Keep the Flag Flying
A Poem to a Glorious Flag

Our flag bears the stars that blaze at night
In our southern sky of blue
And that little old flag in the corner
That's part of our heritage too.

It's for the English, the Scots and the Irish
Who were sent to the end of the earth,
The rogues and the schemers and the dreamers
Who gave our Australia its birth.

And you who are shouting to change it
You don't seem to understand,
It's the flag of our laws and language
Not the flag of a faraway land.

There are plenty of people who'll tell you
How when Europe was plunged into night,
The little old flag in the corner
Was their symbol of freedom and light.

It don't mean we owe our allegiance
To a forgotten imperial dream,
We've the stars to show where we are going
And the old flag to show where we've been.

It's only an old piece of bunting
It's only an old coloured rag,
But there are thousands who died for its honour
And fell in defence of our flag.

And what of the Yanks and the Kiwis?
The Asians the Lebs and the Serbs,
It's homeland to thousands of children
Who can't understand those negative blurbs.

We give that old flag a special honour
And it gives us an unusual thrill,
For it means the whole world to us who live here,
It does now—and forever—always will.

Authorship attributed to
E. Bennet Latham
Robin Northover

Visit: www.australianflag.biz/history.htm

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