What It Means To Fly Old Glory

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One of the most underrated songs about America is “Grand Old Flag.” I remember learning the song in elementary school and going home to perform it for my parents. 

“You’re a grand old flag. You’re a high-flying flag, and forever in peace may you wave.”

The American flag represents both past and present. There is a reason behind every aspect of it. As the stars represent our present states and the stripes represent our thirteen original colonies, the flag, though slightly altered, has continued to wave over our nation. 

Down to the colors, the flag represents all of America. Red symbolizes hardiness and valor. White expresses purity and innocence. And blue represents national vigilance, perseverance, and justice in America.  

The stars and stripes go through battle and stand tall. They represent freedom to nations abroad and bring a sense of national pride to most Americans. 

“You’re the emblem of the land I love, the home of the free and the brave.” 

To many Americans, the flag is a symbol of all that America stands for and wants to live up to every day. It represents, as the song suggests, the emblem of the land that we are all so privileged to live in. Yet, as Pride month begins in America, pride flags are being spotted at U.S. embassies across the world. 

In a reversal of former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s ban, current Secretary Antony Blinken issued “blanket authorization” for state departments to fly the pride flag, or anything expressing support for the LGBTQ+ community. 

This memo, they wanted to clarify, was not a mandate, but an option based on what is “appropriate in light of local conditions.”

The Trump administration denied requests to place the flag on the same pole as the American flag. 

The U.S. Embassy to the Holy See, also known as Embassy Vatican, went so far as to show their approval of this message by posting their Pride flag to their social media. 

This all comes on the heels of Secretary Blinken authorizing embassies to fly the Black Lives Matter flag around the anniversary of George Floyd’s passing. 

This has been met with criticism from the right. Just this week, there was a new resolve by the GOP to push for the “Stars and Stripes” bill to ban any flag that is not the American flag from flying at an embassy. 

“Every heart beats true under red, white and blue, where there’s never a boast or brag.” 

What is my point in bringing all of this up? The above line from the song should ring true for every American citizen. We are privileged, blessed, and honored to call America our home, and for that purpose, we should revere our flag. 

The American flag represents the triumph of the American spirit and resolve in spreading freedom into the farthest corners of the world. It is the flag that greets our immigrants with the embrace of opportunity. It is the flag worn by the soldiers at Normandy and in Vietnam. It is the flag of the people who will never stop fighting to fulfill the principles of equality and justice for all. 

Does this mean America is perfect and cannot be critiqued? Should we not be accepting and loving of every American? Do we not need to have a conversation about race in America? Of course not. 

What it means is that our flag represents us all. Whatever race, sexual orientation, or gender you want to identify with, the identifier that we all share is American. Our embassies abroad represent our mission at home. The stars and stripes are more important than any virtue signaling and should be the only flag waving over a U.S. embassy. 

“But should old acquaintance be forgot, keep your eye on the grand old flag.”

The views expressed in this article are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Lone Conservative staff.

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