The Red Flag

Irishman Jim Connell wrote the song's lyrics in 1889 in Nicholas Donovan's house.[6] There are six stanzas, each followed by the chorus. It is normally sung to the tune of "Lauriger Horatius", better known as the German carol "O Tannenbaum" ("O Christmas Tree"), though Connell had wanted it sung to the tune of a pro-Jacobite Robert Burns anthem, "The White Cockade".[7] When Billy Bragg recorded the song in 1990 with Scottish folk singer Dick Gaughan, he sang it to this original "White Cockade" melody. The lyrics of the first verse and the chorus, which are the most well-known parts of the song, are as follows:

The people's flag is deepest red,

It shrouded oft our martyred dead

And ere their limbs grew stiff and cold,

Their hearts' blood dyed its every fold.

So raise the scarlet standard high,

Beneath its shade we'll live and die,

Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer,

We'll keep the red flag flying here.[8]

"The Red Flag" resonated with the early radical workers' movement in the United States, and it appeared as the first song in the first edition of the Little Red Songbook of the Industrial Workers of the World in 1909. Only five of the six stanzas were printed, omitting the fourth stanza that begins, "It well recalls the triumphs past."[9] In a 1913 article for the Industrial Worker, the celebrated IWW bard Joe Hill rejected the category of "the people" as middle class, and suggested a further change to the song. Referring to his experiences in the Magonista rebellion of 1911,[10] he wrote:

When the Red Flag was flying in Lower California there were not any of "the people" in the ranks of the rebels. Common working stiffs and cow-punchers were in the majority, with a little sprinkling of "outlaws," whatever that is. [...] Well, it is about time that every rebel wakes up to the fact that "the people" and the workingclass [sic] have nothing in common. Let us sing after this "The Workers' flag is deepest red" and to hell with "the people."[11]

"The Red Flag" has been the British Labour Party's official anthem from its founding; its annual party conference closes with the song. "The Red Flag" was first sung in the House of Commons on 1 August 1945, when Parliament convened after Clement Attlee's Labour defeat of Winston Churchill's Conservatives.[12] Dockers in London were regarded as militant socialists ever since their strike in 1889 for the "dockers' tanner." In the 1950s, at the end of public meetings with management, dockers filling the main floor of the hall sang "The Red Flag" while superintendents and managers (usually segregated in the gallery) simultaneously sang "God Save the Queen". "The Red Flag" was sung by Labour MPs on 27 May 1976, allegedly prompting Michael Heseltine to swing the mace above his head.[13]

It was also sung on the evening of 28 March 1979 when a motion of no confidence brought down the Labour Government.[14] It was sung again in Parliament in February 2006 to mark the centenary of the Labour Party's founding. It was sung again in the House of Commons in September 2019 to protest the prorogation of parliament.[15] During the Tony Blair government it was claimed the leadership sought to downplay its role,[1][16] however, it is often sung at the end of party conferences alongside Jerusalem.[17][18] Following the 2015 election of veteran socialist Jeremy Corbyn as Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition, "The Red Flag" was sung as he and his supporters celebrated in The Sanctuary, a public house in London.[19]

It was also sung by South African mineworkers during the bloody miners' strike on the Rand in 1922.

In 1982, Shakin Stevens recorded a rock & roll cover of the song known as Red Flag Rock.

The People's Flag is deepest red,

It shrouded oft our martyred dead,

And ere their limbs grew stiff and cold,

Their hearts' blood dyed its every fold.

Chorus:

Then raise the scarlet standard high.

Beneath its shade we'll live and die,

Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer,

We'll keep the red flag flying here.

Look round, the Frenchman loves its blaze,

The sturdy German chants its praise,

In Moscow's vaults its hymns were sung

Chicago swells the surging throng.

(chorus)

It waved above our infant might,

When all ahead seemed dark as night;

It witnessed many a deed and vow,

We must not change its colour now.

(chorus)

It well recalls the triumphs past,

It gives the hope of peace at last;

The banner bright, the symbol plain,

Of human right and human gain.

(chorus)

It suits today the weak and base,

Whose minds are fixed on pelf and place

To cringe before the rich man's frown,

And haul the sacred emblem down.

(chorus)

With head uncovered swear we all

To bear it onward till we fall;

Come dungeons dark or gallows grim,

This song shall be our parting hymn.

