Guidelines for Conducting Flag Ceremonies, Days Two through Six Preparations
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- The SERAPIS Flag
- The Star-Spangled Banner
America the BeautifulO beautiful for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain, For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain! America! America! God shed his grace on thee And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea!
Day 2The SERAPIS FlagD In 1779, after conducting sea raids on the coast of Britain, Jones took command of a rebuilt French merchant ship that had been renamed the U.S.S. Bonhomme Richard in honor of Benjamin Franklin. In September of that same year, Jones engaged the British frigate Serapis in the North Sea, sailing in close, lashing his vessel to the British ship, and fighting the battle at point-blank range. During the fight, two cannon burst on the Bonhomme Richard. The British captain asked Jones if he was ready to surrender. Jones replied, “Sir, I have not yet begun to fight!” Eventually it was the crew of the Serapis that surrendered, though the Bonhomme Richard was severely damaged. The Americans sailors boarded the Serapis and watched from the decks as the Bonhomme Richard sank beneath the waves. (Note: this flag is NOT saluted) Let us honor this flag with a song that also honors America: Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean O, Columbia, the gem of the ocean, The home of the brave and the free, The shrine of each patriot's devotion, A world offers homage to thee. Thy mandates make heroes assemble, When Liberty's form stands in view; Thy banners make tyranny tremble, When borne by the Red, White and Blue! When borne by the Red, White and Blue! When borne by the Red, White and Blue! Thy banners make tyranny tremble, When borne by the Red, White and Blue! Historic American Flag Presentation Day 3The Star-Spangled BannerB  y 1795, Vermont and Kentucky had joined the Union, bringing the number of states to 15. The new flag, featuring 15 stars and 15 stripes, flew over the nation for the next 23 years and the administrations of five presidents. It was this flag that flew over Fort McHenry that memorable night of its bombardment by the British in 1814, inspiring Francis Scott Key to write the verses of our national anthem.
The actual flag that flew over Fort McHenry that night is now preserved in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. (Note: The Star-Spangle banner was a Flag of our nation and is therefore saluted when raised)
The Star-Spangled BannerO say, can you see, by the dawn’s early light? What so proudly we hail’d at the twilight’s last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro’ the perilous fight, O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantry streaming? And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof thro’ the night that our flag was still there! O say, does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
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esigned with 13 stripes alternating red, white, and blue, this flag was raised by Capt. John Paul Jones on the British frigate Serapis during the most famous navel battle of the Revolutionary War.