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THE MEANING OF THE AMERICAN FLAG 
The American fla^ means all that llie fathers in the Revii- 
lutionar\- War meant ; it means all that the Declaration of 
Independence meant ; it means all that the Constitution of a 
people, organizing for justice, fur lihert_v, and for hapiiiness, 
meant. 
The American flag carries American ideas, American his- 
tor3^ and American feelings. 
Beginning with the colonies and coming down to our times, 
in its sacred heraldry, in its glorious insignia, it has gathered 
and stored chiefly this supreme idea: DIVINE RIGHT OF 
LIBERTY IN MAN. 
Evci'v color means lihciiy, ci'cry llircad means liberty, 
every form of slar and beam of lii^lit means liberty — liberty 
throui^^h la-L^'. and hnvs for liberty. Accept it, then, in all its 
fullest meaning. It is not a painted rag. It is a whole national 
history. It is the Constitution. It is the Goyernment. It is 
the emblem of the sovereignty of the people. It is the Nation. 
— Henry Ward Beeclier. 
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