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"It is the flag just as much of the man who was naturalized yesterday
as of the men whose people have been here many generations."
~ Henry Cabot Lodge ~
History of the Pledge of Allegiance
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.
Red Skelton's "Pledge of Allegiance" was first introduced on the Red Skelton Show on January 14, 1969. It has
since been twice read into the congressional record of The United States and has received numerous awards.
The Pledge
The original Pledge of Allegiance was written by Francis Bellamy. It
was first given wide publicity through the official program of the
National Public Schools Celebration of Columbus Day which was printed
in The Youth's Companion of September 8, 1892, and at the same time
sent out in leaflet form to schools throughout the country. School
children first recited the Pledge of Allegiance this way:
"I pledge allegiance to my Flag and to the Republic for which it stands
one Nation indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all."
"The flag of the United States" replaced the words "my Flag" in 1923
because some foreign-born people might have in mind the flag of the
country of their birth instead of the United States flag. A year
later, "of America" was added after "United States."
No form of the Pledge received official recognition by Congress until
June 22, 1942, when the Pledge was formally included in the U.S. Flag
Code. The official name of The Pledge of Allegiance was adopted in
1945. The last change in language came on Flag Day 1954, when Congress
passed a law, which added the words "under God" after "one nation."
Originally, the pledge was said with the right hand in the so-called
"Bellamy Salute," with the right hand resting first outward from the
chest, then the arm extending out from the body. Once Hitler came to
power in Europe, some Americans were concerned that this position of
the arm and hand resembled the Nazi or Fascist salute. In 1942 Congress
also established the current practice of rendering the pledge with the
right hand over the heart.
The Flag Code specifies that any future changes to the pledge would
have to be with the consent of the President.
Commentary on the Pledge of Allegiance by Red Skelton
1/14/1969
As a schoolboy, one of Red Skelton's teachers explained the words and
meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance to his class. Skelton later wrote
down, and eventually recorded, his recollection of this lecture. It
is followed by an observation of his own.
I
Me; an individual; a committee of one.
Pledge
Dedicate all of my worldly goods to give without self-pity.
Allegiance
My love and my devotion.
To the Flag
Our standard; Old Glory ; a symbol of Freedom; wherever she waves
there is respect, because your loyalty has given her a dignity that
shouts, Freedom is everybody's job.
Of The United
That means that we have all come together.
States
Individual communities that have united into forty-eight
great states. Forty-eight individual communities with pride and
dignity and purpose. All divided with imaginary boundaries, yet
united to a common purpose, and that is love for country.
Of America
And to the Republic
Republic--a state in which sovereign power is
invested in representatives chosen by the people to govern. And
government is the people; and it's from the people to the leaders,
not from the leaders to the people.
For which it stands
One Nation
One Nation--meaning, so blessed by God.
Indivisible
Incapable of being divided.
With Liberty
Which is Freedom; the right of power to live one's own life, without
threats, fear, or some sort of retaliation.
And Justice
The principle, or qualities, of dealing fairly with others.
For All
For All--which means, boys and girls, it's as much your country as it
is mine.
And now, boys and girls, let me hear you recite the Pledge of
Allegiance:
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.
Since I was a small boy, two states have been added to our country,
and two words have been added to the Pledge of Allegiance: Under God.
Wouldn't it be a pity if someone said that is a prayer, and that
would be eliminated from schools, too?
Red Skelton
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