Fraternity-Testvériség, 1979 (57. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)
1979-04-01 / 2. szám
THE BANNER OF THE PULASKI LEGION As you look at the banner many of you will immediately recognize the colors of the Hungarian national flag: red-white-green. Your logical deduction is then, that Col. Kovats was chosing these colors because he was a former Hungarian hussar officer. I am sure this went through his mind as he was designing the banner for his troops. But 1 believe Col. Kovats composed his banner of red-white-green not just because it expressed his feelings for his native land, but most of all because the symbolic meaning of the colors. These colors expressed something important that was greatly needed in his contemporary America. They were needed in a country which was experiencing the pangs of birth. The red color in my interpretation means — Faith. Faith of the martyrs who are willing to give everything for what they believe in. It means faith in high ideals. A martyr never looks at the cost. That is why a cause is never lost as longs as people are willing to pay the price for it, even the highest — their lives! High ideals like freedom, liberty, equality, independence belong equally to everybody. It is believed to be our divine inheritance given by the Creator and it is not a favor given by a king or government. This is the Faith that the red color is expressing and this faith is the foundation of the United States. Green means Hope. Confidence in our high ideals that are within our reach. They are attainable, they are real, not day-dreams! Working and fighting for these noble ideals is worth the efforts of the braves. They are high ideals, not easily obtained, but they are not impossible dreams. Hope also means confidence in Divine Providence that God will help those who are willing to capture the sacred aspirations of human hearts. White is the expression of Love. Pure, unadulterated love. Love of men and women. Family love. Love of one’s country. The ground on which we stand, the earth to which we belong. Unselfish love says with President Kennedy: “Ask not what your country can do for you.” Love of country means: the sky above, the oceans below, the mountains, the limitless horizons of the prairies, the sea of golden wheat. It means graves sacred and undisturbed. But above all it means sacrifice. Determination not to spare time, money, untold efforts — sufferings or even death — for the land that we love. Col. Kovats knew these are the components of greatness. He knew that these are the qualities needed to create a free land, a new country, the United States of America. Presentation of flag donated by Mr. John Taba to be blessed by the Rev. Vitéz Baan, O.F.M. The flag was always present on the battlefield with the fighting unit. The enemy attacked it with utmost vehemence. Soldiers were defending it at all cost. A captured flag was regarded the greatest trophy! The Banner of Col. Kovats in a sense is the symbol of “God with us.” This is expressed with the Eye in a triangle. It is believed that a just cause is protected, promoted by the Almighty. This symbol of the Trinity expressing a religious experience of the Emmanuel of Biblical times. Even in modern times flags are playing a significant part of our lives. I myself and thousands of Hungarian Freedom Fighters had this experience in 1956. In 1956 the sickle and hammer, the symbols of the communist oppression was cut out from the Hungarian flags. Thus our banner became the flag with a hole in its center, a window to the free world — if you wish — from a land of a prison. That hole will he filled only with the picture of the Madonna, the picture of Our Lady of Hungary. Col Kovats was the First Hungarian Freedom Fighter, a Hungarian who fought for the freedom and independence of the U. S. We American Hungarians are fighting for the Human Rights of our Hungarian people forced to live under an inhuman system and at the same time we pledge our allegiance lo the flag of the U.S. and for what it stands. This Banner should tell the message of Col. Kovats to all Americans: The ideals on which this great nation was built are not obsolete. They are needed today just as much as they were 200 years ago! (Rev. Vitéz Baan, O.F.M., Vice-President of the World Federation of the Hungarian Freedom Fighters. 7
