Generations of growing up doing the Pledge of Allegiance with hand over heart creates an mental image of it always having been done that way.
But until World War II, the tradition (indeed, flag law itself (https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Public_Law_77-623#Sec._7.) was to perform the Pledge using the "Bellamy salute" — a tradition that was ended a year after we went to war against Germans and Italians who used a very similar salute in their own patriotic displays.
Originally shared by +Colm Buckley
TIL…
Bellamy salute – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Bellamy salute is the salute described by Francis Bellamy, Christian socialist minister and author, to accompany the American Pledge of Allegiance, which he had authored. During the period when it was used with the Pledge of Allegiance, it was sometimes known as the “flag salute”.
That is really interesting, especially how the changed meaning was used as propaganda to show connections where there is none. I've seen the videos of kids using the Bellamy salute that were being shown as "indoctrination" when they could just as easily been a group of kids saluting the flag prior to WWII….
Fear and symbols are a powerful motivator.
+Andrew Eva Of course, one might reasonably argue that the Pledge of Allegiance in schools is also "indoctrination" of children.
A few short years ago, I visited the Memorial Day Museum in Waterloo, NY. Very enthusiastic and knowledgeable curator, BTW. She had copies of the original publication wherein was found Bellamy’s Pledge. I mentioned the Bellamy salute and she told me I was the first person she had as a visitor who knew about that ahead of time! I found that astonishing, and still do.