# Countries where students recite an equivalent of the pledge of allegience **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 5, 2015, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-where-students-recite-an-equivalent-of-the-pledge-of-allegience/709064 "2015-01-05T21:11:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-where-students-recite-an-equivalent-of-the-pledge-of-allegience/709064/41 "2015-01-07T02:14:07Z")
> [@Spiny\_Norman](#): > > Same in Denmark - and my school was a bit eccentric in having even that much ceremony. Sometimes a song with patriotic content - some of them are quite good - but that might have been one in ten, if that. > > National anthem or a quick mention of the Queen? - perfectly unthinkable. Do Danish schools have pictures of Queen Margrethe II on display? I remember the high school I visited in New Zealand only had 1 flag outside (unlike in the US where one is in every room), but there were pictures of Queen Elizabeth II scattered around. > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > …I’ve often mentioned this on the boards, but on my first day of US high school I was _terrified_ when everyone else stood up in unison after some blather from the speakers and began chanting at a flag. It put me in mind of nothing so much as Chinese schoolchildren saluting a picture of Mao. It would be an understatement to say our German exchange students were freaked out by the Pledge (among other things). Didn’t help that this was after 9/11. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-where-students-recite-an-equivalent-of-the-pledge-of-allegience/709064/42 "2015-01-07T03:18:57Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Do Danish schools have pictures of Queen Margrethe II on display? I remember the high school I visited in New Zealand only had 1 flag outside (unlike in the US where one is in every room), but there were pictures of Queen Elizabeth II scattered around. > > It would be an understatement to say our German exchange students were freaked out by the Pledge (among other things). Didn’t help that this was after 9/11. Kiwi checking in here - I don’t recall any pictures of monarch or PM for that matter at school (I actually attended about 6 different schools) I also don’t remember the flag being raised on a daily basis - although I do have a vague recollection of there being a flag pole, from what I remember it was largely un-used. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-where-students-recite-an-equivalent-of-the-pledge-of-allegience/709064/43 "2015-01-07T05:18:17Z")
> [@bengangmo](#): > > Kiwi checking in here - > > I don’t recall any pictures of monarch or PM for that matter at school (I actually attended about 6 different schools) > > I also don’t remember the flag being raised on a daily basis - although I do have a vague recollection of there being a flag pole, from what I remember it was largely un-used. Did you have the [Royal Court of Arms anywhere?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_coat_of_arms_of_the_United_Kingdom) ---
**Author:** ![Imasquare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-where-students-recite-an-equivalent-of-the-pledge-of-allegience/709064/44 "2015-01-07T07:13:23Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > [Yep](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rivers_of_Blood_speech). Here’s an Australian version of Enoch Powell. [Pauline Hanson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pauline_Hanson) ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-where-students-recite-an-equivalent-of-the-pledge-of-allegience/709064/45 "2015-01-07T08:10:12Z")
> [@Imasquare](#): > > Here’s an Australian version of Enoch Powell. > > [Pauline Hanson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pauline_Hanson) Is she still around? I thought the monkey catchers had finally been able to find her and take her back to the zoo. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-where-students-recite-an-equivalent-of-the-pledge-of-allegience/709064/46 "2015-01-07T08:11:24Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Did you have the [Royal Court of Arms anywhere?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_coat_of_arms_of_the_United_Kingdom) Not that I recall BTW - a photo of Singapore’s president and his wife is displayed in schools and govt offices in Singapore ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-where-students-recite-an-equivalent-of-the-pledge-of-allegience/709064/47 "2015-01-07T09:19:59Z")
There’s a history of the pledge and controversies about it here: > **[Pledge of Allegiance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pledge_of_Allegiance)** > > The Pledge of Allegiance of the United States is a patriotic recited verse that promises allegiance to the flag of the United States and the republic of the United States of America. The first version, with a text different from the one used at present, was written in 1885 by Captain George Thatcher Balch, a Union Army officer in the Civil War who later authored a book on how to teach patriotism to children in public schools. In 1892, Francis Bellamy revised Balch's verse as part of a m Bella... > **[Criticism of the Pledge of Allegiance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_Pledge_of_Allegiance)** > > The Pledge of Allegiance of the United States has been criticized on several grounds. Its use in government funded schools has been the most controversial, as critics contend that a government-sanctioned endorsement of religion violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Arguments against the pledge include that the pledge itself is incompatible with democracy and freedom, that it is a form of nationalistic indoctrination, that pledges of allegiance are feat... I tried to find some survey of what proportion of classrooms use the pledge at all. The closest that I could find gave the following statistics, although it states this in terms of percentages of students, not classrooms. It appears that it’s more common in the early years of school than in later years: Daily: 50% Weekly: 9% Rarely: 18% Never: 23% ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-where-students-recite-an-equivalent-of-the-pledge-of-allegience/709064/48 "2015-01-07T10:24:27Z")
> [@Imasquare](#): > > Here’s an Australian version of Enoch Powell. > > [Pauline Hanson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pauline_Hanson) …who’s a local example of [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_Peril) global phenomenon. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-where-students-recite-an-equivalent-of-the-pledge-of-allegience/709064/49 "2015-01-07T14:48:15Z")
> [@Imasquare](#): > > Here’s an Australian version of Enoch Powell. > > [Pauline Hanson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pauline_Hanson) Holy shit. You have a [Shooters Party](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooters_and_Fishers_Party)! > [@Aspidistra](#): > > …who’s a local example of [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_Peril) global phenomenon. Reading through her wiki page I got the impression Hanson mostly talked about Aborigines and African immigrants rather than Asians. Is Asian immigration still a big issue in Australia? All I know about it is from _Romper Stomper_. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-where-students-recite-an-equivalent-of-the-pledge-of-allegience/709064/50 "2015-01-07T14:59:52Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Holy shit. You have a [Shooters Party](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooters_and_Fishers_Party)! > > Reading through her wiki page I got the impression Hanson mostly talked about Aborigines and African immigrants rather than Asians. Is Asian immigration still a big issue in Australia? All I know about it is from _Romper Stomper_. Yeah, the “asian invasion” was the great moral panic from when she started in politics back in the dark ages … err… 90’s. I think that was pre-significant-African-immigration, or at least, the early edge of the wave. She may have updated her policies since then. For certain values of “updated”. African muslims weren’t nearly so much of a tasty target 20 years ago … then it was all about Vietnamese gang members and Chinese businessmen buying up the country (in some quarters it’s _still_ all about Chinese businessmen buying up the country) ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-where-students-recite-an-equivalent-of-the-pledge-of-allegience/709064/51 "2015-01-08T00:44:41Z")
We had a picture of the Queen, and sometimes one of Prince Philip, in every classroom in my public and high schools (small town in Saskatchewan). ---
**Author:** ![DingoelGringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@DingoelGringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DingoelGringo)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-where-students-recite-an-equivalent-of-the-pledge-of-allegience/709064/52 "2015-01-08T00:59:59Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Very few nations have the flag culture that the US has, but that’s largely because they mostly have something else in its place. Royalty, in those places that still have it, seems to serve much the same purpose, as a symbol of the nation. So an “equivalent of the Pledge” in another country might well take the form of pledging allegiance to the Crown, or the Throne, or the monarch directly without metonymy, rather than to the flag. Or a heavy religious connotation. Here in the Dominican Republic their daily pledge in school includes the virgin etc… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-where-students-recite-an-equivalent-of-the-pledge-of-allegience/709064.md?page=2)