| Change | Date | Effect on the pledge | Planning use |
|---|---|---|---|
| First printing in The Youth’s Companion | September 8, 1892 | Published in a Boston-based youth magazine | Treat this as the anchor date for any question about the original version. |
| “my Flag” replaced with “the flag of the United States” | 1923 | The flag named in the pledge became the national flag | Date any quotation that says “my Flag” to before this change. |
| “of America” added after “United States” | 1924 | The country’s name was completed | Use 1924 for the first wording that names the flag of the United States of America. |
| Pledge included in the Flag Code | June 22, 1942 | First recognition by Congress | Say “officially recognized by Congress”, not “adopted when first printed”. |
| Right hand over the heart established | 1942 | Replaced the outstretched-arm Bellamy salute | Use 1942 as the date for the change in gesture. |
| “under God” added | June 14, 1954 (Flag Day) | The last change in the pledge’s language | Treat any text without these words as pre-1954. |
Dates are drawn from the American Legion’s account of the pledge and the Texas VFW Auxiliary’s pledge history.
The history of the pledge of allegiance began with a September 8, 1892 magazine printing. Congress gave no form of it official recognition until June 22, 1942.
The pledge is one of several national symbols with a surprisingly recent paper trail. For more stories like it, browse our fun history facts, or compare it with the liberty bell facts, where the popular story and the record also differ.
What the wording changes mean when you quote the pledge
The pledge is not a single fixed text that has existed since 1892. Which words are correct depends on the year you are describing, so a quotation should always carry its date.
- Quoting the 1892 text. The University of Rochester quotes the opening as “I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible.” Use that form only for the earliest printing.
- Quoting the very early revision. Soon after the Columbus Day celebration, the word “to” was inserted before “the Republic,” according to the same Rochester account. The American Legion reproduces the early wording as “to my Flag and to the Republic for which it stands one Nation.” That form suits a description of the first few years of use.
- Quoting an interim version. The Legion dates the change from “my Flag” to “the flag of the United States” to 1923, and the addition of “of America” to the following year. Anyone writing about the pledge between those dates should expect a transitional text.
- Quoting the current wording. The words “under God” entered with the Flag Day 1954 law. Any version containing them cannot predate that year.
A common mistake is to say the pledge was “adopted” in 1892. It was published then, but the formal congressional step came decades later, as explained below.
Who wrote the pledge and where it first appeared
First printing in The Youth’s Companion
The Texas VFW Auxiliary records that on September 8, 1892, a Boston-based youth magazine, The Youth’s Companion, published the pledge. It was timed for the Columbus Day celebration on October 12, 1892, which marked the 400th anniversary of Columbus’s arrival. The government’s educational site Ben’s Guide to U.S. Government says Francis Bellamy wrote it in 1892 to mark that anniversary.
Schools picked up the habit quickly. According to the University of Rochester, New York became the first state to legislate the requirement in 1898, and by 1913 twenty-three states had passed such laws. Written for one national celebration, the pledge became a classroom routine through state law before Congress had said anything about it.
Bellamy and the authorship question
The Texas VFW Auxiliary notes that the words were published anonymously and without a copyright. It names two men as the possible authors, Francis Bellamy and James Upham, and says it is still unknown which of them wrote them. The safest phrasing is therefore that Bellamy is the author credited by the government’s Ben’s Guide, with the dispute unresolved.
Bellamy himself later offered a judgement of the wording. The Rochester account quotes him saying the pledge “would seem far better adapted to educated adults than to children.” That remark helps explain why the text kept being adjusted and why children have long recited words they may not fully parse.
The wording changes, step by step
From 1892 to 1924: naming the flag
The first two edits were small. The early insertion of “to” before “the Republic” came shortly after the 1892 celebration. In 1923, the Legion says, “my Flag” was replaced because of some foreign-born people, and the pledge began to name the flag of the United States. “Of America” followed a year later, in 1924.
The Rochester account adds that in 1923 an American Legion commission recommended that Congress officially adopt Bellamy’s pledge as the national Pledge. Congress did not do so then, but the recommendation set up the 1942 step.
1942: Congress recognizes the pledge
On June 22, 1942, Congress included the Pledge to the Flag in the Flag Code, the Texas VFW Auxiliary records. The American Legion states that no form of the pledge had official recognition from Congress before that day. This is the answer to whether Congress officially adopted it: yes, in 1942, as part of the Flag Code rather than as a new law of its own.
1954: “under God”
The Legion calls the Flag Day 1954 law the last change in language. The Texas VFW Auxiliary gives the approval date as June 14, 1954, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower approved adding the words “under God.” That makes 1954 the date for the Cold War revision. No wording earlier than that contained them.
The Bellamy salute and why it ended
The pledge was first said with the right hand in the so-called Bellamy salute, with the right hand extended outward from the chest, as the American Legion describes it. The gesture was part of the original practice, not a later invention or rumor.
The Legion also records why it fell out of use. After Hitler came to power, some Americans were concerned that the position of the arm and hand resembled the Nazi or Fascist salute. In 1942, the same year as the Flag Code, Congress established the current practice of rendering the pledge with the right hand over the heart.
The pledge is not given with a salute today. Ben’s Guide says it should be recited standing up, facing the flag, with the right hand over the heart. Anyone describing a period photograph of outstretched arms should say the gesture was standard before 1942, not that it was a political statement of its own time.
State laws, Congress and the Supreme Court
The pledge’s legal status developed in layers. State laws came first, beginning with New York in 1898. Congress followed in 1942, and the Supreme Court then limited how far the custom could be required.
The Texas VFW Auxiliary reports that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that school children could not be forced to recite the Pledge, one year after the 1942 sanction. The University of Rochester places an oft-quoted opinion on the subject on Flag Day, 1943. For students and teachers, the lasting implication is that recitation is a voluntary civic ritual rather than a compulsory one.
Frequently asked questions
What is the official name of the pledge, and when was it set?
The American Legion says the official name, The Pledge of Allegiance, was adopted in 1945.
Who must approve a future change to the words?
Under the Flag Code arrangement described by the American Legion, any future change would need the consent of the President.
Was the pledge protected by copyright?
No. The Texas VFW Auxiliary says it was published anonymously and without a copyright, which is part of why its authorship is still debated.
