The Surprising History of the Pledge of Allegiance

The Pledge of Allegiance is as American as apple pie. But it has a rather interesting history.

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[dcpack]

" I'm now off to avoid the comment section." Never stop being you Ed.

[marycudal]

Loved learning this bit of American unknown history. Bless your heart. 😄

“Teacher, why do we pledge allegiance to the flag?” “I don’t know dear, you may want to ask a Brit.”

[mikedowd]

Alistair Cooke wryly commented on the Eisenhower addition, that it would perhaps have been better to say 'One Nation...Under Canada'

[kesfitzgerald]

Ed, very interesting, thank you.

Years ago, a young friend who had moved to the United States from New Zealand, was asked on his first day at school, why he didn't pledge allegiance to the flag? After, explaining he was from another country and he was unfamiliar with the practice he then added, in his unfailing blunt manner, "where I come from, we don't talk to flags".

[DrumBass]

The Knights of Columbus initiated a campaign in 1951 to lobby for the public adoption of the phrase “under God” in the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance. The Order’s Board of Directors had amended the pledge’s recitation at Fourth Degree assembly meetings and encouraged congressional representatives to adopt the same language nationwide. One year after Supreme Knight Hart took office in 1953, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a law that officially added the words “under God” to the pledge.

[Alan-in-Bama]

I started grade school in 1975...First - Third grade I attended private schools "Christian", afterwards I attended public schools in a semi-suburban part of Birmingham, AL.
In both school systems, from the 1st-8th grade, we all said the pledge of allegiance every morning AND a prayer was said over the intercom of the entire school, by the principal...Yes, even in the public schools until 1983 ! It was a fairly large school system and I never heard any complaints.

At the separate High School (9th-12th), I don't recall doing either one.

[jameslawrie]

It was just called "The Roman Salute" in those days

[johnthynne]

Excellent historical titbit Ed. And very interesting. Cheers.

[mycroft]

Excellent, excellent, excellent! You really are an insightful fellow, with more than a soupçon of mischief.

[Paladin]

For those members of your audience who may not be aware of it, Charles Lindbergh was not pro-Nazi. He actually spied on the Nazis for Roosevelt prior to the war, but when he saw how the major European powers were rearming for another war, he informed Roosevelt that we were both technologically and quantitatively behind them in air power and stated it would be wise of us to stay out of the coming conflict. This did not sit well with FDR, but when Lindy joined the isolationist movement, it angered Roosevelt, who retaliated against him with a smear campaign and an income tax investigation. The latter backfired as it was revealed Lindbergh had been overpaying his income tax for years and was owed a refund. When we entered WWII, Roosevelt refused Lindbergh's request to be recalled to active duty, so he went to work for Lockheed and Vought as a technical advisor. He ended up in the Pacific Theater demonstrating techniques to greatly extend the range of the P-38 by leaning out the fuel-air mixture, and doubling the bomb load of the Corsair. In the process he managed to shoot down a couple of Japanese planes. This was all done as a civilian. When FDR found out, he had him sent home, probably a wise decision, given his fame as the greatest living aviator in the world. Where there's a Lindbergh, there's a way.

[joshbritton]

I love how one company trying to sell flags has had such an impact, makes me wonder how many things we do today go back to advertising and making stuff seem important/necessary.

Actually that's kind of depressing to think about as it's probably a large amount.

[allancarey]

Loved this one….I really enjoy interesting historical titbits like this

[ACE]

You might be interested to know that technically there was a slightly earlier pledge of allegiance which was competing with the Bellamy pledge early on, namely the Balch pledge with very different wording.

[deancosens]

Ed, that was really interesting. If you should ever set up a YouTube channel to the effect of "Ed Nash's Historical Matters" I'll be the first to subscribe!

[davidmarsden]

The awkward salute is actually the Roman salute hijacked by Mussolini and Hitler and slightly altered.

[tomredd]

My Mother told me about the arm raised salute during the pledge of allegiance. She started grade school in the late 20s.

[piwikiwi]

..”off to avoid the comments section” 😆

[Aengus]

Fascinating! Didn't know about the Bellamy salute! 😂

[conradnelson]

Weird history. Growing up in the fifties we did the hand over heart pledge. Never realized it was so new.

[carolinehutchings]

Ed, very interesting, thank you. Just the last photograph: Is that in mirror image? I am asking, as they seem to have their left hand over their hearts.