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**The Pledge of Allegiance**

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  ![](media/image2.jpeg){width="2.075in"   Astronaut David R. Scott gives a
  height="1.6555555555555554in"}           military salute to the U.S. flag
                                           during a 1971 Apollo 15 moonwalk.

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Thirty-one words which affirm the values and freedom that the American
flag represents are recited while facing the flag as a pledge of
Americans' loyalty to their country. The Pledge of Allegiance was
written for the 400th anniversary, in 1892, of the discovery of America.
A national committee of educators and civic leaders planned a
public-school celebration of Columbus Day to center around the flag.
Included with the script for ceremonies that would culminate in raising
of the flag was the pledge. So it was in October 1892 Columbus Day
programs that school children across the country first recited the
Pledge of Allegiance this way:

> **I pledge allegiance to my Flag and**
>
> **to the Republic for which it stands:**
>
> **one Nation indivisible, with Liberty**
>
> **and Justice for all.**

Controversy continues over whether the author was the chairman of the
committee, Francis Bellamy --- who worked on a magazine for young people
that published the pledge --- or James Upham, who worked for the
publishing firm that produced the magazine. The pledge was published
anonymously in the magazine and was not copyrighted.

According to some accounts of Bellamy as author, he decided to write a
pledge of allegiance, rather than a salute, because it was a stronger
expression of loyalty --- something particularly significant even 27
years after the Civil War ended. "One Nation indivisible" referred to
the outcome of the Civil War, and "Liberty and Justice for all"
expressed the ideals of the Declaration of Independence.

The words "my flag" were replaced by "the flag of the United States" in
1923, because some foreign-born people might have in mind the flag of
the country of their birth, instead of the U.S. flag. A year later, "of
America" was added after "United States." No form of the pledge received
official recognition by Congress until June 22, 1942, when it was
formally included in the U.S. Flag Code. The official name of The Pledge
of Allegiance was adopted in 1945. The last change in language came on
Flag Day 1954, when Congress passed a law which added the words "under
God" after "one nation."

Originally, the pledge was said with the hand in the so-called "Bellamy
Salute," with the hand resting first outward from the chest, then the
arm extending out from the body. Once Hitler came to power in Europe,
some Americans were concerned that this position of the arm and hand
resembled the salute rendered by the Nazi military. In 1942, Congress
established the current practice of rendering the pledge with the right
hand placed flat over the heart.

Section 7 of the Federal Flag Code states that when not in military
uniform, men should remove any headdress with their right hand and hold
it at the left shoulder, thereby resting the hand over the heart. People
in military uniform should remain silent, face the flag and render the
military salute.

The Flag Code specifies that any future changes to the pledge would have
to be with the consent of the president.

The Pledge of Allegiance now reads:

> 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.**