Loyalty Oaths: The US Pledge of Allegiance
Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI
Biblical Authority Ministries, November 25, 2025 (Donate)
The pledge of allegiance is a loyalty oath. Loyalty oaths, pledges, and covenants are nothing new, but incredibly ancient. The Pledge of Allegiance to the US Flag, in contrast, is relatively new.
But then
again, the USA is still relatively new compared to ancient nations like Greece,
India, and Egypt (though their governments have changed many times). In our 250
years, our governmental system changed too (e.g., from the Articles of
Confederation to the Constitution).
Loyalty Oaths In Scripture
There is a scriptural basis for loyalty oaths. Throughout
the 66 books of the Bible, several clear examples of loyalty oaths and pledges
appear. These include a form of “national pledges” but primarily deal with solemn
declarations of allegiance to God, His covenant, His law, His king, or His
appointed leaders.
These pledges or oaths appear in both the Old and New
Testaments and often function as covenantal commitments, sworn
responsibilities, or declarations of fidelity. Here are the major examples and
passages:
Covenant Oaths To The Lord (God Himself)
The most basic biblical loyalty declarations are covenant oaths affirming allegiance
to God. In Exodus 24:3–8 (NKJV), Israel agrees to obey the commandments God
gave through Moses, saying,
“All the words which the LORD has
said we will do.”
Moses then seals this oath with blood, marking it as a
binding covenant pledge.
A similar national commitment appears in Joshua 24. After
recounting God’s faithfulness, Joshua challenges the nation to choose whom they
will serve. The people reply three separate times that they will serve
the Lord alone (Joshua 24:16–24), forming a collective pledge of loyalty to
God. This is one of the clearest biblical parallels to a national oath.
Loyalty Oaths To Kings
Citizens of Israel pledged loyalty to King David and his successors. In 1
Chronicles 29:23–24, when Solomon becomes king, “all Israel obeyed him,” and
the leaders “submitted themselves to King Solomon,” which in context includes
formal oaths of allegiance.
Earlier, when David was crowned at Hebron, the elders of
Israel entered into a covenant with him (2 Samuel 5:1–3), an act that involved
sworn loyalty. David himself swore loyalty to King Saul (his father-in-law and
God’s anointed (1 Samuel 24:6, 10; 26:9, 23)), even though Saul, in his sinful
disobedience, sought to kill him.
Personal Oath
Individuals also swore loyalty to those God appointed. Ruth pledged lifelong
loyalty to Naomi and Naomi’s God, declaring,
“Where you go, I will go… your
people shall be my people, and your God, my God” (Ruth 1:16–17).
Though personal, this is a profound covenantal oath
involving allegiance to God. Another example is found in 1 Samuel 3:17–18,
where Samuel is bound by Eli to swear truthfully before the Lord. Elisha also
pledges loyalty to Elijah, saying,
“As the LORD lives, and as
your soul lives, I will not leave you!” (2 Kings 2:2, NKJV).
National Oath
When kings led spiritual reforms, the people renewed their covenant allegiance
through formal pledges. Under King Asa,
Then they took an oath before the
LORD with a loud voice, with shouting and trumpets and rams’ horns. And all
Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and sought
Him with all their soul; and He was found by them, and the LORD gave them rest
all around. (2 Chronicles 15:14-15, NKJV)
This included an oath and public celebration.
Post-Exile Oath
After the Babylonian exile, Israel once again swore formal allegiance to God’s
law. Nehemiah 9–10 records the people entering “a sure covenant” in writing and
“taking an oath” to obey God’s commandments and statutes (Nehemiah 10:28–31).
This is one of the most detailed and explicit covenant oaths in Scripture.
New Testament Oath Of Allegiance To Christ
While the New Testament avoids formal political-style oaths to earthly rulers,
early Christians pledged exclusive loyalty to Christ as Lord. Romans 10:9
(“confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus”) and 1 Corinthians 12:3 (“no one can
say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit”) function as verbal
declarations of allegiance to the risen King.
Baptism itself serves as a public pledge of a good
conscience toward God (1 Peter 3:21). These were particularly significant
because Christians refused the Roman loyalty oath declaring “Caesar is Lord.”
