What the Pledge of Allegiance Means to Me

The Pledge of Allegiance to the United States flag is an oath of loyalty to our country

What is an oath?It is a promise we make to our country.

It is often recited in schools, at public events, and our Congress opens with reciting the Pledge.

The Pledge of Allegiance was written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister. President Harrison proclaimed that it should be recited by all school children that same year

Reciting of the pledge is accompanied by a salute.

Arms stretched out to the flag was the earliest salute used by schoolchildren

Later, the hand over the heart became the salute used to pledge our allegiance.

What does it mean to place your hand over your heart?

When you repeat the Pledge of Allegiance, what do the words mean?

The flag is a symbol.

What is a symbol?

A symbol is something that stands for something else

What does our flag symbolize?

It stands for our country, which is a republic. A republic is a democratic government where all citizens have a voice in their government!

So the flag stands not only for our nation and for all of us!

The pledge describes our nation as being ONE, indivisible with liberty and justice for everyone

Indivisible means that we are united and cannot be divided.

Liberty means we promise freedoms, such as speech and religion, to every citizen.Justice means we follow our laws and treat all people fairly and equally.

Did you know that the words to our pledge have not always stayed the same

The original pledge did not include the words under God

President Eisenhower signed a new law adding those words on Flag Day (June 14) in 1954.

What the Pledge of Allegiance Means to You?