When was the Pledge written?
Answer
In 1892
Explanation
The Pledge of Allegiance was written in 1892. It was composed by Francis Bellamy, a 37-year-old former Baptist minister and Christian socialist working as an editor at the Youth's Companion, a popular family magazine published in Boston. Bellamy wrote the Pledge for a national school program celebrating the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's 1492 voyage to the Americas, organized by the magazine to be observed on October 12, 1892, then known as Columbus Day.
The Pledge was first published in the Youth's Companion on September 8, 1892 and was recited for the first time by approximately 12 million American schoolchildren during a coordinated National School Celebration on October 21, 1892 (using the Julian to Gregorian calendar conversion of the original anniversary date). The original 1892 text read: I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. It was deliberately short, designed to be recited in 15 seconds, and it could be used by any country (Bellamy's brother was a socialist novelist, and Francis later said he intended the Pledge to be a universal statement).
The wording has been amended three times since: in 1923 the National Flag Conference replaced my Flag with the Flag of the United States to clarify it for immigrant children whose first allegiance might still be to a flag of origin, in 1924 the words of America were added, and on June 14, 1954 (Flag Day), at the height of the early Cold War, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed Public Law 83-396, adding the words under God to produce the version recited today: 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.
The Pledge was given official statutory recognition by Public Law 77-623, signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on June 22, 1942 (now codified at 4 U.S.C. section 4). The Supreme Court ruled in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943) that public school students cannot be compelled to recite the Pledge or salute the flag, holding that compulsory recitation violates the First Amendment.
Why this matters for your test
Knowing that the Pledge dates from 1892, more than a century after the Constitution, helps applicants see that American patriotic rituals were built up over time and continue to be debated and revised. The Pledge is recited at every naturalization ceremony, in countless schools, and at public meetings, and its history clarifies what new citizens are agreeing to.
Source: USCIS 128 Civics Questions (2025)