The Bible has numerous loyalty oaths (I only touched on
some): national oaths, covenantal pledges, personal oaths, and oaths of
Christ’s lordship. These function as binding declarations of allegiance and
obedience, showing that proper pledges of loyalty are biblical.
Loyalty Oaths Historically
Loyalty oaths and pledges in Western countries have deep
historical roots subsequent to biblical history. They are far older than the
modern the American Pledge of Allegiance. Loyalty oaths abound in ancient,
medieval, and early modern legal systems as a way to bind citizens, soldiers,
or officials to the state, monarch, or constitution.
Rome
In ancient Rome, for example, soldiers swore the sacramentum
militare, an oath of loyalty (in Latin) to the Roman emperor and obedience
to military commands. This military oath, which was already established by the
first century BC, possibly served as a model for later Western loyalty pledges.
Germany
In early medieval Europe, Germanic tribes and feudal systems
required vassals to swear personal oaths to their lords, binding them to
military and political allegiance. These oaths were often religious being sworn
before God thereby having a sacred obligation. As centralized kingdoms grew,
national loyalty oaths developed especially with so many wars, traitors, and
spies.
Germany also has a long oath tradition rooted in the
medieval Holy Roman Empire, in which officials swore loyalty to the emperor or
local rulers. In the nineteenth century, with the rise of the German Empire
under Prussia, soldiers and officials swore allegiance to the Kaiser (ruler/emperor).
In modern times, the Nazi regime infamously replaced
traditional state oaths with personal loyalty directly to Adolf Hitler (the Führereid)
starting in 1934, an example of how oaths can be manipulated for authoritarian
purposes. After World War II, West Germany required oaths to the constitution
and democratic order rather than any leader.
England
In England, loyalty oaths go back at least to the reign of
Henry II in the AD 1100s, when commoners were required to swear allegiance
against traitors. One major turning point was the Oath of Supremacy (1534),
instituted under Henry VIII, requiring subjects and clergy to acknowledge the
king as head of the Church of England.
Refusal was considered treason, and prominent leaders like
Sir Thomas More were executed for opposing it. After the English Civil War and
the Glorious Revolution, the 1689 Bill of Rights renewed the requirement
for oaths affirming loyalty to the monarch and Protestant succession. These
oaths continued to develop into the modern “Oath of Allegiance,” still taken
today by public officials, members of Parliament, and naturalized citizens.
France
In France, loyalty oaths can be traced to the medieval
feudal period but became especially prominent during the French Revolution. The
1791 Constitution required a serment civique (civic oath)
affirming loyalty to the nation, the law, and the king, later replaced by oaths
pledging fidelity to the Republic.
Clergy were also compelled to swear loyalty to the Civil
Constitution of the Clergy, and that caused major divisions within the
church. Subsequent French regimes—Napoleonic, Bourbon, republican, etc.—each
required various forms of loyalty declarations, often shifting with political
change.
Other Western Nations
Other Western nations developed similar practices. Canada,
Australia, and New Zealand inherited British-style oaths of allegiance to the
Crown, later updated to reflect constitutional norms.
Switzerland has long required military oaths tied to its
confederation, while the Netherlands and Scandinavian countries maintain
constitutional oaths for officials, judges, and monarchs. Many modern European
pledges now emphasize loyalty to a constitution, democracy, or human rights
rather than to a particular ruler.
Overall, Western loyalty oaths extend back nearly two
millennia in military forms and well over a thousand years in civic and
political forms. While the content and focus have changed—shifting from loyalty
to kings, to nations, to constitutions—the tradition of binding public
commitment through an oath or pledge was a common act in Western history. Which
brings me to the United States (I know that was a long introduction!)
The USA Pledge of Allegiance
All this history brings me to the Pledge of Allegiance in
the United States. Its specific history begins in the late 1880s after the Civil
War. It was meant to encourage national unity and civic education among
schoolchildren (especially those migrating here) and especially after war torn
times as love for a nation wanes.
