Constitutionality of the "Pledge of Allegiance"
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The history of the pledge is interesting and informative of the twists and turns in our history. The pledge was originally thought up as an anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant device by Baptist minister, Francis Bellamy, who also was a socialist. The original pledge was crafted in 1892.
The elite thought the various peoples who were pouring into the country owed allegiance to the Pope, kings, other potentates, don't you see? What is rather odd about the pledge is the adoration of the flag, not the constitution or something else more relevant to the essence of the country.
The pledge had to be crafted carefully so that question of equality did not spring up because after all, Blacks, Indians, Women, Chinese, and more, did not have the vote, and we wouldn't want that to become a matter of controversy, do we? So the flag was the device to be given allegiance, which is odd if you think about it.
The pledge picked up steam. What is really funny is that you were supposed to give the Roman salute when you pledged. Now, that became a problem in the 1930's and 1940's since the Nazi and Fascist salute also were based on the Roman salute. Originally Bellamy wanted everyone to give a type of military salute when pledging. Congress made the pledge official in 1942.
In an irony that often pops up in history, the Catholics in this country were responsible for the addition of under God into the originally anti-Catholic pledge.
In 1954, after a campaign initiated by the Catholic Knights of Columbus, Senator Homer Ferguson of Michigan sponsored a bill to amend the pledge to include the words under God, to distinguish the U.S. from the officially atheist Soviet Union, and to remove the appearance of flag and nation worship. President Eisenhower got behind it and it passed.
The phrase "nation, under God" previously appeared in Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, and echoes the Declaration of Independence. On June 8, 1954, Congress adopted this change and that is what we have today.
