{"id":284,"date":"2013-07-18T10:20:35","date_gmt":"2013-07-18T14:20:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/?p=284"},"modified":"2024-06-17T14:40:42","modified_gmt":"2024-06-17T18:40:42","slug":"waving-a-grand-old-rag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/waving-a-grand-old-rag\/","title":{"rendered":"Waving \u2018A Grand Old Rag\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"George<\/a>
George M. Cohan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By James Breig<\/a><\/p>\n

Every Fourth of July, Turner Classic Movies broadcasts \u201cYankee Doodle Dandy,\u201d the 1942 movie about the life of singer-songwriter-playwright-dancer George M. Cohan. It does so because Cohan, played by James Cagney, penned not only the title tune but also \u201cIt\u2019s a Grand Old Flag\u201d and other patriotic anthems.<\/p>\n

Cohan was renowned for the many flag-bedecked musicals he wrote and starred in on Broadway in the early 20th<\/sup> century. An obituary about him in The New York Times called Cohan \u201cthe original Yankee Doodle boy — born on the Fourth of July.\u201d Indeed, he was.<\/p>\n

\"Sheet<\/a>\u00a0The obit continued: \u201cWaving the American flag<\/a> as a sure-fire finale to bring down the house with applause was established\u2026in Cohan shows\u2026.He wrote the stirring march, \u2018Over There!\u2019 — the most inspirational and popular American patriotic song of the period. For this and for another patriotic piece, \u2018You\u2019re A Grand Old Flag,\u2019\u2026he received a gold medal under a special act of Congress\u2026. The medal was presented to the actor at the White House by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.\u201d<\/p>\n

The presentation of the Congressional Gold Medal \u2013 not a Medal of Honor, as it\u2019s sometimes identified \u2013\u00a0opens the movie and spurs Cohan (as played by Cagney) to reminisce about his show-business career.<\/p>\n

A history of the House of Representatives notes that Cohan\u2019s medal was given to him \u201cbecause of his ability to instill in the hearts of the growing citizenry a loyal and patriotic spirit for their country and what it stands for in the eyes of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Sheet<\/a>
Sheet music for ‘You’re A Grand Old Flag’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re A Grand Old Flag,\u201d one of the songs he was saluted for, began life in 1905 with a slightly different title: \u201cYou\u2019re A Grand Old Rag.\u201d According to the Library of Congress, Cohan met a Civil War veteran who was cradling a torn but neatly folded American flag. The vet said, \u201cShe\u2019s a grand old rag.\u201d<\/p>\n

Immediately sensing a great title, Cohan the composer went to work on the words and music, which quoted other familiar melodies, including \u201cDixie\u201d and \u201cAuld Lang Syne.\u201d When people objected to the use of \u201crag\u201d to describe the national emblem, Cohan the lyricist changed it to \u201cflag.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(To hear the original version of the song, go to www.loc.gov\/jukebox<\/a> and search for \u201cGrand Old Rag.\u201d)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By James Breig Every Fourth of July, Turner Classic Movies broadcasts \u201cYankee Doodle Dandy,\u201d the 1942 movie about the life of singer-songwriter-playwright-dancer George M. Cohan. It does so because Cohan, played by James Cagney, penned not only the title tune but also \u201cIt\u2019s a Grand Old Flag\u201d and other patriotic anthems. Cohan was renowned for… continue<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[86,84,85],"class_list":["post-284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history-lessons","tag-franklin-d-roosevelt","tag-george-m-cohan","tag-its-a-grand-old-flag"],"yoast_head":"\nWaving \u2018A Grand Old Rag\u2019 - Gettysburg Flag Works Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/waving-a-grand-old-rag\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Waving \u2018A Grand Old Rag\u2019 - Gettysburg Flag Works Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By James Breig Every Fourth of July, Turner Classic Movies broadcasts \u201cYankee Doodle Dandy,\u201d the 1942 movie about the life of singer-songwriter-playwright-dancer George M. 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