The Old Flag

By H.C. Bunner

Off with your hat as the flag goes by!
And let the heart have it say;
You’re man enough for a tear in your eye
That you will never wipe away.
You’re man enough for a thrill that goes
To your very finger-tips–
Ay! the lump just then in your throat that rose
Spoke more than your parted lips.
Lift up the boy on your shoulder high,
And show him the faded shred;
Those stripes would be red as the sunset sky
If death could have dyed them red.
Off with your hat as the flag goes by!
Uncover the youngster’s head;
Teach him to hold it holy and high
For the sake of its sacred dead.

A Patriotic Creed

By Edgar Guest

To serve my country day by day
At any humble post I may;
To honor and respect her flag,
To live the traits of which I brag;
To be American in deed
As well as in my printed creed.

To stand for truth and honest toil,
To till my little patch of soil,
And keep in mind the debt I owe
To them who died that I might know
My country, prosperous and free,
And passed this heritage to me.

I always must in trouble’s hour
Be guided by the men in power;
For God and country I must live,
My best for God and country give;
No act of mine that men may scan
Must shame the name American.

To do my best and play my part,
American in mind and heart;
To serve the flag and bravely stand
To guard the glory of my land;
To be American in deed:
God grant me strength to keep this creed!

A Patriotic Wish

By Edgar Guest

I’d like to be the sort of man the flag could boast about;
I’d like to be the sort of man it cannot live without;
I’d like to be the type of man
That really is American:
The head-erect and shoulders-square,
Clean-minded fellow, just and fair,
That all men picture when they see
The glorious banner of the free.

I’d like to be the sort of man the flag now typifies,
The kind of man we really want the flag to symbolize;
The loyal brother to a trust,
The big, unselfish soul and just,
The friend of every man oppressed,
The strong support of all that’s best,
The sturdy chap the banner’s meant,
Where’er it flies, to represent.

I’d like to be the sort of man the flag’s supposed to mean,
The man that all in fancy see wherever it is seen,
The chap that’s ready for a fight
Whenever there’s a wrong to right,
The friend in every time of need,
The doer of the daring deed,
The clean and generous handed man
That is a real American.

The following isn’t a poem but rather a reading of the Pledge of Allegiance with explanations along the way by Red Skelton:

Red Skelton’s Commentary on the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance

As a schoolboy in Vincennes, Indiana, one of Red Skelton’s teachers explained the words and meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance to his class. Skelton later wrote down, and eventually recorded, his recollection of this lecture. It is followed by an observation of his own.

I: Me; an individual; a committee of one.

Pledge: Dedicate all of my worldly goods to give without self-pity.

Allegiance: My love and my devotion.

To the Flag: Our standard; Old Glory ; a symbol of courage; and wherever she waves there is respect, because your loyalty has given her a dignity that shouts, “Freedom is everybody’s job.”

Of the United: That means that we have all come together.

States: Individual communities that have united into forty-eight great states. Forty-eight individual communities with pride and dignity and purpose. All divided by imaginary boundaries, yet united to a common cause, and that is love of country… of America.

And to the Republic: Republic–a sovereign state in which power is invested in representatives chosen by the people to govern. And government is the people; and it’s from the people to the leaders, not from the leaders to the people.

For Which It Stands

One Nation: meaning, so blessed by God.

Indivisible: Incapable of being divided.

With Liberty: Which is Freedom; the right of power for one to live his own life, without fears, threats, or any sort of retaliation.

And Justice: The principle, and qualities, of dealing fairly with others.

For All: That means it’s as much your country as it is mine.

Since I was a small boy, two states have been added to our country, and two words have been added to the Pledge of Allegiance: “Under God.” Wouldn’t it be a pity if someone said that is a prayer, and that would be eliminated from schools, too?

— Red Skelton
1913-1997

—Read on the “Red Skelton Hour”
January 14, 1969

Other Interesting Reading:
“Remembering the Fourth of July” by David Barton (have to scroll down to this part of the article).

(Bottom graphic courtesy of Anne’s Place. I am not sure where the others came from.)