THE AMERICAN'S CREED WM. TYLER PAGE

I believe in the United States of America as a government of the people, by the people, for the people ; whose just powers are derived from the consen t of t he governed; a d<>mocracy in a republic; a sovereign nation of m a n y soverl"ign st ates; a per ­

fect union, one and inseparable; I"s tablished upon thosl: pri n­ciples of freedom, equality, justice and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their l ives a mI fortunes,

I therefore believe it is my duty to m y country to love it ; to support its constitution; to obcy its laws ; t o respect its flag ; a nd to defend it against all enemies,

RESPECT THE FLAG W HEN you see the Stars an d Stripes dis played, son, stand up and take off your hat.

Somebody may titter. It is in the blood of some to deride all expression of noble senti­m ent. You ma,Y blaspheme in the s treet and stagger 'drunken in public places, and th e by­standers will not pay much attention to }'OU; but if you should get down on your knees and pray to Almighty God , or if you should stand bareheaded while a company of old soldiers marches by with flags to the breeze, some people will think you are shO\ving off.

But don' t you mind! When Old Glory comcs along, salute, a nd le t them think what they please! When you hear the band play "The Star-Spangled Banner" while you are in a restau ran t or hotel dining room, get up even if you r ise alone ; stand there a nd don ' t be ashamed o[ it, either!

For of a ll the Signs an d symbols since the \\'orld began there is none other so full of mean ing as the nag of this country. That piece of red, white and blue bunting means five thousand years of struggle upward . It is the full -grown 1lower of ages of fighting [or lib­erty. It is the century pla nt of human hope in bloom.

Your flag stands for humanit y, for a n equal opportunIty to all the ·sons of men . Of course we haven't arrived yet at that goal , there arc many inj ustices :yet a mong us, many senseless an d cruel customs of the past still clinging to us, but the only hope of righting the vvTo ngs of men lies in the fpeJing produced in our bosoms by the s ight of tha t 11ag.

Other ftags mean a glorious past, this fla g a g loriou s f ut ure. It is not so much the fla g of Qur fathers a s it is the fl ag o[ our children, ancl of all child ren 's children ye t unborn. It is the flag of tomorrow. It is the signal of the " Good Time Comi ng ." It is not the flag of your king~it is the flag o f yourseJ[ and of a ll your neigh bors .

Don't be ashamed when your throat chokes an d the tear s come, a s you see it flying from the masts of our ships on all the seas or floating from every fl agsta ff of the Republic. You will never have a wor t hier emotion . Reverence it as you would reverence t he signature of the Deity.

Listen , son! The band is playing the national anthem-"The Star-Spangled Banner! " They have let loose Old Glory yonder. Stand up- and others will s ta nd with you .

T his tribute to the flag is o[[er ed to the country in a ppeal to a ll m en and women of all races , colors a nd tongues, thai they m ay come to understand that our fta g is the symbol of liberty and learn to love it.

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HISTORY OF THE FlAG The United States Flag is the third oldest of the N ational Standards of the world; older

than t he Union Jack of B r itain ur the Tricolor of France.

The flag was ftrst authorized by Congress June 14, 1777. This date is. now observed as Flag Day throughout America.

The fla g was tirst flown from Fort Stanwix, on t he site of the presen t city of Rome, New York, on August 3, 1777. It was ftrst under flre three days la ter In the Battle of Oriskany, August 6, 1777.

It was first decreed that there should be a star and a stripe for each sta te, making thirteen of both; for the sta tes at that time had just been erected from the original thirteen co lonies.

The colors of the Flag may be thus explained: The red is for valor, zeal and fervency; the white for hope, purity, cleanliness of life, and rectitude of conduct; the blue, the color of heaven, for reverence to God, loyal ty, Sincerity, justice and truth.

The star (an ancient symbol of India, Persia and J;;gypt) symbo!!zes dominion and sovereignty, as well as lofty aspirations. The constellation of the stars within the union, one star for each s t ate, is emblematic of our Federal Consti tution. which reserves to the States their individ ual sovereignty except as to rights delegated by them to the Federal Government.

