The Ragged Old Flag
The path toward effectively preserving our country is to first believe that the flag, that our country, that we can take a whole lot more.
It’s become a late September tradition for my family and I to attend the “last chance rodeo” at the Living Essentials farm in Mona, UT. For those who’ve attended rodeos in the American West, you’ll know that not only are these events a celebration of the unique talents of the cowboy way of life, they are also deeply patriotic celebrations in a, perhaps unique these days, non-superficial way.
You see, rodeos are one of the few venues of entertainment in America today that showcase a love and abiding gratitude for a wonderful nation without being wrapped up in political or partisan virtue signaling. They are gatherings of ordinary Americans, most of whom would never dream of starting a Twitter/X account, let alone discussing politics through such a medium.
These kinds of events are balms to my soul. It is so easy to get worn down by the constant catastrophizing of the concerns and issues of the day by those who are far more politically involved than the average American. Real America, to paraphrase Gandalf, is not on our screens or in our apps. It’s out there.
This wonderfully run rodeo unwittingly punctuates this point every year by playing Johnny Cash’s classic ballad, The Ragged Old Flag. I cannot fully express the powerful juxtaposition this experience offers to the existential dread so many are facing today.
Imagine sitting in a full-to-capacity stadium. A lone rider rides into the arena with an American flag, and the crowd rises together unprompted to honor the flag. As the rider slowly rides around the arena, Johnny Cash's raspy and rich voice starts to echo across the stands.
“I walked through a county courthouse square
On a park bench an old man was sitting there
I said, your old courthouse is kinda run down
He said, naw, it'll do for our little town
I said, your old flagpole has leaned a little bit
And that's a ragged old flag you got hanging on it
He said, have a seat, and I sat down
Is this the first time you've been to our little town?
I said, I think it is
He said, I don't like to brag
But we're kinda proud of that ragged old flag.”
Johnny Cash precedes to offer the story of the “ragged old flag,” which becomes a symbol of every American flag, and of America itself. It’s not a sunshine and daisies story. From the Revolutionary War, to 1812, on through the Civil War, and to the bloody wars of the 20th century, Cash informs us that the ragged old flag has seen a lot of abuse, has even almost fallen. She’d been shot at, powdered-burned, cut up, bloodied, and had “hung limp and low a time or two.”
I saw a lot of sadness in the crowd’s eyes as Cash got closer to our own time and told us that:
“In her own good land here she's been abused
She's been burned, dishonored, denied, and refused
And the government for which she stands
Is scandalized throughout the land.”
But an incredible change took place in the crowd as Johnny Cash reached his culminating verse. The eyes around me shed their sorrow. The air grew thick with a completely different kind of spirit, something that almost never finds its way into the swamps of social media or from the lips of the petty demagogues duking it out for political power. Hope.
“She's getting threadbare and wearing thin
But she's in good shape for the shape she's in
'Cause she's been through the fire before
And I believe she can take a whole lot more.”
It’s so easy, as we marinate in contemporary fears, to think we have it worse than anyone before has had. It’s so easy to succumb to the temptation of believing that our time, our crises, are what can bring America down. When all we feed is the negativity, the anxiety, the existential dread, we cloud up our vision and make it impossible to see the dawn.
Yes, we do live in an unprecedented time. And there are many uncertainties with how the next few months play out, with how this momentous election will impact the future, near and far, of our great republic. And there is much work to be done to ensure we “preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth.”
But as we go about the work of preserving our country, each in our own way and according to the dictates of conscience, let us all take time to remember the ragged old flag. Remember what it has been through, remember that through the darkest moments of history, it has flown on and it will fly on still. Have faith that a year from now, four years from now, a decade from now, the ragged old flag will continue to fly on. Because the path toward effectively preserving our country is to first believe that the flag, that our country, that we can take a whole lot more.
Justin Stapley is a graduate student at Utah Valley University, studying constitutional governance, civics, and law. He is the founding and executive director of the Freemen Foundation, editor-in-chief of the Freemen News-Letter, and the state director for the Utah Reagan Caucus. @JustinWStapley