page_title: Pledge of Allegiance
section_title: Balch pledge
hierarchical_section_title: Pledge of Allegiance / Origins / Balch pledge
caption_attribution_description: English: George Thatcher Balch (1828-1894), Union Army officer and promoter of patriotism. Author of Methods of Teaching Patriotism in the Public Schools and A Patriotic Primer for the Little Citizen
context_page_description: The Pledge of Allegiance of the United States is an expression of allegiance to the flag of the United States and the republic of the United States of America. Such a pledge was first composed, with a text different from the one used at present, by Captain George Thatcher Balch, a Union Army Officer during the Civil War and later a teacher of patriotism in New York City schools. The form of the pledge used today was largely devised by Francis Bellamy in 1892, and formally adopted by Congress as the pledge in 1942. The official name of The Pledge of Allegiance was adopted in 1945. The most recent alteration of its wording came on Flag Day in 1954, when the words "under God" were added.
context_section_description: An early pledge was created in 1887 by Captain George T. Balch, a veteran of the Civil War, who later became auditor of the New York Board of Education. Balch's pledge, which was recited contemporaneously with Bellamy's until the 1923 National Flag Conference, read:
  We give our heads and hearts to God and our country; one country, one language, one flag!
  Balch was a proponent of teaching children, especially those of immigrants, loyalty to the United States, even going so far as to write a book on the subject and work with both the government and private organizations to distribute flags to every classroom and school. Balch's pledge, which predates Francis Bellamy's by 5 years and was embraced by many schools, by the Daughters of the American Revolution until the 1910s, and by the Grand Army of the Republic until the 1923 National Flag Conference, is often overlooked when discussing the history of the Pledge.
caption: Col. George T. Balch wrote an early pledge of allegiance.
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