Epigraph
“It’s only a small bit of bunting,
It’s only an old coloured rag,
Yet thousands have died for its honour
And shed their best blood for the flag.
“It’s charged with the cross of St. Andrew,
Which, of old, Scotland’s heroes has led;
It carries the cross of St. Patrick,
For which Ireland’s bravest have bled.
“Joined with these is our old English ensign,
St. George’s red cross on white field,
Round which, from King Richard to Wolseley,
Britons conquer or die, but ne’er yield.
“It flutters triumphant o’er ocean,
As free as the winds and the waves;
And bondsmen from shackles unloosened
’Neath its shadows no longer are slaves.
“It floats over Cypress and Malta,
O’er Canada, the Indies, Hong Kong;
And Britons, where’er their flag’s flying,
Claim the rights which to Britons belong.
“We hoist it to show our devotion
To our Queen, to our country, and laws;
It’s the outward and visible emblem
Of advancement and Liberty’s cause.
“You may say it’s an old bit of bunting,
You may call it an old coloured rag;
But Freedom has made it majestic,
And time has ennobled the flag.”
—“St. George.”