(chorus)

"The Red Flag" was parodied by singer-songwriter Leon Rosselson as the "Battle Hymn of the New Socialist Party," also known as "The Red Flag Once a Year" or "The People's Flag Is Palest Pink." It is intended to satirise the perceived lack of socialist principles in the Labour Party. The initial parody was widely known in the 1960s, sometimes sung during late night parties at student conferences. It was revived in the early 2000s in response to the centrist reforms associated with Tony Blair.[20] A version which began "The people's flag is palest pink, mum washed it in the kitchen sink" was popular among schoolchildren in the 1950s, which may have inspired Rosselson's version. A version can be found as far back as 1920 in Through Bolshevik Russia by Ethel Snowden.

A version of the lyrics sung regularly at the Liberal Democrats' Glee Club, also dated to the mid-1960s, is:

The people's flag is palest pink,

It's not as red as most think.

We must not let the people know

What socialists thought long ago.

Don't let the scarlet banner float;

We want the middle classes' vote.

Let our old fashioned comrades sneer,

We'll stay in power for many a year.[21]

A number of versions exist which parody the way New Labour shifted the party away from traditional socialist positions:

The People's Flag Is Palest Pink

The people's flag is palest pink

It's not the colour you might think

White collar workers stand and cheer

The Labour government is here

We'll change the country bit by bit

So nobody will notice it

And just to show that we're sincere

We'll sing The Red Flag once a year

The cloth cap and the woollen scarf

Are images outdated

For we're the party's avant garde

And we are educated

So raise the rolled umbrella high

The college scarf, the old school tie

And just to show that we're sincere

We'll sing The Red Flag once a year

Or:

New Labour's flag is palest pink

It's not as red as you might think

And Tony's added shades of blue

He does not care for me and you

The people's flag is palest pink

Best drop it now before we stink

I rather like the Tory Blue

And Cam'ron's policies – I'll have them too

.

Now ditch we all that old red flower

Anything to cling to power

The working class can kiss my arse

It's Gord I worship, first and last

A version of "The Red Flag" with similar lyrics entitled "We'll Never Die" is the official anthem of Manchester United F.C. A similar version is also sung regularly by supporters of Sunderland AFC:

Flying high up in the sky,

We'll keep the red flag flying high,

Wherever you go you're sure to know,

We'll keep the red flag flying high.

Supporters of Bristol City F.C. (also known as ciderheads) sing their own adaptation of the chorus:

Flying high up in the sky,

We'll keep the red flag flying high,

Ciderheads until we die,

We'll keep the red flag flying high.

Meanwhile, supporters of AFC Bournemouth sing their adaptation of the chorus as:

Flying high up in the sky,

We'll keep the red flag flying high,

Dean Court to Wembley,

We'll keep the red flag flying high.

Wrexham A.F.C. supporters’ version includes the following refrain with a nod to a socialist Wales:

Flying high up in the sky,

We'll keep the red flag flying high,

On the road to victory,

We'll keep the Welsh flag flying high.

Chelsea F.C. fans sing a version of the song called The Blue Flag:

From Stamford Bridge to Wembley

We'll Keep the blue flag flying high

Flying high up in the sky

We'll keep the Blue flag flying high

From Stamford Bridge to Wembley

We'll keep the blue flag flying high

The melody is used in Harold Baum's "The Michaelis Anthem" in The Biochemists' Songbook.[22]

A famous song of the Italian labour movement has the same title (though in Italian): Bandiera Rossa, but different lyrics and tune, as does the French song Le drapeau rouge, known in English as The Standard of Revolt.

A parody of unknown origin is known as The Foreman's Job,[23] and this is sometimes considered a rugby song.[24] This has many variants but usually begins:

The working class can kiss my arse

I got the foreman's job at last.

You can tell old Joe I'm off the dole

He can stick his Red Flag up his 'ole!.

"The Red Flag" was sung in the 2018 film Red Joan at a Cambridge University socialist meeting circa 1938 attended by the young protagonist (portrayed by Sophie Cookson) and her romantic interest Leo (portrayed by Tom Hughes (actor)).

• Billy Bragg[25]
• Dick Gaughan[25]

• The Red Flag – full text of lyrics online from Fordham University
• The Red Flag: the song, the man, the monument
• English version from the Marxists Internet Archive
• A version with an original melody from Cape Breton Island Protest Songs