One of the earliest school pledges was the Balch pledge,
authored in 1887 by Rear Admiral George Balch—a Civil War veteran. Balch, wanting
to help immigrant children mix into American civic life, crafted a pledge that
emphasized loyalty to the flag and the principles of the republic. His version
read:
“We give our heads and hearts to
God and our country; one country, one language, one flag.”
This pledge was adopted by many public schools and patriotic
organizations, but its specific purpose eventually left educators and civic
leaders wanting a more universal and national form of expression.
In 1892, Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister writing for The
Youth’s Companion, composed what became known as the Bellamy Pledge.
Bellamy wrote it for the national public school celebration of the 400th
anniversary of Columbus’s arrival in 1492. His original wording was:
“I pledge allegiance to my Flag and
the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all.”
Bellamy intended the pledge to express loyalty to the Constitution
Republic and like Balch having a unity of the nation after the Civil War—as the
Civil War prevented the nation from being divided. As you might be able to
tell, the original wording did not include “the United States of America”, “under
God”, and it also said “my flag”.
As the pledge gained nationwide acceptance among schools and
civic groups, revisions appeared to clarify its language. In 1923, during a National
Flag Conference, the phrase “my Flag” was changed to “the
Flag of the United States” to avoid confusion among immigrants who might
think it referred to their country of origin.
In 1924, the wording was refined again to “the Flag of the
United States of America,” creating the version that remained standard
for the next three decades.
The most significant revisited change came in 1954 during
the Cold War and about a decade after WWII. Motivated by concerns over
atheistic communism and previous atheistic Nazi beliefs, US Congress added the
words “under God” after “one nation.” This was a return to the godly form that
was originally in the Balch pledge that was neglected for far too long. It drew
the distinction that the US was founded upon and still stood on a godly
heritage as opposed to the communistic trend in some places.
Christian President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was victorious
militarily in WWII in Europe supported the addition, stating that it would
reaffirm the spiritual foundations of the nation. It returned to a godly
heritage as Balch’s pledge originally intended.
With this change, the Pledge of Allegiance reached its final
and current form:
“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.”
Despite these changes, the pledge has consistently served as a statement of national loyalty and shared American ideals. And continues today.
Note the importance of a pledge—both historical and today—those in the USA who refuse to honor and affirm The
Pledge of Allegiance to the USA are not loyal to the USA but to a foreign
nations and influence.
Post-Script: Two More Popular Pledges of Allegiance
The US Pledge is still said in many classrooms across the nation
and even many churches during special occasions as well. Christians also have a
Pledge of Allegiance to the Christian Flag (a couple of early variants and
a final revised one that is the most common) and the Pledge of Allegiance to
the Bible (which is basically a merging of some Bible verses).
These are often used in Christian schools, VBS, or churches
alongside the US Pledge of Allegiance. For your reference, they are
printed below:
Early Christian Flag Pledge (by Lynn Harold Hough)
“I pledge allegiance to my flag and
the Savior for whose kingdom it stands; one brotherhood uniting all mankind in
service and love.”
First Revised Version:
“I pledge allegiance to the
Christian flag, and to the Savior, for whose Kingdom it stand, one faith,
uniting all Christians in service and love.”
Final Revised version:
“I pledge allegiance to the
Christian Flag and to the Savior for whose Kingdom it stands. One Savior,
crucified, risen, and coming again with life and liberty to all who believe.”
Pledge to the Bible (based largely on Psalm 119:11 and Psalm
119:105)
“I pledge allegiance to the Bible,
God’s Holy Word. I will make it a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path,
and will hide its words in my heart that I might not sin against God.”
□
Bodie Hodge, Ken Ham's son in law, has been an apologist
since 1998 helping out in various churches and running an apologetics website.
He spent 21 years working at Answers in Genesis as a speaker, writer, and
researcher as well as a founding news anchor for Answers News. He was also head
of the Oversight Council.
Bodie launched Biblical Authority Ministries in 2015 as a
personal website and it was organized officially in 2025 as a 501(c)(3). He has
spoken on multiple continents and hosts of US states in churches, colleges, and
universities. He is married with four children.
