Pledge of allegiance
| Pledge of Allegiance (Bellamy versions) (changes are bolded and underlined) |
|
|---|---|
| 1892 (first version) | |
| "I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." | |
| 1892 to 1923 | |
| "I pledge allegiance to my Flag and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." | |
| 1923 to 1954 | |
| "I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." | |
| 1954 (current version) 4 U.S.C. §4 |
|
| "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." |
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, originally composed by Colonel George Balch in 1887, later revised 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 last change in language came on Flag Day 1954 when the words "under God" were added.
Congressional sessions open with the recital of the Pledge, as do many government meetings at local levels, and meetings held by many private organizations. It is also commonly recited in school at the beginning of every school day, although the Supreme Court has ruled in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette that students cannot be compelled to recite the Pledge, nor can they be punished for not doing so. All states except four (Hawaii, Iowa, Vermont and Wyoming) give time for the pledge to be recited as part of the school day. A number of states, including Ohio and Texas, have adopted state flag pledges of allegiance to be recited after this.
The United States Flag Code states:
The Pledge of Allegiance, as it exists in its current form, was originally composed in August 1892 by Francis Bellamy (1855–1931), who was a Baptist minister, a Christian socialist, and the cousin of socialist utopian novelist Edward Bellamy (1850–1898). However, there existed a previous version created by Colonel George Balch, a veteran of the Civil War who went on to become auditor of the New York Board of Education. Balch's pledge, which existed parallel to the Bellamy version until the 1923 National Flag Conference, read:
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