Song to the Flag by Augusto C. Coello
Author: Augusto C. Coello
Oh! Splendid flag,
Oh! Sacred flag…
As you slowly rise,
Majestically unfurling on the mast,
And kissed by the scented breeze,
You spread your wings
Like an eagle soaring
Underneath the sky,
Trembling and fluttering,
I imagine that suddenly
With a burst of energy,
You would embark on a miraculous flight
Across the immense and clear arc,
And I pretend that your flight
Is like the blue flight of an eagle
Over eternal snows,
Over ancient peaks made white by centuries.
You have traversed the paths of the stars,
Acclaimed by the cheers of epic legions,
The fierce clamor of battle,
The resounding echo of victory,
And the dazzling splendors of fame…
You have traversed the paths of the stars,
Amidst the winds of war unleashed,
Guided by the hands of the eponymous leader,
Who, in legendary exploits,
On victorious steed, through the peaks
Or fertile valleys,
In the face of the passing centuries,
With the rays of his sword,
Inscribed the resonant epic of Glory,
The epic of Glory and the Homeland.
You are known by the rosy dawns,
When in wandering exoduses,
You waved over cliffs and plateaus,
Sheltering the heads of heroes,
Who, in tightly packed phalanxes
With dream-filled sleepwalkers
And bloodied feet,
Always sought the Promised Land
In the futile yearning of hope.
In the crimson noontimes,
Through tamed cities,
Amidst bustling streets,
Under arches and garlands,
Amidst vivas and the clamor of bells,
Triumphantly you paraded…
In the crimson noontimes,
Illuminated by the blaze of suns,
Your colors stood out, your stars,
Amidst the combat’s red flames.
You have been witnessed by the sorrowful twilights,
Night after night, after the bloody end
Of ruthless strife,
With your tattered folds,
Faint and pale upon the mast,
Like a slumbering heron
With its head tucked beneath its wing.
And as night settles upon the fields,
Shrouded in dense and vast twilight,
Your hues are gilded
By the dim reflections
Of the tragic burning cities.
How many times, how many times
Upon returning to the Homeland,
Still trembling and longing,
With nostalgia filling my chest,
Scanning the horizon,
Soul in my eyes,
Beyond the uncertain edge of the land,
Beyond the undulating waters,
With the ardent longing of a lover,
I sought you…
And invoking your colors,
In my warm reverie, I could not tell,
Whether it was the sky
Merging with the sea in the distance,
Confused, or if it was you, my Flag,
Waiting on the shore
Like a loving mother awaiting her child.
Oh! Splendid flag.
My blue and white flag!
As you slowly rise,
Majestically unfurling on the mast,
And kissed by the scented breeze,
You spread your wings
Trembling and fluttering.
How fervently I desire
That, unfurled in the winds,
In your infinite flight,
In your prodigious flight,
You soar above the highest peaks of Glory,
Above the most radiant summits of fame.