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.
