'Blessed is the nation whose God
is the LORD;
and the people whom he hath chosen
for his own inheritance.'
Psalm 33:12
Our American Flag is more than just
a bright colored piece of cloth.
It is a symbol, or sign, that stands for an
idea, a cause and a purpose.
The flag is not simply the symbol
of our nation and it was never
meant to represent politics
or politicians.
It represents all those who have
served, all those who have
sacrificed and all those who have
died defending our right to live
in peace and free from fear.
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properly fold a U.S. flag.
It stands for the hard work and
the
sacrifice of millions of Americans who have
helped to make the United States one
of the greatest powers in the world.
In 1782, the
colors of the Flag were
made part of the newly designed
Great Seal of the United States,
and the Department of State said
the colors have these meanings:
courage.
White is the symbol of purity and
innocence.
Blue is the color of vigilance,
perseverance, and justice.
Flag Day:
Flag Day is the birthday of the U.S. flag.
( June 14,1777 )
In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson
proclaimed Flag Day a national
holiday.
But it was not until 1949 that Congress
voted for Flag Day to be a permanent
holiday.
American Flag:
It's not just a bunch of colored
cloth sewn together.
The American Flag is the banner
under which thousands of men
and women have fought and died.
Its white stripes are the bandages
which bound their battle wounds;
its red stripes are colored with
their blood; its star studded field
of blue is the Heaven into which
they stared with dimming eyes as
they laid, dying, on foreign soil.
When you see the stars and stripes
snapping ferociously in a stiff
winter gale, or waving lazily on
a warm summer breeze,
remember the men and women
who fought - and those who died -
so that "Bunch of Colored Cloth"
could fly so freely.
Author Unknown
Independence Day:
Independence Day commemorates the
birthday of the United States of America.
It is celebrated on July 4th each
year
in states and possessions of
the
United States.
On July 2, 1776,
the Continental Congress
declared the American
Colonies free and
independent states.
But it took the delegates two days to
agree on a formal document
announcing
their action.
On July 4th, the Congress
adopted the
Declaration of Independence.
Since then, July 4th has been celebrated
as the nation's birthday.
Independence Day was first observed in
Philadelphia on July 8, 1776.
In 1941, Congress
declared July 4th
a federal legal holiday.
Pledge of Allegiance:
"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the
United States of America and to the Republic
for which it stands, one Nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
The original version of the Pledge
of Allegiance was first published
in the September 8, 1892,
issue of Youth's Companion, a weekly
magazine that was published in
Boston.
The phrase "my flag" contained in
the original pledge was changed
30 yrs later to
"the flag of the United States of America."
In 1954 the words "under God" were
added by an act of Congress.
The Star-Spangled Banner:
Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the
twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars,
thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd,
were so gallantly streaming?
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?
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:
O, 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 footsteps' 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.
O, thus be it ever when freemen
shall stand,
Between their lov'd homes and
the war's desolation;
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the
heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and
preserv'd us 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!
America the Beautiful:
O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
O beautiful for pilgrim feet,
Whose stern, impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!
O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine,
Till all success be nobleness,
And every gain divine!
O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
