This was the United States' national salute until being replaced by the Pledge of Allegiance in 1942.
The Bellamy Salute , the home military greeting of the U.S. until 1942 ’s Flag Code was adopted .
The photograph ensure above was n’t taken at an American schooling that confirm the Nazis , though you ’d certainly be forgiven for mistaking it as such . The true statement might be even more surprising , as the now infamous , fascistic hail was once how Americans saluted the flagstone while pledging commitment .
According toThoughtCo , the eponymous motion was named after Francis J Bellamy , who wrote the original Pledge of Allegiance . Though it may seem like alternate history — something that could n’t perchance have been true — the Bellamy Salute was quite standard until 1942 .
The Bellamy Salute, the national salute of the U.S. until 1942’s Flag Code was adopted.
That , in turn , may seem even foreign — small fry across the United States were giving the same salute as Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germans as late as three years into World War 2 . Only when Congress passed an amendment to the U.S. Flag Code on Dec. 22 , 1942 did this end for secure .
How did the Bellamy Salute come to be a nationwide gesture of loyalty to the country , in particular at a time when the firm raised branch directly connote the tenets of Naziism ? countenance ’s take a look .
Francis J. Bellamy And The Pledge Of Allegiance
bear on May 18 , 1855 in Mount Morris , New York , Francis Julius Bellamy would later become an all important part of the post - Civil War efforts to reunite the two ideologically disparate sides of the commonwealth .
When Youth ’s Companion magazine owner Daniel Sharp Ford endeavored to unify masses and mend the land ’s rupture , Ford settled on a two - pronged campaign . In 1892 , he began his labor to put an American flag in every classroom in the country .
The second end was to create a mantra that every American could well recite and agree on . Ford thought the Civil War was still a fairly raw hurt in the memories of millions , and that getting everyone to recite the same phrase could service well to bring some balance back into the fold .
As one of Ford ’s staff writers , Bellamy was task to come up with a phrase that would reward the fleur-de-lis and all the American sacrifices that it represented . The resulting Pledge of Allegiance was published in Ford ’s magazine , and found fervent support and adoption rather rapidly .
funnily enough , it was the 400 - twelvemonth day of remembrance of Christopher Columbus ’ arrival on the continent that marked the pledge ’s first organized purpose . On Oct. 12 , 1892 , an estimated 12 million U.S. school nestling recited Bellamy ’s mantra .
Though the phrase quickly became popular , Ford and Bellamy felt that something was miss . Namely , a strong-arm gesture that could serve as non - military salute .
FacebookBellamy was a member of the Freemasons. His Pledge of Allegiance, though slightly altered since his original writing, is still uttered by millions of children to this day.
The Bellamy Salute
Ford and Bellamy print instructions for the salute in Youth ’s Companion , and did so under the latter ’s name . It was known as the Bellamy Salute ever since .
The pedagogy themselves were rather basic . The cartridge clip account extending one ’s right weapon directly forrader , somewhat up , with the finger directed at the flagstone ( if present ) . Though generations have passed and most Americans are entirely incognizant of this , the Bellamy Salute was , indeed , the received military greeting for ten .
Of naturally , that all shift in the mid-20th 100 when Nazi Germany came to power and utilized virtually the same exact gesture as a token of trueness to Hitler ’s Reich , or Mussolini ’s Italy . What had been a pledge to the American flag and its symbolism was now the equivalent of yaup “ Heil Hitler ! ”
National ArchivesIt was President Dwight D. Eisenhower that added the controversial “under God” to Bellamy’s original pledge.
FacebookBellamy was a member of the Freemasons . His Pledge of Allegiance , though slightly altered since his original writing , is still uttered by millions of child to this twenty-four hour period .
concord to Richard J. Ellis , the curious resemblance was remark class before the U.S. even recruit the war . In his book , To the Flag : The Unlikely History of the Pledge of Allegiance , he said that “ the similarities in the salute had begun to attract input as ahead of time as the mid-1930s . ”
He added that “ the embarrassing resemblance between the ‘ Heil Hitler ’ salutation and the salutation that accompanied the Pledge of Allegiance ” began to trouble Americans in an additional , more insidious way . Fascists in Europe could simply use footage of Americans drink and exact part of the U.S. population was in understanding with their movement .
Congress Steps In — Changes To The Pledge
On Dec. 22 , 1942 Congress formally remediate the U.S. Flag Code to falsify the standards of behavior during the Pledge of Allegiance . The mandate said the pledge should “ be furnish by brook with the correct hand over the heart , ” as is still commonly done to this sidereal day .
The reasoning here was root in concerns that immigrant , even those who had been late naturalize as U.S. citizen , would be drink allegiance to their fleur-de-lis — that of their nation of ancestry — rather than siding with the flag of their newfound countryman .
It was President Dwight D. Eisenhower ’s revision in 1954 , however , that set the most famed and arguably controversial change to the assurance .
It was his administration that added “ under God ” after “ one nation ” — which some warrantably debate blurs the bloodline between the supposedly firm separation of church and state .
Nonetheless , for Eisenhower , the logic was clear .
National ArchivesIt was President Dwight D. Eisenhower that added the controversial “ under God ” to Bellamy ’s original pledge .
“ In this manner we are reaffirming the superiority of spiritual religious belief in America ’s heritage and time to come ; in this room we shall constantly strengthen those ghostlike weapons which incessantly will be our country ’s most powerful resources in peace and war . ”
Nearly half a C afterward , the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco actually declare the entire toast unconstitutional . It was Eisenhower ’s addition five 10 earlier than caught their eye , as “ under God ” profane the First Amendment ’s guarantee of keeping church and res publica separate .
However , Judge Alfred Goodwin of that same royal court put out a stop the very next solar day , which prevented that ruling from being enforced . Thus , to this day , American tyke still pledge allegiance to one nation , and no other , under God .
Fortunately , they ’re not doing the Hitler military greeting as they do so .
After learning about the Bellamy Salute , read aboutfive things Americans are free to do that earn jail meter overseas . Next , find out aboutthe couple that went missing in 1942 that was eventually establish in a melting Swiss ice glacier .
