I don't remember saluting the flag at all when I was in elementary school in the 1950s. We did put our hand over our hearts however. I find it interesting that this was the way American's saluted the flag prior to the Nazi's infamous salute. You learn something new every day...
From Slightly Warped Curiosities...
When the Pledge of Allegiance was originally written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, who was - ironically - a socialist magazine writer, he included instructions on how to properly salute the flag while reciting his oath.
Dubbed "The Ballamy Salute" after its creator, school children were instructed to recite the pledge with the right arm out in a stiff salute outstretched to the flag. This practice actually was adopted and continued until the early 1940's when it was noticed that the American salute bore a striking resemblance to a salute that another country was using.
Naturally, the salute quickly fell out of style and was replaced by placing the right hand over your heart as we do today.
Using the outstretched salute is a tradition that goes all the way back to the Romans, but after the Nazis, it's unlikely we'll see a resurgence of the original Pledge of Allegiance salute anytime soon.
2 comments:
Thank God!
Tom
Good post. However, the "slightly warped curiosities" info is somewhat confused. It wasn't "noticed that the American salute bore a striking resemblance to a salute that another country was using" it was in fact the same salute and the American salute was the ORIGIN of the salute adopted later by the National Socialist German Workers Party (see the work of the historian Dr. Rex Curry, author of "Pledge of Allegiance Secrets"). The American salute did not quickly fall out of style in that the American salute originated from 1892 and the National Socialist German Workers Party began in 1920 and grew through the 30 into 1942, when Congress decided to try to change the gesture in 1942 AFTER the USA became involved in WWII. Some said "We did it first" and "its our salute" and everyone did not immediately embrace the hand-over-the-heart. The stiff armed gesture developed because the Bellamy salute began with a military salute that was then extended out toward the flag. Also, Francis Bellamy (and his cousin Edward Bellamy) were not only socialists, they were nationalists, similar the 2 words added to the German Workers Party.
Using the outstretched salute is NOT a tradition that goes all the way back to the Romans, but that is a common myth. The stiff-arm gesture originated in the USA (from the Pledge) along with the robotic ritualism of chanting to the national flag in government schools.
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