E.E. Bagley's most enduring contribution to his own immortality is ironic. It involves a case of frequently mistaken identity which is, in a way, a tribute to his own prowess. His 1906 National Emblem March, possibly the most famous non-Sousa American work in that form to be penned, is often taken to be a work by the March King, so well-crafted and stirring is its procession of musical events. In fact Sousa himself, when asked to list the five best parade marches, named four of his own and the Bagley work. No mean feat.

There is enough inventiveness and originality in the National Emblem March for it to stand (or more aptly, march) on its own two feet creatively. It is in the three-part form of European and earlier American marches. An arresting introduction of bold interval leaps and a surging swell leads to the first theme, a prancing transformation of the "Star Spangled Banner" (in 1906 not yet adopted as the national anthem), accompanied by animated counterpoint in the woodwinds. This is followed by the work's most famous tune, so often appended with the doggerel "The monkey wrapped his tail around the flagpole." The third section snaps to with a stern, almost Wagnerian, theme against repeated jabbing chords, but quickly reverts back to its sunnier strut to close this happy piece of Americana.

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