Waving ‘A Grand Old Rag’
By James Breig
Every Fourth of July, Turner Classic Movies broadcasts “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” 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 “It’s a Grand Old Flag” and other patriotic anthems.
Cohan was renowned for the many flag-bedecked musicals he wrote and starred in on Broadway in the early 20th century. An obituary about him in The New York Times called Cohan “the original Yankee Doodle boy — born on the Fourth of July.” Indeed, he was.
The obit continued: “Waving the American flag as a sure-fire finale to bring down the house with applause was established…in Cohan shows….He wrote the stirring march, ‘Over There!’ — the most inspirational and popular American patriotic song of the period. For this and for another patriotic piece, ‘You’re A Grand Old Flag,’…he received a gold medal under a special act of Congress…. The medal was presented to the actor at the White House by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.”
The presentation of the Congressional Gold Medal – not a Medal of Honor, as it’s sometimes identified – opens the movie and spurs Cohan (as played by Cagney) to reminisce about his show-business career.
A history of the House of Representatives notes that Cohan’s medal was given to him “because 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.”
“You’re A Grand Old Flag,” one of the songs he was saluted for, began life in 1905 with a slightly different title: “You’re A Grand Old Rag.” 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, “She’s a grand old rag.”
Immediately sensing a great title, Cohan the composer went to work on the words and music, which quoted other familiar melodies, including “Dixie” and “Auld Lang Syne.” When people objected to the use of “rag” to describe the national emblem, Cohan the lyricist changed it to “flag.”
(To hear the original version of the song, go to www.loc.gov/jukebox and search for “Grand Old Rag.”)