By the Dawn’s Early Light 

Sunrise, September 14, marks the anniversary of the penning of those famous words by Francis Scott Key at Fort McHenry during the war of 1812: “Oh say, can you see by the dawn’s early light . . .”

Much has been said and done regarding our flag – our “star-spangled banner.”  It has been honored and desecrated, praised and rejected, lifted high and trampled low.  

I have heard the notes of the national anthem drifting across the breeze on a beautiful sunny afternoon at a racetrack in Charlotte, N.C., with the flag unfurled and every fan on their feet, every hand or hat over a heart, and voices raised.  And I have heard those same notes, falling upon my ear across the gridiron of a football field while professional athletes take a knee rather than stand in proper respect.

I have seen our flag, wet with the tears of orphans and widows, pressed into the hands of a woman and child, whose understanding of the price of freedom has reached the apex, as the remains of their Marine were lowered into a final resting place.  And I have seen that same flag, thrown to the ground, trampled underfoot, and burned by protesters seeking to make some ideological or political point. 

I struggle to understand how any American, regardless of his/her political bent or personal beliefs, can fail to have anything but respect and reverence for our flag and what it has stood for through the years – however imperfectly communicated or executed. Countless men and women have died under its shadow; some of them I have been privileged to call “friend”.  I myself have been honored to serve this great country, following that flag to the far-flung corners of the globe, and have been privileged to serve with some modern-day heroes who have, under this banner, sacrificed their lives on the altar of freedom.

How can one explain this dichotomy in response?  I do not presume to have all of the answers, but I believe it must be, at least in part, a lack of understanding and appreciation for what our flag stands for.  It does not stand for perfection of the past, present, or the future…but for values and beliefs that bring Americans together and provide the freedom and ability to continue striving for that perfection.  President Woodrow Wilson had a wonderful perspective on this.

 “This flag, which we honor and under which we serve, is the emblem of our unity, our power, our thought and purpose as a nation.  It has no other character than that which we give it from generation to generation.  The choices are ours.  It floats in majestic silence above the hosts that execute those choices, whether in peace or in war.  And yet, though silent, it speaks to us – speaks to us of the past, of the men and women who went before us, and of the records they wrote upon it . . . From its birth until now it has witnessed a great history, has floated on high the symbol of great events, of a great plan of life worked out by a great people.”

A thoughtful reader cannot escape these probing questions:  “If the flag has no other character beyond that which we give it from generation to generation, what character has MY generation bestowed upon that flag?  What does it mean now because of me and my actions or inactions?  Does it still represent unity and power?  Or have I and my generation failed to preserve that meaning?”

Henry Ward Beecher felt strongly on the subject, and beautifully articulated that great plan of life, worked out by Americans across the years:

“If one asks the meaning of our flag, I say it means just what Concord and Lexington meant, what Bunker Hill meant. It means the whole glorious Revolutionary War.  It means all that the Declaration of Independence meant.  It means all that the Constitution of our people, organizing for justice, for liberty, and for happiness meant.  Under this banner rode Washington and his armies . . . It waved on the highlands at West Point . . . This banner streamed in light over the soldiers’ heads at Valley Forge . . . It crossed the waters rolling with ice at Trenton . . . Our flag carries American ideas, American history, and American feelings.  Beginning with the colonies, and coming down to our time, in its sacred heraldry, in its glorious insignia, it has gathered and stored chiefly this supreme idea: Divine right of liberty in man.  Every color means liberty.  Every thread means liberty.  Every form of star and beam or stripe of light means liberty.  Not lawlessness, not license, but organized, institutional liberty – liberty through law, and laws for liberty.  This American flag was the safeguard of liberty. Not an atom of crown was allowed to go into its insignia.  Not a symbol of authority in the ruler was permitted to go into it.  It was an ordinance of liberty by the people, for the people.  That it meant, that it means, and, by the blessing of God, that it shall mean to the end of time.”

So, despite the current trend of political correctness to discourage it, and no matter who may be offended, I will stand for our National Anthem, I will salute our flag, and these words will always be on the tip of my tongue and within my heart:

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.

While I can certainly understand both past and present frustrations with the state of our nation, I still maintain that anger or disrespect toward the flag is misplaced.  The “Republic for which it stands” is not always the Republic that exists in the present . . . but that is not the flag’s fault.  That flag represents what should be . . . the most noble ideals of humanity, as set forth in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.  We have often failed to uphold those ideals, but that is the fault of imperfect (and sometimes evil) men, not the flag or the ideals it represents.  

We can choose to build their lives around hating something or loving something.  I choose the latter, especially when it comes to my country and my flag.  An article in “The American Mind” aptly stated that “No country can survive on a diet of endless self-loathing.”  To that point, it has also been said that “you will never defend what you do not love; and you can never keep what you will not defend.”

I stand with Justice Clarence Thomas, in his words to the audience at Notre Dame in September of 2021.  He recognized that those ideals set forth at our founding have “weathered every storm for 245 years.  [They] birthed a nation.  [They] abolished slavery . . . While we have failed [those ideals] time and again, I know of time when the ideals have failed us.”

So rather than pick at the scabs of old wounds and looking for something to hate, I choose to love my country, respect its flag, and remain committed to the ideals of the “Republic for which it stands,” ever striving to more perfectly live up to the principles set forth in our Declaration of Independence and the Constitution that I have sworn to support and defend.  And I invite any and all who will to join me there.