FREEDOM’S STANDARD.

God bless our star-gemmed banner;
Shake its folds out to the breeze;
From church, from fort, from housetop,
Over the city, on the seas;

The die is cast, the storm at last
Has broken in its might;
Unfurl the starry banner,
And may God defend the right.

Then bless our banner, God of hosts!
Watch o’er each starry fold;
Tis Freedom’s standard, tried and proved
On many a field of old;

And Then, who long has blessed us,
Now bless us yet again,
And crown our cause with victory,
And keep our flag from stain.

Bayard Advocate (Bayard, Iowa),  1916