Who Wrote the Pledge of Allegiance?

We have all recited it before school begins or before a governmental meeting, but who wrote the pledge of allegiance? Most of us were brought up in a time when the first thing that we did in school was to stand up and recite the pledge of allegiance. If we were part of an extra-curricular activity, the meetings would begin by the reciting of the pledge of allegiance. Yet, many people still don't know why these famous words were written or what they represent.

Francis Bellamy was a Baptist minister and a Christian socialist. He wrote the Pledge of Allegiance in 1892. He published it in the premier family magazine of the day, The Youth’s Companion where it appeared in the September 8 edition.

Bellamy was then appointed to act as the chair of the committee of state superintendents of education. He was responsible for preparing the children’s program for the 400th anniversary celebration of Columbus Day. He chose the program to revolve around the raising of a flag. He included in the program a salute to the flag and also included his pledge of allegiance. 

The pledge of allegiance was first enacted into law in 1942. The description of the pledge and how it was to be performed and when it was to be performed was written into the Flag Code. According to this code, all changes to the pledge must be approved by Congress and then recorded in the Flag Code. 

The Words of the Pledge of Allegiance

The pledge of allegiance that Bellamy wrote and had the children perform at his program read: ”I pledge allegiance to my flag, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

The only alteration of the given pledge that he considered was to add the word equality, but he knew that the other superintendents would not approve of it because, at that time in history, equality was not approved of for women and African-Americans.

Modifications

There were subsequently two modifications made to the pledge since its delivery in that program. The first was in 1923 and 1924 at the National Flag Conference. The conference was headed by the Daughters of the American Revolution and by the American Legion. They changed the pledge to say “the flag of the United States of America” instead of the original version that said “my flag”. Bellamy’s disapproved of this change, but his objections were ignored. In 1954, The Knights of Columbus waged a campaign to change the wording once more and their change involved adding the words “under God” into the pledge after “one nation”. Congress agreed and passed the change into law, making the pledge both a patriotic oath and a public prayer.

Bellamy's granddaughter reported that he would have also disapproved of this change in the pledge. He had been forced to resign his position as pastor of his church in 1891 because of his socialistic sermons.

Later in life, Bellamy retired to Florida. He eventually stopped attending church services because of the racial bigotry that ran rampant in those days.

Further Changes to the Pledge

As of 2010, many believe the pledge will probably be changed again in the next 10 years. There are speculations as to what changes will be made. Some believe that the change will include the addition of the words born and unborn at the very end of the pledge. This proposed change comes from those that fight for the right to life for unborn babies.

The second change that some believe will be made to the pledge is to finally include the one word that Bellamy couldn’t include in the original version: equality. Many lawsuits have also been filed over the years declaring that the pledge isn’t constitutional and that children shouldn’t be forced to recite it.  The language "and God" in the pledge is believed by some to be forcing a particular religion on children. The defense attorneys supplied by the ACLU have won many of these suits.