The Pledge of Allegiance was formally adopted by Congress in 1942, and was officially named "The Pledge of Allegiance" in 1945. The original pledge was inspired by a pledge written in 1887 by Captain George Thatcher Balch, an Officer in the Union Army during the Civil War. His pledge read:
"We give our heads and hearts to God and our country; one country, one language, one flag!"The version we are most familiar with and use today was written by Francis Bellamy in August of 1892, as follows:
"I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." Early on, a minor revision was made:
"I pledge allegiance to my Flag and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."In 1923, the following revisions were made:
"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."The following year, in 1924, it was changed again, as follows:
"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."Finally, in 1954, per 4. U.S.C. §4, is exactly as follows:
"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."Schools of the pledge in schools each morning, as I remember doing as a child. Congressional sessions and many government meetings also open with the recital, a beautiful American tradition heartfelt by patriots both past and present across the land.
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