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Dorothy’s Place: About our pledge to the flag
Arcadia Weekly Apr 24, 2013
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When reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag at public meetings, I sometimes cause the people close around me to flub a bit. I do not pause before ‘under God’ because, to my knowledge, there is no comma in the text. It reads, “….for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
I explained that fact after a recitation of the Pledge at a recent meeting. Also in attendance was longtime friend Gary Kovacic, Arcadia city council member. He jokingly commented, “I agree with her but leave it to Dorothy, even if millions of people say it one way, she’ll still say it her way.” Well yeah, when I believe I’m right.
Another of the participants had previously raised the question of how the pledge started. Having taught the history of it more than once in my teaching career, I was all ready to blip off an answer for her, only to realize I had forgotten much of my information. I had to come home and dig into my cabinet of “retired” files, and also take a modern gander at Wikipedia.
I rediscovered that the history of the Pledge of Allegiance is a fascinating case study in the making of a tradition. It is too long to put into “Dorothy’s Place”, but in case your memory is like mine or you just never knew, let me give you a time line with the four different versions from beginning to present.
The First Pledge:
I give my hand and heart to my country, one nation, one language, one flag. — author unknown, said at public ceremonies in the 1800s.
1892:
I pledge allegiance to my Flag and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. — Francis Bellamy
1923:
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. — National Flag Conferences of 1923-24
1954:
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. — U.S. Congress with President Eisenhower
The story does not exactly end here. There have been, and continue to be, suggestions and arguments for further revision. The search for a definitive oath of loyalty to our land will probably continue as long as our nation exists. I shan’t throw my file away.
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