Flag of the South! Flag of the free!
Thy stars shall cheer each eye,
Thy folds a sacred banner be,
To all beneath our sky;
From where the blue Ohio flows,
Far to the sea-gulf's stream,
Borne by each gentle breath that blows,
Thy hues shall flush and gleam.
Flag of the South! Flag of the free!
Type of a new estate,
Thy folds shall wave o'er land and sea,
And heart and home elate;
At thy approach shall tyrants quail
And despots, trembling, flee;
Nor wrong thy sway of right assail--
Nought mar thy liberty.
Flag of the South! Flag of the free!
Bright symbol of a land
Wrung from the grasp of tyranny,
Ere fettered heart and hand;
Freedom fixed in thy firm embrace,
A home for age shall find,
Linking the high hopes of our race
With the grand march of mind.
Flag of the South! Flag of the free!
The one to which we clung
In years agone, hath ceased to be
The pride on which we hung;
Long trampled in the dust, that flag
Hath lost the charm it bore;
No longer vale, and glen, and crag,
Swell with its praise of yore.
Flag of the South! Flag of the free!
Type of the Land of Flowers;
Thy stars shall light our victory
O'er all contending powers;
Where law and order still shall reign,
Thou shalt a signal be
To man, that he may still attain
The boon of Liberty!