There is a soft hush as we face the flag. The speaker crackles as the pledge is spoken. No one says a word as the flag hangs there, it’s red and white stripes waving slightly. 

I stare at the flag. I watch as the sense of pride comes rushing into my body. I still keep my silence though because that is what’s respectable. I’m proud to be a part of this country, to soon serve it and this flag.

The flag has gone through everything; it’s been pristine and it has been tattered. It’s been through school and it has been through war. Noisy, gorey battles surround the flag, the quick but loudness of the guns firing underneath it. The suddenness of the bodies falling around it, both those of the enemy and our own men.

Those men who died fought for that flag. For this country that has the flag of red, white, and blue. It stands proud honoring those fallen men; it will remember them long after we have forgotten them. It will never forget their deeds and what they did for our country. 

That flag stands for the strength of the country; it represents the pride we’ll never express.

No matter what, the flag will never judge us.

When I look at the flag, I feel a sense of pride and joy, and an overwhelming sense of determination like I could take on anything.