“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all”. Thirty one words, but it was not always that way.
In the past, a number of pledges of allegiance were used at various times. George Balch, a civil war veteran, penned a simple, widely recited pledge – “ We give our heads and hearts to God and our country; one country, one language, one flag”.
The most widely used pledge of allegiance was penned by Baptist minister, Francis Bellamy, in 1892 for the magazine, “The Youth’s Companion”, in celebration of the 400th anniversary of Columbus’s arrival in the new world. It read, “I pledge allegiance to my flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all”. Bellamy considered the most important three words in the pledge to be “one nation indivisible”as this was at a time when considerable emotions still existed following the civil war and he felt strongly in a united country.
The National Flag Conference held in 1923 adopted Bellamy’s pledge but replaced “my flag” with “the flag of the United States of America” as there was the feeling that many immigrants taking the pledge might think they were pledging allegiance to the flag of their country of origin.
The first congressional recognition of the pledge was in June 1942. It was the version written by Francis Bellamy.
In June, 1954, congress changed the wording of the pledge to insert “under God” after the words “one nation”. Francis Bellamy’s daughter objected to the change as the original author, her father, a Baptist minister, was a firm believer in the separation of church and state.
President Eisenhower signed the bill into law stating that the change was necessary to recognize our opposition to “godless communism”.
Keeping in mind that “the flag” to which we pledge has changed many times as our country grew. Many of us pledged to the 48 star flag without the words “under God”. We started the school day each morning with the pledge. Then we practiced “duck and cover” under our desks to ready ourselves for a Russian nuclear attack….Life was easier to understand then.
Author: Staff
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