The symboli sm of the Flag was thus in terpreted by Washington; "\Ve t a ke the stars [rom Heaven, the red from our mother country, separating it by white stripes, thus showIng that we ha\ie separated from her, and t he wh ite stripes shall go down to pos terity represent-109 Li berty. "

In 1791 , Vermont, and in 1792, Kentucky were admitted to the Union and the n umber of stars and strjpes w as raised to fift een in correspondence. As other states came into the Union it became eviden t there would be too m a ny stripes. So in 1818 Congress enacted that the number of stripes be reduced and restricte'd henceforth to thirteen, representin g the thirteen original states; while a star should be added for each succeeding state. That law is the law of today.

The name " Old Glory" was given to out National Flag August 10, 1831, by Captain William Driver of the brig Charles Doggett:

The fiag was flrst carried in battle at the Brandywine, Sep tember ·11, 1777. It flrst flew over foreign terr itory January 28, 1778, at Nassau, Bahama Islands; Fort Nassau having been captured by the Americans in the course of the war for independen ce. The ftrst fore ign salute to the flag was rendered by the French admiral LaMotte Piquet, off Quiberon Bay, February 13, 1778.

The United Sta tes F lag is unique in the deep and noble significance of its message to the entire world, a mess age of national independence, of indiVidual liberty, of idealism, of pa tr iotism.

It sYlnbolizes national independence and popular sovereignty. It is not the Flag of a reigning family or royal house, but of 205 million free people welded into a Nation, one and inscprd'ab le , unIted not unly hy com mun ity of interest, but by \·ital unIty of senti­ment and purpose; a Nation dis ti ngu ished for the clear individual conception of its citizens alike of their duti es and their privileges, their obligations and their r ights.

It inca r nates for a ll manldnd the spir it of Liberty and the glorious ideal of human Freedom ; not the f recdom of unres traint or the liberty of license, but a~ uniqu e ideal of equal upportunity fo r li fe , liberty a nd t he pursui t of happiness, safeguarded by the stern and lofty principl es o( d uty, of righteousness an d of justice, and a ttaina bl e by obedience to self-imposed laws.

F loating from the lofty pinnacle of American idealism, it is a beacon of enduring hope , like the famous Bartholdi Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World t o the oppressed of all lands. It fl oats over a wondrous a ssem bla ge o[ people [rom every racial stock of the earth whose united hearts constitu te an indivisible and invincible forc e for the defense and succor of the downtrodden.

It embodies the essence of pa triotism. Its spirit is the spirit of the American nation . Its history is the hi story of the American people . Emblazoned upon its fold s in letters of living light are the names and [a me of our heroic dead, the Fathers of the Republic who devoted upon its a ltars their Jives, their fortunes an d thei r sac red honor. Twice told tales of National honor and glory cluster thickly about it. E\'er victorious, it has emerged trium­phant from eight great National confticts . It flew at Saratoga, at Yorktown, at Palo Alto, a t Gettysburg, at Mani la Bay, a t Cha teau-Thi erry, at 1\\'0 Jima. It bears witness to the im ­mense expansion of our n ation al boundancs, the' devel op ment o[ our natura l resources, and the splendid structure of our civilization , It prophesies the tr iumph of popul a r government, of' ci vic and religious libe r ty and of n ational righteousness throughout the world.

The ftag first rose over thirteen states along the Atlantic seaboard, w ith a population o( some t hrc.., million people. Today it !lies over fi fty states, extending across the cont inent, and over great island s of the two oceans; and t\\'O hundred and five m illi ons o\ ..... e it a l­legiance. It has been brought to this proud position by love and sacrifice. Citizens have advanced it and heroes have d ied [or it. It is the sign made visible o( th e strong spirit t hat ha s brought liberty and prosperity to the people o[ America. It is the flag of all o f us alike . Let us accord it honor and loyal ty .

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