Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand Between their loved homes and the war's desolation; Blest with victory and peace, may the Heaven-rescued land Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation! Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto--"In God is our trust"; And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
I was never so profoundly touched with the beauty of our flag as at night time in one of our immense political demonstrations. One of the features of the occasion was the sending upward of a mighty stream of electric light which, piercing the darkness of the night, reached a large flag which had been carried on cords a thousand feet from the earth. The scene was too impressive for me to describe. I can only say that it did seem as though the flag of our country was waving from the very battlements of heaven.... God pity the American citizen who does not love the flag; who does not see in it the story of our great, free institutions, and the hope of the home as well as the Nation.
Your Flag and my Flag! And how it flies to-day In your land and my land And half a world away! Rose-red and blood-red The stripes forever gleam; Snow-white and soul-white-- The good forefathers' dream; Sky-blue and true blue, with stars to gleam aright-- The gloried guidon of the day; a shelter through the night.
Your Flag and my Flag! And, oh, how much it holds-- Your land and my land-- Secure within its folds! Your heart and my heart Beat quicker at the sight; Sun-kissed and wind-tossed, Red and blue and white. The one Flag,--the great Flag--the Flag for me and you-- Glorified all else beside--the red and white and blue!
Your Flag and my Flag! To every star and stripe The drums beat as hearts beat And fifers shrilly pipe! Your Flag and my Flag-- A blessing in the sky; Your hope and my hope-- It never hid a lie! Home land and far land and half the world around, Old Glory hears our glad salute and ripples to the sound.
Hats off! Along the street there comes A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums, A flash of color beneath the sky: Hats off! The flag is passing by!
Blue and crimson and white it shines, Over the steel-tipped, ordered lines. Hats off! The colors before us fly; But more than the flag is passing by.