Thread: Flag day - June 14th

I am the flag of the United States of America.


I was born on June 14, 1777, in Philadelphia.


There the Continental Congress adopted my stars and stripes as the national flag.


My thirteen stripes alternating red and white, with a union of thirteen white stars in a field of blue, represented a new constellation, a new nation dedicated to the personal and religious liberty of mankind.


Today fifty stars signal from my union, one for each of the fifty sovereign states in the greatest constitutional republic the world has ever known.


My colors symbolize the patriotic ideals and spiritual qualities of the citizens of my country.


My red stripes proclaim the fearless courage and integrity of American men and boys and the self-sacrifice and devotion of American mothers and daughters.


My white stripes stand for liberty and equality for all.


My blue is the blue of heaven, loyalty, and faith.


I represent these eternal principles: liberty, justice, and humanity.


I embody American freedom: freedom of speech, religion, assembly, the press, and the sanctity of the home.


I typify that indomitable spirit of determination brought to my land by Christopher Columbus and by all my forefathers - the Pilgrims, Puritans, settlers at James town and Plymouth.


I am as old as my nation.


I am a living symbol of my nation's law: the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights.


I voice Abraham Lincoln's philosophy: "A government of the people, by the people,for the people."


I stand guard over my nation's schools, the seedbed of good citizenship and true patriotism.


I am displayed in every schoolroom throughout my nation; every schoolyard has a flag pole for my display.


Daily thousands upon thousands of boys and girls pledge their allegiance to me and my country.


I have my own law—Public Law 829, "The Flag Code" - which definitely states my correct use and display for all occasions and situations.


I have my special day, Flag Day. June 14 is set aside to honor my birth.


Americans, I am the sacred emblem of your country. I symbolize your birthright, your heritage of liberty purchased with blood and sorrow.


I am your title deed of freedom, which is yours to enjoy and hold in trust for posterity.


If you fail to keep this sacred trust inviolate, if I am nullified and destroyed, you and your children will become slaves to dictators and despots.


Eternal vigilance is your price of freedom.


As you see me silhouetted against the peaceful skies of my country, remind yourself that I am the flag of your country, that I stand for what you are - no more, no less.


Guard me well, lest your freedom perish from the earth.


Dedicate your lives to those principles for which I stand: "One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."


I was created in freedom. I made my first appearance in a battle for human liberty.


God grant that I may spend eternity in my "land of the free and the home of the brave" and that I shall ever be known as "Old Glory," the flag of the United States of America.


http://www.usflag.org/iamtheflag.html

Our flag is already proudly flying. My wife, a naturalized citizen insist that we have one up on our home every day.

God Bless America and its people and its Flag!

Here is an orginal poem I wrote to our beloved Stars and Stripes in 1975, the year before our grand Bicentennial:

ENSIGN OF HOPE

Ensign of hope! Red, white, and blue!
When Freedom first conceived of you,
What rousings stirred within her heart?
What visions did her spirit see?
"The standard of the brave and true,
Great union from a lowly start,
New hope to set all mankind free!"
From heaven's frame she formed her shield:
She tore night's blue, majestic field
And sprayed its cloth with silver stars;
Taking the dawn's resplendent rays,
She molded white and crimson bars,
And sparked liberty's flame ablaze!
Her heart in glorious rapture cried,
She called her eagle to her side.
He spread his wings with wondrous zeal,
Obeying her inspired command;
And, unto him, she pledged the seal
Of her firstborn sons' native land!

Yet, did not Freedom have in mind
More than bright stars-and-stripes array
As her hand fashioned your design?
"Nay, nay!" cried she, "I am not blind!
You were not made for mere display,
Your greatness must be genuine!"
Hence, the old virtues she decreed
Your noble essence must impart:
"White, from God's ever-hallowed creed
Of purity in mind and heart;
Blue, from the Source of Truth above,
The Fount of wisdom's rich increase;
Red, from His all-abiding love
For man, His child and masterpiece!"

joazinha, June 1975

my family thought this poem is the GREATEST one I ever wrote! So do my Brazilian friend and others, American and legal resident alike! (my Catholic priest friend from Mexico who became an American last year was really amazed when I recited it to him the first time while he was still a legal resident. Now he keeps a copy of that poem by his office desk!)

