“The flag of our stately battles, not struggles of wrath and greed,
Its stripes were a holy lesson, its spangles a deathless creed:
'T was red with the blood of freemen and white with the fear of the foe;
And the stars that fight in their courses 'gainst tyrants its symbols know.”

— Julia Ward Howe

"The Flag" in The Atlantic Monthly (April 1863).

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Julia Ward Howe 40

American abolitionist, social activist, and poet 1819–1910

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“When Freedom from her mountain-heights
Unfurled her standard to the air,
She tore the azure robe of night,
And set the stars of glory there.
She mingled with its gorgeous dyes
The milky baldric of the skies,
And striped its pure, celestial white
With streakings of the morning light.

Flag of the free, heart’s hope and home!
By angel hands to valour given!
Thy stars have lit the welkin dome,
And all thy hues were born in heaven.
Forever float that standard sheet!
Where breathes the foe, but falls before us,
With Freedom’s soil beneath our feet,
And Freedom’s banner streaming over us?”

Joseph Rodman Drake (1795–1820) Early American poet

"The American Flag", in The Culprit Fay and Other Poems (1835), published posthumously by Drake's daughter.

“Hell will freeze over before any other flags fly in Gibraltar that are not our flags. Red, white and blue. Red, white and proud. Red, white and free!”

Fabian Picardo (1972) Gibraltarian politician and barrister

[11 September 2013, We will never concede one drop of our waters to Spain, pledged Picardo on Gibraltar Day, http://en.mercopress.com/2013/09/11/we-will-never-concede-one-drop-of-our-waters-to-spain-pledged-picardo-on-gibraltar-day, MercoPress, 22 March 2014]
Speech to crowds in Casemates Square on Gibraltar National Day 2015.
2013

“Flags are symbols. Words are symbols. Steeples are symbols. Red lights in front of cathouses are symbols. The world don’t know it, but the world lives by symbols, some good, some as bad as flags.”

Jack Cady (1932–2004) American writer

Source: Kilroy Was Here (1996), p. 152

“Actually, if you could see close in my eyes, the American flag is waving in both of them and up my spine is growing this red, white and blue stripe.”

Walt Disney (1901–1966) American film producer and businessman

The Quotable Walt Disney (2001)

“Then, after the storms of battle, were heard the calm words of peace spoken by the conquering nation, saying to the foe that lay prostrate at its feet: "This is our only revenge — that you join us in lifting into the serene firmament of the Constitution, to shine like stars for ever and ever, the immortal principles of truth and justice: that all men, white or black, shall be free, and shall stand equal before the law."”

James A. Garfield (1831–1881) American politician, 20th President of the United States (in office in 1881)

1880s, Speech Nominating John Sherman for President (1880)

“It was sad music. But it waved its sadness like a battle flag. It said the universe had done all it could, but you were still alive.”

Terry Pratchett book Soul Music

Source: Soul Music

“I think it's time for all this discussion about the proper display of the Confederate flag, which in some quarters appears to obscure the enormity of the massacre at Charleston, to get to the heart of the matter. You tell me. Should the Confederate battle flag, including its versions as the Army of Northern Virginia flag, the Army of Tennessee flag, and the Confederate navy jack, be flown outside, period? Do you favor the removal of the Confederate flag flying on the grounds of the South Carolina State House? Why? If you believe that the flying of the Confederate battle flag on the grounds of the South Carolina State House should cease, are there any conditions when a Confederate battle flag should appear outside? Should the Confederate battle flag be banned from public display elsewhere? T-shirts, bumper stickers, headgear? Are your restrictions limited to the Confederate battle flag alone, or do they extend to other flags flown by the Confederacy, such as the trio of national flags?”

Brooks D. Simpson (1957) American historian

Brooks D. Simpson. "Simple Questions" https://cwcrossroads.wordpress.com/2015/06/21/simple-questions/ (21 June 2015), Crossroads, WordPress
2010s

“China believes it is the center of the universe. Look at its flag: one big star surrounded by satellite stars. Arrogant!”

Nguyen Khanh (1927–2013) South Vietnamese soldier

2000s, A Bag of Earth, A Promise To Keep (2005)

“I saw that the State was half-witted, that it was timid as a lone woman with her silver spoons, and that it did not know its friends from its foes, and I lost all my remaining respect for it, and pitied it.”

Henry David Thoreau book Civil Disobedience

Civil Disobedience (1849)

“Rally round the flag, boys—
Give it to the breeze!
That's the banner that we bore
On the land and seas.
Brave hearts are under it,
Let the traitors brag,
Gallant lads, fire away!
And fight for the flag.
Their flag is but a rag—
Ours is the true one;
Up with the Stars and Stripes!
with the new one!
Let our colors fly, boys—
Guard them day and night;
For victory is liberty,
And God will bless the right.”

James Thomas Fields (1817–1881) American writer and publisher

"The Stars and Stripes"; reported in Florence Adams and Elizabeth McCarrick, Highdays & Holidays (1927), pp. 182–83.

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