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Two things a young kindergartner learned at James Madison elementary school in San Gabriel, California.  One was how to drop and duke under our desks when the communists dropped the bomb (atomic of course) and two, was the Pledge of Allegiance

While processing one of my many Hymnals for sale on the web I found a twofer.  Church School Hymnal for Youth, published by Pilgrim Press, 1940 was offered in the bases at over $15 on average.  Great, I would sell at $5.  Then I opened the cover page and had to stand at attention.  There was a paste in Pledge of Allegiance.

     No, wait it was a “Pledge to the Stars and Stripes”, same thought, different words

“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.”

     But where was the “God”.   I have known as gospel that God was in our nation forever and ever.  Evidently the history of the pledge came about to “teaching children, especially those of immigrants, loyalty to the United States,”[1] Captain George T. Balch wrote in 1887,

“We give our heads and hearts to God and our country; one country, one language, one flag!”

     In 1892 Rev. Francis Bellamy wrote his own version. 

“I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

      Bellamy was a Baptist and Christian Socialist.   

“As a socialist, he had initially also considered using the words equality and fraternity but decided against it, knowing that the state superintendents of education on his committee were against equality for women and African Americans.”[2]

Also, he wanted to tie into the movement to place flags in every school room.    

“Subsequently, the Pledge was first used in public schools on October 12, 1892, during Columbus Day observances organized to coincide with the opening of the World’s Columbian Exposition (the Chicago World’s Fair), Illinois.[3]

The rest is history.  No wait, the pledge changes several times before our present pledge is adopted.

    So, a communist, writes the pledge and God comes back in in 1954.  

     But God was there all along.  A “Pledge to the Christian Flag” was printed after the Fleur-de-lis

“I pledge Allegiance to the Christian flag, and to the Savior for whose kingdom it stands; one brotherhood, uniting all mankind in service and in love”

      Modern changes substituted “Christians” for “Mankind”. This pledge came in 1907 by Charles Overton and Ralph Diffendorfer. 

     And what about the salute?  In 1887  

“This salute accompanied the Balch pledge and instructed students to stand with their right hand outstretched toward the flag, the fingers of which are then brought to the forehead, followed by being placed flat over the heart, and finally falling to the side.”

“In 1892, Francis Bellamy created what was known as the Bellamy salute. It started with the hand outstretched toward the flag, palm down, and ended with the palm up. Because of the similarity between the Bellamy salute and the Nazi salute, which was adopted in Germany later, the US Congress stipulated that the hand-over-the-heart gesture as the salute to be rendered by civilians during the Pledge of Allegiance and the national anthem in the US would be the salute to replace the Bellamy salute. Removal of the Bellamy salute occurred on December 22, 1942,”

[4]

     So myth-takes were made and history changes at the whim of the people and their legislators. Therefore read and make your own history. 

[1] Pledge of Allegiance – Wikipedia

[2]  Baer, John W. “The Pledge of Allegiance A Short History”. Archived from the original on September 27, 2010

[3]  Miller, Margarette S. (1976). Twenty Three Words: A Biography of Francis Bellamy: Author of the Pledge of Allegiance. Portsmouth, Vir.: Printcraft Press. pp. 63–65 ISBN 0-686-15626-9

[4] Bellamy_salute_1915.jpg (3462×1952) (boweryboyshistory.com)