I walked through a country court house square On a park bench an old man was sitting there I said, "Your court house is kinda run down" He said, "Naw, it'll do for our little town" I said, "Your flag pole has a leaned a little bit And that's a Ragged Old Flag you got hanging on it" He said, "Have a seat" and I sat down "Is this the first time you've been in 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 watchin' it writing 'Say Can You See' And it got a bad rip in New Orleans With Packinham and Jackson tuggin' at its seams And it almost fell at the Alamo Beside the Texas flag but she waved on through She got cut with a sword at Chancellorsville And she got cut again at Shiloh Hill There was Robert E. Lee, 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 by the time it was through She was in Korea and Vietnam She went where she was sent by her Uncle Sam Native Americans, brown, yellow and white All shed red blood for the Stars and Stripes In her own good land here she's been abused She's been burned, dishonored, denied and refused And the government for which she stands Has been scandalized throughout the land And she's getting threadbare and wearing 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, take her down every night We don't let her touch the ground and fold her up right On second thought I do like to brag Cause I'm mighty proud of that Ragged Old Flag."