Yankee Doodle/Patriotic Poetry
I Am The Flag
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I am the flag of the United States of America.
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I was born on June 14, 1777, in Philadelphia.
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There the Continental Congress adopted my stars and stripes as the
national flag.
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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.
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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.
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My colors symbolize the patriotic ideals and spiritual qualities of
the citizens of my country.
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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.
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My white stripes stand for liberty and equality for all.
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My blue is the blue of heaven, loyalty, and faith.
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I represent these eternal principles: liberty, justice, and humanity.
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I embody American freedom: freedom of speech, religion, assembly, the
press, and the sanctity of the home.
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I typify that indomitable spirit of determination brought to my land
by Christopher Columbus and by all my forefathers - the Pilgrims,
Puritans, settlers at Jamestown and Plymouth.
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I am as old as my nation.
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I am a living symbol of my nation’s law: the Constitution of the
United States and the Bill of Rights.
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I voice Abraham Lincoln’s philosophy: “A government of the people, by
the people,for the people.”
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I stand guard over my nation’s schools, the seedbed of good
citizenship and true patriotism.
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I am displayed in every schoolroom throughout my nation; every
schoolyard has a flag pole for my display.
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Daily thousands upon thousands of boys and girls pledge their
allegiance to me and my country.
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I have my own law—Public Law 829, “The Flag Code” - which definitely
states my correct use and display for all occasions and situations.
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I have my special day, Flag Day. June 14th is set aside to honor my
birth.
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Americans, I am the sacred emblem of your country. I symbolize your
birthright, your heritage of liberty purchased with blood and sorrow.
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I am your title deed of freedom, which is yours to enjoy and hold in
trust for posterity.
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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.
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Eternal vigilance is your price of freedom.
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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.
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Guard me well, lest your freedom perish from the earth.
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Dedicate your lives to those principles for which I stand: “One nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
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I was created in freedom. I made my first appearance in a battle for
human liberty.
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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.
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- Ruth Apperson Rous
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