Rally round the flag
Posted by ESC on September 20, 2008 at 20:47
In Reply to: Rally round the flag posted by Rachel on September 20, 2008 at 12:41:
: Looking for the origin of "rally round the flag".
There is a Civil War song that contains that phrase. See en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Battle_cry_of_freedom
Also, Mr. Safire says, in a long entry about "rally" (from the French "rallier," to join again, to reassemble scattered troops to fight again) that "'Rally around the flag' may or may not have been said by General Andrew Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans..." From Safire's New Political Dictionary by William Safire (Random House, New York, 1993). Page 643-645.
- Rally round the flag David FG 21/September/08