The Flag Was Still There

3 minute read

Standing firm against a backdrop of Utah’s magnificent summer skies is a stadium holding thousands of energetic fans. A warm breeze cools the neck of athletes ready to play in the first of a series of baseball games. Salty popcorn and sweet churros offer a complimentary need for a gulp of cold soda. The crowd’s rumbling shifts momentarily as a single performer approaches the mound. Unlike the athletes who will compete in America’s pastime, this artist needs only four minutes to share a uniting victory with the entire crowd.

“O say can you see by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming,”

Francis Scott Key penned these famous lyrics during the war of 1812. As an attorney he raised a truce flag and gained entrance to Britain’s flagship vessel in order to negotiate a release of his friend who had recently been imprisoned for aiding the arrest of British soldiers. While Key’s desires were met and his friend was set free, he had also gained knowledge of Britain’s impending attack on Fort McHenry in Baltimore. He was detained to prevent the ambush from becoming known. He spent the night of September 13th helplessly watching the attack from eight miles away, onboard the enemies’ ship.

“Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?”

In the darkened night great storms of artillery lit up the sky. For more than 25 hours masses of ammunition attempted to shred apart the Union’s strong hold. “It seemed as though mother earth had opened and was vomiting shot and shell in a sheet of fire and brimstone,” Key later wrote. And yet throughout the tumultuous battle the hand stitched American flag, lovingly crafted by 29 year old seamstress Mary Young Pickersgill, at the request of Major George Armistead, who wanted to boldly declare United State’s possession of this key battleground, stood stalwartly as morning’s glorious rays shone upon the American Fort McHenry.

“And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
“Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;”

At Advanced Window Product we proudly represent the American dream. The courage and determination that took place along the shores of the great Atlantic Ocean so many years ago give life and liberty to the hundreds of millions of Americans who enjoy freedom and opportunity today.  This 4th of July holiday we hope that you take opportunity to hug your family a little bit tighter, and open your eyes a little bit wider to the great and abundant blessings we have living in the United States of America, as we continue to proudly wave our stars and stripes of the red, white and blue.

“O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?”