You're A Grand Old Flag: A Song History

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George M. Cohan wrote both words and music for this song and introduced it in his musical George Washington, Jr., which opened at New York's Herald Square Theatre in 1906.[1][2] According to Cohan's own later account, the idea came from a chance encounter with a Civil War veteran of Gettysburg who was holding a worn old flag.[1][3] The song began life as "You're a Grand Old Rag," and the Broadway database still lists it in the show's score as "The Grand Old Rag."[1][2]

Interior of a veterans' meeting hall decorated with American flags and framed portraits

Major Howe G.A.R. Post #47, Haverhill, Massachusetts, photographic postcard, between 1906 and 1915. Liljenquist Family Collection, Library of Congress. No known restrictions on publication. A Civil War veterans' hall hung with flags, from about the time the song appeared; it has no direct connection to Cohan.

Complaints that the word "rag" was disrespectful followed, and Cohan quickly renamed the song "You're a Grand Old Flag."[1][4] Billy Murray recorded it in 1906 for both Columbia and Victor with "rag" still in the title, and the Discography of American Historical Recordings notes that he sings "rag" on the Victor disc.[4][5] A Victor catalog of May 1907 still printed the old title but added a note that the song was now called "flag."[6] According to the Library of Congress, no earlier song from a musical had sold over a million copies of sheet music.[1]

The original Broadway run of George Washington, Jr. lasted 81 performances, and in 2002 the Songwriters Hall of Fame gave the song its Towering Song award.[2][3] In 1936 Congress approved a gold medal for Cohan honoring his patriotic songs, this one among them, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt presented it to him in 1940.[7][8]

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Sources

  1. Library of Congress, Patriotic Melodies: "You're a Grand Old Flag".
  2. Internet Broadway Database: "George Washington, Jr.".
  3. Songwriters Hall of Fame: "You're A Grand Old Flag".
  4. Discography of American Historical Recordings: "Columbia matrix 3388. You're a grand old rag / Billy Murray".
  5. Discography of American Historical Recordings: "Victor matrix E-3086. The grand old rag / Billy Murray".
  6. Discography of American Historical Recordings: "Victor matrix A-3086. The grand old rag / Billy Murray".
  7. U.S. House of Representatives, History, Art & Archives: "Congressional Gold Medal Recipients".
  8. Library of Congress, NLS Music Notes: "George M!".