Who Created the Pledge of Allegiance?

The Pledge of Allegiance has been used in the United States for over 100 years, yet the 31-word oath recited today differs significantly from the original draft. Here’s how the Pledge of Allegiance evolved—and why it changed.

The idea of a verbal vow to the American flag first gained traction in 1885, when a Civil War veteran named Colonel George Balch devised a version that read: “We give our heads and our hearts to God and our country; one country, one language, one flag.”

Several schools adopted Balch’s pledge, but it was soon supplanted by a salute composed by Francis Bellamy, a Christian socialist and former Baptist minister. In 1892, while working for a magazine called The Youth’s Companion, Bellamy was enlisted to write a new pledge for use in patriotic celebrations surrounding the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the New World. The magazine partnered with schools to encourage flag ceremonies and sold American flags as part of the initiative.

Bellamy initially considered incorporating the French Revolution motto “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity." After puzzling over the project, he penned an oath that read: “I pledge allegiance to my flag and the republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” The pledge debuted nationally on October 12, 1892, on Columbus Day, when millions of schoolchildren participated in coordinated patriotic exercises.

Some researchers have questioned Francis Bellamy's authorship. Evidence suggests the pledge may have originated with a 13-year-old Kansas schoolboy coincidentally named Frank E. Bellamy, who reportedly submitted a similar oath to a patriotic competition sponsored by The Youth’s Companion in 1890. Most historians and official government sources, however, continue to credit Francis Bellamy as the pledge’s author.

The Bellamy pledge gained popularity in public schools during the late-19th and early-20th centuries, but it continued to undergo occasional tweaks and revisions. Originally, the pledge referred to “my flag.” But in 1923 and 1924, the National Flag Conference revised the wording to “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.” The change was made amid rising immigration concerns that new Americans might interpret “my flag” as referring to their country of origin rather than the U.S. flag.

In 1942, Congress officially adopted the pledge and decreed that it should be recited while holding the right hand over the heart. Before then, the pledge had included a so-called “Bellamy salute”—extending the right arm toward the flag with the hand outstretched—but with the rise of fascism in Europe, many felt the gesture too closely resembled a Nazi salute.

A final revision to the national oath came in 1954 during the Cold War. In response to lobbying by religious groups and fraternal organizations—and with the support of President Dwight D. Eisenhower—Congress passed a bill that added the words “under God.”

One of the most significant moments in the pledge’s history did not involve its wording but whether Americans should be compelled to say it.

In West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that public school students cannot be forced to salute the flag or recite the pledge. The case was brought by Jehovah’s Witness families who objected on religious grounds.