Patriotism
Patriotism is one’s devotion to their country. Patriotism has been lost in America.
Many Americans look at the flag and say that it is a piece of cloth with stars and stripes.
Most of them should know that there are fifty stars on that flag. Many people should
know that their are thirteen stripes on the flag for the thirteen original colonies. Some
people might even know that their are seven stripes up and six stripes down, six white and
seven red. Some people might even know what the colors stand for. Red stood for
hardiness and valor; white for purity and innocence; blue for vigilance, perseverance, and
justice. Fifty stars on the flag for the fifty states. Any one star does not stand for any
particular state. On July 4, 1960, the 50th star was added to the flag. Their are rules for
the flag they are as follows:
The flag is displayed outdoors from sunrise to sunset. It may be displayed 24
hours if illuminated with a lite.
The flag should be raised briskly and lowered slowly. (This is because you
should be proud and happy when you raise it and when you put it up you should be sad
that you have to put it up)
During harsh weather unless the flag is an all weather flag bring the flag down.
It is especially appropriate to flay the flag on holidays.
The flag should be displayed at a public institution daily; at an election polling
place on election days; at a school on school days.
The flag should never be displayed upside down unless it is a sign of distress.
The flag should never touch anything below it. It should never be used as
drapery, never drawn back or up. It should never be carried flat or with the staff
horizontal. It should never be used for covering. No insignia, letter, or picture of any
kind should ever be placed upon or attached to the flag. Never use the flag for advertising
purposes in any manner whatsoever.
The flag should not be used on a float in a parade unless it is hanging free or is
displayed flat. It should never be draped over any part of any kind of vehicle. Wherever
used, it should always be suspended so it will either be entirely flat or will fall free.
When the flag is being flown with the flag of a state, city, or society on the
same halyard, the national flag should always be on top or higher than the other flags.
The flag should never be used to cover a statue or monument at an unveiling
ceremony.
When the flag is worn out, it should be destroyed in a dignified way.
That is the way you respect your flag
A salute is given to the flag by all citizens when it is raised or lowered, when it
passes in a parade, when the national anthem is played, and when it is displayed while the
Pledge of Allegiance is given. Remove your hat with your right hand and hold it in front
of your left shoulder when you are wearing a hat. Men and women in military uniforms
give a military salute. Others give a salute by putting their right hand over their heart.
Why should you do these. You are not saluting a flag you are saluting your country.
The men who risked their lives for this country. The red in the flag is the blood from the
men that fought for this country.
I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the
Republic for which it stands, on Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for
all.
That is what the flag is. Allegiance to your nation. Respect to the men who
fought for it. Patriotism.
What else does the flag stand for? To me it stands for allot of things such as:
justice, freedom, liberty, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and everything else that
you should be thank full to that flag. The flag that stand for what you are. God bless this
country.
Flag Day
June, 14
First observed 1877, the 100th anniversary of the United States Flag we fly today
Many people have asked me why I treat the flag with so much respect. I tell them
why don’t you give it more respect. I have been to the memorials of the men who died for
their country. The Vietnam Memorial, Korean Memorial, Gettysburg, Many more of the
Civil War graves, Arlington National Cemetery, and I have had relatives that have died for
their country. I have had relatives that have been in the Korean War and the Vietnam
War. Veterans are the most important people today. If you like to live in America thank a
Veteran if you don’t go to another country. If you hated this country so much you
wouldn’t still be here. Patriotism.
If you have ever read a man without a country you would understand what
America really means to you. A Man Without a Country talks about of how a man during
the Civil War does something illegal while he is fighting in the Civil War. As he goes to
trial he tell the judge that he hates America and how he never wants to see it or hear of it
ever again. His sentence is that he has to live at sea for the rest of his life and can not see
any land that America owns and no one on the ship can talk to him about what is going on
with anything associated with the United States. After awhile he wishes he could go back
and wishes that he could hear what is going on with the Civil War if the Union was
winning. He wishes he could be back in America for even awhile. He missed it wanted to
go back even though he had said he hated it. Patriotism where did it go.
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 divergencies of opinion, and of our common destiny.
the National Anthem
The Star-Spangled Banner
Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight'
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming.
And the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore dimly seen, thro' the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream;
'Tis the star-spangled banner: oh, long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash'd out their foul footstep's pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Oh, thus be it ever when free men shall stand,
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation;
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Power that has made and preserved us as a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause 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.
