Pledge of Allegiance

noun

1. a solemn oath of allegiance or fidelity to the U.S., beginning, “I pledge allegiance to the flag,” and forming part of many flag-saluting ceremonies in the U.S.

Pledge of Allegiance

1. Also called the “Pledge to the Flag.” The American patriotic vow, which is often recited at formal government ceremonies, including Independence Day ceremonies for new citizens: “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.”

Notes

The phrase under God , added in 1954 (more than sixty years after the pledge was originally published), has inspired heated debate over the separation of church and state .

Example Sentences

Too-cool-for-school upper-class students at Santa Monica High scoffed when administrators in 2002 reinstated a daily recitation of the pledge of allegiance.

From Los Angeles Times

Constitution, Bill of Rights, Pledge of Allegiance, and Declaration of Independence inserted, “bound in leather or leather-like material for durability.”

From Salon

I protested the Vietnam War and refused to say the Pledge of Allegiance because the United States hadn’t yet achieved “liberty and justice for all.”

From Los Angeles Times

Persichitti led the Pledge of Allegiance at this year’s Memorial Day remembrance in East Rochester.

From Seattle Times

Since his first 2024 campaign rally in Texas more than a year ago, Trump typically opens the events with a recording of the so-called J6 Prison Choir, made up of insurrectionist inmates at the D.C. jail, singing the “Star-Spangled Banner” over his taped recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.

From Los Angeles Times