Here's how the pledge evolved
What do magazine sales, the Nazi salute, and the threat of communism hold in common?
Why, the pledge of allegiance, of course.
The pledge’s evolution has been nothing if not ironic. Tuesday’s column reiterated its legal status and strength in Idaho schools. Today, a look at how it evolved from a marketing effort to a staunch symbol of nationalistic pride, hands on hearts.
The Pledge of Allegiance came about in that overused metaphor of a late 19th century perfect storm. National fervor over what patriotism meant, the 400th anniversary of Columbus’s discovery, and questions of immigration were on Americans’ minds.
The time was ripe when Daniel Sharp Ford, publisher of The Youth’s Companion children’s magazine, started a movement to install a flag in every American school. He arguably succeeded, as an estimated 26,000 flags were sold to U.S. schools by 1892.
To gain momentum for Ford’s flag-planting movement (and sell more than a few new subscriptions) while encouraging national loyalty in children, the magazine suggested the creation of a special salute. While who wrote the original is uncertain, a Baptist minister and Christian Socialist named Francis Bellamy is credited with these words, first printed in The Youth’s Companion and adopted as America’s first pledge:
“I pledge allegiance to my flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
Interesting to note is that one of the magazine’s marketing staffers, James Uptham, was President Harrison’s nephew. National Education Association support for their pledge-and-flag campaign soon followed, according to a Time magazine article.
Getting back to the first pledge, here’s how Bellamy instructed pupils to deliver it in the official program of the National Columbian Public School Celebration, Oct. 21, 1892:
“At a signal from the Principal the pupils, in ordered ranks, hands to the side, face the flag. Another signal is given; every pupil gives the flag the military salute — right hand lifted, palm downward, to a line with the forehead and close to it … At the words, ‘to my flag,’ the right hand is extended gracefully, palm upward, toward the flag, and remains in this gesture till the end of the affirmation; whereupon all hands immediately drop to the side.”
That salute-to-extension move, sound familiar?
Right; that’s how we get to hand-over-heart. Jump ahead 50 years: It’s World War II. The “Bellamy salute” looked too close to the Nazi salute, so after adding the pledge to the federal flag code in 1942, Congress changed the salute to the right-hand-over-heart posture.
The final change creating the 31-word pledge we say today happened in 1954. Concerned about the perceived Communist threat of that era, President Eisenhower encouraged Congress to add the words “under God” (he also approved adding “in God we trust” to currency in 1956).
Red scare aside, Bellamy’s daughter objected to this alteration, saying her father, an ordained minister, believed in the absolute separation between church and state.
For an interesting history of Bellamy and his pledge, see: https://bit.ly/2P9oNU9
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Sholeh Patrick is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Contact her at Sholeh@cdapress.com.