Daniel Viglietti 1973
Our Flag
Source: Daniel Viglietti en vivo. Chant du Monde. Nuestra bandera;
Translated: for marxists.org by Mitch Abidor;
CopyLeft: Creative Commons (Attribute & ShareAlike) marxists.org 2006.
My country’s flag has never asked for pardon,
For having been born fighting in the hands of the cimarron. [1]
The nine stripes are free, they aren’t prison bars,
They’re like rivers bringing freedom to the heart.
My country’s flag can’t be stained by the oppressor,
For this people doesn’t tremble, and is the master of reason.
Hand in hand the humble, hand in hand action,
Let the flag be returned to the hands of the cimarron.
Blue and white in the air, ever the path to the sun,
A sun that illuminates the poor, as the Protector [2] wanted it to.
Stripes at the top and the bottom, none wants to be more than the other,
They are all good comrades, and Long Live Equality!
My flag’s equality, on land it must be won,
And may he who opposes this fall. No one will spare him.
I don’t need to be told to love my flag,
For it I would give my life, and my heart if I have to.
But allow me, friend, to learn how to give them,
For a flag waver can also be a traitor.
Know that the powerful can sometimes dress as peasants,
Speak of our seal and flag, but betray the country.
My flag’s equality, on earth it must be won,
And may he fall he who opposes it, no one will spare him
Stripes at the top and the bottom, none wants to be more than the others
They are all good comrades and Long Live Equality!
1. Person who lives in the country side, free from any form of subjugation.
2. Jose Artigas, hero of Uruguay’s war for independence.