You're a Grand Old Flag

"You're a Grand Old Flag"
Cover of 1906 sheet music for "You're a Grand Old Flag".
Song
Published	1906 (1906)
Genre	Patriotic, American march
Composer	George M. Cohan
"You're a Grand Old Flag", as performed by a United States Army band.

"You're a Grand Old Flag" is an American patriotic march. The song, a spirited march written by George M. Cohan, is a tribute to the American flag. In addition to obvious references to the flag, it incorporates snippets of other popular songs, including one of his own. Cohan wrote it in 1906 for George Washington, Jr., his stage musical.^[1]

History

The song was first publicly performed on February 6, the play's opening night, at Herald Square Theater in New York City. "You're a Grand Old Flag" quickly became the first song from a musical to sell over a million copies of sheet music.^[1] The title and first lyric comes from someone Cohan once met; the Library of Congress website notes:

The original lyric for this perennial George M. Cohan favorite came, as Cohan later explained, from an encounter he had with a Civil War veteran who fought at Gettysburg. The two men found themselves next to each other and Cohan noticed the vet held a carefully folded but ragged old flag. The man reportedly then turned to Cohan and said, "She's a grand old rag." Cohan thought it was a great line and originally named his tune "You're a Grand Old Rag." So many groups and individuals objected to calling the flag a "rag," however, that he "gave 'em what they wanted" and switched words, renaming the song "You're a Grand Old Flag".^[1]

— Library of Congress

In the play itself, the scene with the Civil War soldier was replicated. The soldier's comment was the lead-in to this song. Thus the first version of the chorus began, "You're a grand old rag / You're a high-flying flag". Despite Cohan's efforts to pull that version, some artists such as Billy Murray had recorded it under its original title, "The Grand Old Rag", in advance of the play's opening, and copies under that title still circulate among collectors. Cohan's second attempt at writing the chorus began, "You're a grand old flag / Though you're torn to a rag". The final version, with its redundant rhyme, is as shown below.

Lyrics

Chorus

You're a grand old flag,

You're a high-flying flag,

And forever in peace may you wave.

You're the emblem of the land I love,

The home of the free and the brave.

Ev'ry heart beats true

'Neath the Red, White and Blue,^{[N 4]}

Where there's never a boast or brag.

But should auld acquaintance be forgot,^{[N 5]}

Keep your eye on the grand old flag.

In popular culture

• "You're a Grand Old Flag" was used in a major production number in Cohan's 1942 film biography, Yankee Doodle Dandy.
• Recordings by Pride of the 48 and Catalina Strings, were used in the film Born on the Fourth of July.
• The tune of "You're a Grand Old Flag" formed the basis of the club song of the Melbourne Football Club.^[2]
• In the 1986 Kidsongs video "Sing Out, America", the barbershop quartet sang the first part of "You're a Grand Old Flag" and then the Kidsongs Kids sang the second part.
• Billy Murray's rendition of "You're a Grand Old Flag" is featured in the 2013 video game BioShock Infinite.
• The tune "You're a Grand Old Flag" is used as the school song for Big Lake High School in Big Lake, MN.
• In an episode of the Nicktoon Fanboy and Chum Chum, a song called "It's a Grand Old Candy" was sung to the tune of "You're a Grand Old Flag."

See also

• "The Stars and Stripes Forever"

References

Notes

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to George M. Cohan You're A Grand Old Flag.

• 1906 sheet music from the Library of Congress
• 1906 sheet music available at Wikimedia Commons
• Billy Murray solo recording (as "The Grand Old Rag")
• Billy Murray and the American Quartet (as "You're a Grand Old Flag")