This page was created by Donal Hegarty. The last update was by Alisa Clapp-Itnyre .
Lift aloft our banner
With a recognizable tune, the folk tune used for America's "Battle Hymn of the Republic" (1862), “Lift aloft our banner” was another song from the Bands of Mercy movement, and even today it is enjoyable to march to it swinging a flag! Within this context, its tune evoked a militancy, not of fighting, but of collective unity to bring justice and kindness to the earth. The words by Rev. Thomas Timmins encourage singers to “join all nations, with peace, mercy, right, and love” (v. 2), to “protect the weak and helpless” (v. 2), and “Scatter freely seeds of kindness” (v. 3).
More discussion on this song can be found in Chapter 5, British Hymn Books for Children.
