurgence amongst federal agencies after 9/11.

Would an American citizen be turned away for wearing an American flag pin? Unlikely, and yet those are used by political movements as well. But wearing the pin of an historical flag linked to the American Revolution apparently gets you thrown out of the polling place.