I walked through a county courthouse square

On a park bench an old man was sittin' there

I said "Your old court house is

Kinda run down

He said "Naw it'll do for our little town"

I said "Your old flag pole is leaned a little bit

And that's a ragged old flag

You got hangin' 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

"You see we got a little hole in that flag there

When Washington took it across the Delaware

And It got powder burned the night Francis

Scott Key sat watching it

Writing "Say Can You See"

It got a bad rip in New Orleans

With Packingham Jackson

Tugging at its seams

And It almost fell at the Alamo

Beside the Texas flag

But she waved on though

She got cut with a sword at Chancellorsville

And she got cut again at Shiloh Hill

There was Robert E Lee

And Beauregard and Bragg

And the south wind blew hard on

That Ragged Old Flag

"On Flanders Field in World War I

She got a big hole from a Bertha Gun

She turned blood red in World War II

She hung limp and low a time or two

She was in Korea Vietnam

She went where she was sent

By her Uncle Sam

She waved from our ships upon the briny foam

And now they've about quit

Wavin' back here at home

In her own good land here She's been abused

She's been burned dishonored

Denied an' refused

And the government for which she stands

Has scandalized throughout out the land

And she's getting thread bare

And she's wearin' 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

"So we raise her up every morning

And we take her down every night

We don't let her touch ground the

And we fold her up right

On second thought

I do like to brag

Cause I'm mighty proud of

That Ragged Old Flag"

Ragged Old Flag - Johnny Cash