Today is Flag Day... And long may she wave!

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.

(images courtesy of www.3dflags.com - thank you!)

May this flag of red, white, and blue continue to fly over this great country for many, many years to come. I pray that we, as a nation, remember what the colors in our Seal, and thus, our Flag symbolize:

• Red - for hardiness and valor
• White - for purity and innocence
• Blue - for vigilence, perseverance, and justice

Our National Anthem, the Star Spangled Banner, celebrates the courage, bravery and determination of our forefathers to remain free and independant. I love learning about that fight at Ft. McHenry and the sheer "we-will-NEVER-give-up" cussedness displayed by those brave men during that fight. Frances Scott Key did a beautiful job writing down these magnificent words (all emphasis is mine):

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, through 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.
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 through 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 wiped 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 freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it 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!

And Michael W. Smith has a beautiful song, "There She Stands," which is a beautiful celebration of what our flag has been through, and the hope it has given so many:

When the night / Seems to say
All hope is lost / Gone away
But I know / I'm not alone / By the light
She stands

There she waves / Faithful friend
Shimmering stars / Westward wind
Show the way / Carry me / To the place
She stands

Just when you think it might be over
Just when you think the fight is gone
Someone will risk his life to raise her
There she stands

There she flies / Clear blue sky
Reminds us with red / Of those who died
Washed in white / By the brave / In their strength
She stands

When evil calls itself a martyr
When all you hopes come crashing down
Someone will pull her from the rubble
There she stands

We've seen her flying torn and tattered
We've seen her stand the test of time
And through it all the fools have fallen
There she stands

By the dawn's / Early light / And through the fight / She stands

There She stands.

Thank You, Father, for this blessed land You have given us. Thank You for men of wisdom and conviction who founded this country on Your Word. Thank You for the men and women who have fought so bravely to keep us free. Thank You for the men and women who are fighting now, serving their country with honor and valor. Thank You, Father, for the leaders You have given us: each and every one is there in their place according to Your will and You plan.

We lift up this Nation, Lord, and ask You to continue to bless us. We ask that You continue to guide us, to protect and nurture us. But most of all, Lord, I pray that You send Your Spirit among us to draw us all to You. I pray that You bring Your revival to this beloved land, so we may again serve you with all our mind, all our heart, all our strength, and all our spirit. Revive us, O Lord, that we may shine forth Your love and Your grace through this weary world. Revive us that we may boast in Your strength and Your wisdom.

Revive us so we may praise Your Name to the very heavens, and proclaim once more: "Blessed is the Nation whose God is the LORD!"

Linked at basil's Blog, Stuck on Stupid and the Cigar Intelligence Agency; and check out Flag Day entries from Third World County, Euphoric Reality, Random Yak and Diane's Stuff.

Also, you really need to go over to Rightwing Nuthouse because Rick Moran has an excellent post about our passion for our Flag, along with some very interesting history.

Today is Flag Day. I think it fitting that we honor not only our flag but also the "free men" who "stand between their loved homes and the war's desolation" around the world, protecting us and reminding us all what the flag truly means - simple, patriotic love for one's home and country.

This love, shared by tens of millions of Americans, has lately been belittled, sneered at, even thought of as "evil" in some quarters. The flag itself has taken something of a beating in recent decades, used and abused by both commercial enterprises and thoughtless dissidents who shamelessly appropriate the feelings Americans have for our national emblem to sell everything from soap to cars. Or, in the case of the haters of liberty, to deliberately incite rage by burning it. There are even some who wish to supplant the nobility of what the flag represents by injecting all the sins (both real and imagined) committed by American governments over two hundred years into our national symbol in order to mold it into an emblem of shame.

In this, they and all the haters will fail. As long as there are men willing to pick up the standard when it falls, the flag will continue to represent all of the good and noble things about this country, forcing us to wipe a tear from our eye whenever we see it pass, remembering all that it means to be an American.

Amen, Rick - and thank you very much!