June 14th: Flag Day

June 14, 2009 | ari-freedom

[ari-freedom]

And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.


O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

[DHSMostWanted]

God bless America and all that salute her flag.

[b4its2late]

I’ll put mine up in about 6 hours.

[b4its2late]

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

[Redbob]

Let’s have the second verse.

[Think free or die]

It doesn’t seem to stop raining here in SE PA. If it dries up long enough, our flag will be flying.

[Rabble]

From an address delivered by Franklin K. Lane, then Secretary of the Interior, on Flag Day, June 14, 1914.

'I am not the Flag; not at all. I am but its shadow.'

'I am whatever you make me, nothing more.'

'I am your belief in yourself, your dream of what a people may become.'

'I live a changing life, a life of moods and passions, of heartbreaks and tired muscles.'

'Sometimes I am strong with pride, when men do an honest work, fitting the rails together truly.'

'Sometimes I droop, for then purpose has gone from me, and cynically I play the coward.'

'Sometimes I am loud, garish and full of ego that blasts judgement.'

'But always, I am all that you hope to be, and have the courage to try for.'

'I am song and fear, struggle and panic, and ennobling hope.'

'I am the day's work of the weakest man and the largest dream of the most daring.'

'I am the Constitution and the courts, statutes and state-maker, soldier and dreadnaught, drayman and sweep, cook, counselor and clerk.'

'I am the battle of yesterday and the mistake of tomorrow.'

'I am the mystery of the men who do without knowing why.'

'I am the clutch of an idea and the reasoned purpose of resolution.'

'I am no more than what you believe me to be and I am all that you believe I can be.'

'I am what you make me; nothing more.'

'I swing before your eyes as a bright gleam of color, a symbol of yourself, the pictured suggestion of that big thing which makes this nation. My stars and my stripes are your dreams and your labors. They are bright with cheer, brilliant with courage, firm with faith, because you have made them so out of your hearts; for you are the makers of the Flag, and it is well that you glory in the making.'

[goodnesswins]

Is there a reason not to fly a flag in the rain....just wondering....we live in the NW....we’d NEVER be flying flags if that were the case. Maybe that’s why it’s so liberal here!!!

[Seniram US]

Most modern-day flags are nylon and are considered as being okay to fly during inclement weather. Been raining in Pennsylvania for a while now, but many flags are flying, including most streets in our town, which has the telephone poles decorated with flags.

[Condor51]

Lat Verse is the best IMO (midi)

Oh! thus be it ever when free men 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

Semper Fi

[SuziQ]

The last verse is my very favorite. I'd never heard it before, until SirKit and I were living in Tallahassee while he was in Grad School. This was in 1977, and TV stations went off the air at midnight or 2am or so, and played "The Star Spangled Banner" as the last thing before doing so. This one station, which was, interestingly, the PBS affiliate, had a version that was two women singing harmony, accompanied only by a guitar, doing just that final verse, and it was beautiful:

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n 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!

[csmusaret]

14 June 1775 is the Army’s birthday. We didn’t get the Flag untill 1777, but happy birthday to both of them.