Ragged Old Flag (song)
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| "Ragged Old Flag" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) Portuguese release picture sleeve | ||||
| Single by Johnny Cash | ||||
| from the album Ragged Old Flag | ||||
| Released | 1974 | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 3:08 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Songwriter | Johnny Cash | |||
| Producers | Johnny Cash, Charlie Bragg | |||
| Johnny Cash singles chronology | ||||
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"Ragged Old Flag" is a song by American country music artist Johnny Cash from the 1974 album of the same name.
"Ragged Old Flag" was written in 1974 while Cash was in Binghamton, New York,[1] during a time of political turbulence in the United States that had forced the resignation of President Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal. Although Cash had publicly supported Nixon's candidacy, he had started to question the wisdom of Nixon-era policies concerning the Vietnam War. He wrote "Ragged Old Flag" to "reaffirm faith in the country and the goodness of the American people."[2]
The song tells a story of an old man in a town square describing, to a visitor who was critical of how the flag looked, what the flag and America have been through together.[3] "Ragged Old Flag" is typical of Cash's particular style of patriotism characterized by his appreciation for the land, people and complexities of the United States.[4]