The Pledge of Allegiance

I Pledge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands,
one Nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all


Joazinha,

That is an awesome poem. I wish I would write like that.

Thanks to everyone here are ALIPAC for all you do, your great!

yes, I LOVE it. AMERICA forever.

America land that I love.

The Flag of the United States of America

If this doesn't give you chills, you should pack up and move on to another country.

I Am the Flag of the
United States of America

I am the flag of the United States of America.
My name is Old Glory.
I fly atop the world's tallest buildings.
I stand watch in America's halls of justice.
I fly majestically over institutions of learning.
I stand guard with power in the world.
Look up and see me.

I stand for peace, honor, truth and justice.
I stand for freedom.
I am confident.
I am arrogant.
I am proud.
When I am flown with my fellow banners,
My head is a little higher,
My colors a little truer.
I bow to no one!
I am recognized all over the world.
I am worshipped - I am saluted.
I am loved - I am revered.
I am respected - and I am feared.
I have fought in every battle of every war for more then 200 years. I was flown at Valley Forge, Gettysburg, Shiloh and Appomattox.
I was there at San Juan Hill, the trenches of France,
in the Argonne Forest, Anzio, Rome and the beaches of Normandy.
Guam, Okinawa, Korea and KheSan, Saigon, Vietnam know me.
I'm presently in the mountains of Afganistan and the hot and dusty deserts of Iraq and wherever freedom is needed.
I led my troops, I was dirty, battleworn and tired,
But my soldiers cheered me and I was proud.
I have been burned, torn and trampled on the streets of countries I have helped set free.
It does not hurt for I am invincible.
I have been soiled upon, burned, torn and trampled in the streets of my country.
And when it's done by those Whom I've served in battle - it hurts.
But I shall overcome - for I am strong.
I have slipped the bonds of Earth and stood watch over the uncharted frontiers of space from my vantage point on the moon.
I have borne silent witness to all of America's finest hours.
But my finest hours are yet to come.
When I am torn into strips and used as bandages for my wounded comrades on the battlefield,
When I am flown at half-mast to honor my soldier,
Or when I lie in the trembling arms of a grieving parent
at the grave of their fallen son or daughter,

I am proud.

Originally Posted by SOSADFORUS

The Flag of the United States of America

If this doesn't give you chills, you should pack up and move on to another country.

I Am the Flag of the
United States of America

I am the flag of the United States of America.
My name is Old Glory.
I fly atop the world's tallest buildings.
I stand watch in America's halls of justice.
I fly majestically over institutions of learning.
I stand guard with power in the world.
Look up and see me.

I stand for peace, honor, truth and justice.
I stand for freedom.
I am confident.
I am arrogant.
I am proud.
When I am flown with my fellow banners,
My head is a little higher,
My colors a little truer.
I bow to no one!
I am recognized all over the world.
I am worshipped - I am saluted.
I am loved - I am revered.
I am respected - and I am feared.
I have fought in every battle of every war for more then 200 years. I was flown at Valley Forge, Gettysburg, Shiloh and Appomattox.
I was there at San Juan Hill, the trenches of France,
in the Argonne Forest, Anzio, Rome and the beaches of Normandy.
Guam, Okinawa, Korea and KheSan, Saigon, Vietnam know me.
I'm presently in the mountains of Afganistan and the hot and dusty deserts of Iraq and wherever freedom is needed.
I led my troops, I was dirty, battleworn and tired,
But my soldiers cheered me and I was proud.
I have been burned, torn and trampled on the streets of countries I have helped set free.
It does not hurt for I am invincible.
I have been soiled upon, burned, torn and trampled in the streets of my country.
And when it's done by those Whom I've served in battle - it hurts.
But I shall overcome - for I am strong.
I have slipped the bonds of Earth and stood watch over the uncharted frontiers of space from my vantage point on the moon.
I have borne silent witness to all of America's finest hours.
But my finest hours are yet to come.
When I am torn into strips and used as bandages for my wounded comrades on the battlefield,
When I am flown at half-mast to honor my soldier,
Or when I lie in the trembling arms of a grieving parent
at the grave of their fallen son or daughter,

I am proud.

Dam Right and never forget it!