Throughout [article id="1678229"]Mitt Romney's campaign[/article] for the Republican presidential nomination, he has been quoting "America the Beautiful" and reciting the "Pledge of Allegiance" along with his supporters. Also, seemingly in honor of the old red-white-and-blue, Romney has been playing K'Naan's "Waving Flag" at some campaign events. But K'Naan himself released a statement Wednesday (February 1) making it clear that Romney didn't ask to use "Flag" and that he plans to seek legal action if the camp continues to play his song.

"I have not been asked for permission by Mitt Romney's campaign for the use of my song," the Somalian/Canadian rapper said in a statement to MTV News. "If I had been asked, I would certainly not have granted it. I would happily grant the Obama campaign use of my song without prejudice."

[article id="1641274"]"Waving Flag" became an international sensation[/article] back in 2010 when it was played at that year's World Cup. With assists from will.i.am and David Guetta, the soaring tune camouflages a song about poverty and oppression in a heart-stirring call to arms to let your banner fly.

This is far from the first time a politician has used a song without an artist's permission -- actually, this isn't even the first incident this week. According to TMZ, Survivor filed a lawsuit Monday against Newt Gingrich for using their song "Eye of the Tiger" at his events. During the 2008 presidential election, [article id="1592857"]Jackson Browne sued John McCain[/article] for his use of "Running on Empty," and John Mellencamp asked McCain to stop scoring his campaign stops with "Our Country."

After a [article id="1678282"]decisive win in Florida on Tuesday, Romney[/article] will duke it out with his fellow GOP presidential hopefuls at Saturday's primaries in Maine and Nevada.

Check back for up-to-the-minute coverage of the primaries and stick with PowerOf12.org throughout the 2012 presidential election season.