Pledge of Allegiance Law and Legal Definition
The Pledge of Allegiance to the U.S. flag derives fromb a 22-word recitation in the September 8, 1892 a Boston-based youth magazine "The Youth's Companion". It was published for school children to use during planned activities the following month to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Columbus' discovery of America.
It is now popularly recited daily by schoolchildren in the classroom and reads as follows:
"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."
There has recently been controversy over a 9th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals ruling in 2002 that the Pledge of Allegiance is “unconstitutional” and cannot be recited in public schools because it contains the words “under God.”