"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."

 

Words which affirm the values and freedom that the American flag represents are recited as a pledge of our loyalty to our country.  A flag is more than a piece of cloth that represents a specific part of the earth. A flag is a symbol of what a country is all about. What it's people are all about, what they believe, what they hope to achieve, what they will protect, and what they will die for.  The Declaration of Independence, the American Constitution, and the many writings of patriots, civic leaders, and philosophers tell all about what our Flag of  the United States of America stands for. 

 

 

 "I believe in the United States of America as a government of the people, by the people, for the people, whose just powers are derived from the consent of the governed; a democracy in a republic; a sovereign Nation of many sovereign States; a perfect Union, one and inseparable; established upon those principles of freedom, equality, justice, and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes. 

I therefore believe it is my duty to my country to love it; to support its constitution; to obey its laws; to respect its flag; and to defend it against all enemies."

--William Tyler Page

National Symbol

by Charles Evans Hughes

 

• The flag is the symbol of our national unity, our national endeavor, our national aspiration.
• The flag tells of the struggle for independence, of union preserved, of liberty and union one and inseparable, of the sacrifices of brave men and women to whom the ideals and honor of this nation have been dearer than life.
• It means America first; it means an undivided allegiance.
• It means America united, strong and efficient, equal to her tasks.
• It means that you cannot be saved by the valor and devotion of your ancestors, that to each generation comes its patriotic duty; and that upon your willingness to sacrifice and endure as those before you have sacrificed and endured rests the national hope.
• It speaks of equal rights, of the inspiration of free institutions exemplified and vindicated, of liberty under law intelligently conceived and impartially administrated. There is not a thread in it but scorns self-indulgence, weakness, and rapacity.
• It is eloquent of our community interests, outweighing all divergences of opinion, and of our common destiny.

 

I am the Flag

by Ruth Apperson Rous

• 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.

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