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!
— from “The Flag Goes By”
by Henry Holcomb Bennett
Tomorrow, June 14, is Flag Day.
On June 6 our nation marked the 80th anniversary of D-Day, when the members of the Greatest Generation carried the flag into the crucible of the Normandy beaches to turn the tide of World War II. The following year, on Feb. 25, 1945, the iconic photo “Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima” was taken of six U.S. Marines raising the Stars and Stripes during the Battle of Iwo Jima in the final stages of the Pacific War.
Few could have imagined how far the flag’s impact would extend when it was first designed in 1777 to rally colonists against an empire. The White House proclamation on Flag Day imparts this aspirational backstory.
“Americans flew it at their homes during the Revolutionary War as brave troops fought for our country’s independence from British rule — representing the resolve and resilience of our nation’s 13 colonies with 13 stripes and stars. As our nation evolved, so too did our flag — with every new star added to Old Glory, we were reminded that the work of forging a more perfect Union never ends,” the proclamation reads.
The young republic has experienced great triumphs and painful tribulations over the centuries, but, like the enduring Constitution that forms the bedrock of our democratic system of government, the Red, White and Blue has remained a steadfast source of pride and inspiration overhead.
“It has flown high on many battlefields, acting as a beacon of light and purpose at home and around the globe. It flies over military cemeteries where our country’s service members have been laid to rest, reminding us of the unmoving faith they had in our Nation and the ultimate sacrifice they made. It flies over buildings, classrooms, and courthouses — across small towns, in big cities, and around the world — a constant reminder that democracy begins and will be preserved in the habits and the hearts of ordinary people and that we all share a responsibility to stand up for it each and every day,” the proclamation continues.
Bennett’s poem goes on to extol Old Glory’s galvanizing qualities:
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.
Sea-fights and land-fights, grim and great,
Fought to make and to save the State:
Weary marches and sinking ships;
Cheers of victory on dying lips;
Days of plenty and years of peace;
March of a strong land’s swift increase;
Equal justice, right and law,
Stately honor and reverend awe;
Sign of a nation, great and strong
To ward her people from foreign wrong:
Pride and glory and honor, --all
Live in the colors to stand or fall.
Hats off! Along the street there comes
A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums;
And loyal hearts are beating high:
Hats off! The flag is passing by!
