Well, do they?
Well we (UK) don’t, and have always thought the US a bit odd about this.
There is a brief oath you have to take before being granted citizenship, but that’s it.
We in Denmark don’t have one either - I don’t think it’s that widespread, really.
OTOH, we have no oaths I know of in public life: We don’t swear in the PM, there’s no oaths in courtrooms nor in the armed forces.
S. Norman
There’s also an oath you have to take to be a MP, MSP or MWP. Police officers also have to take an oath, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the armed forces had the same.
But then these are all to the Queen, rather than the country and some people do have a problem with that. Me included.
We don’t have any pledge of allegiance, though some people in certain positions, Prime Minister for example, undertake an oath.
Anybody over here (in Germany) that I’ve told about that little American quirk has thought it to be quite unusual, to say the least.
There aren’t many other countries whose flags have the iconic significance the US one’s does. Are there any others whose very anthem is about it, for instance?
You mean you guys in them there forin countrys ain’t got no plege of allegence?
How else do you instill a reflex mentality of being comfortable in making showy displays of loyalty while in a heavily socially enforced atmosphere?
We roll up our trouser legs and do the Gumby dance. Seems reasonable…Doesn’t everyone ?
skogcat was not totally correct about Australia. It is true that there is no Pledge of Allegiance taught to Australian citizens the way that the US Pledge is taught to schoolchildren etc. in America. There is, however, a pledge that is taken by those who have immigrated to Australia and wish to become Australian citizens.
There are, in fact, two Australian Citizenship Pledges.
Number 1, which is known as the Oath, reads:
Number 2, known as the Affirmation, is identical except for the removal of the words “under God”. A potential citizen can choose either one.
These pledges were adopted in 1994, and replaced the previous pledge in which new citizens swore allegiance to the English monarch.
As the real thing doesn’t exist, in German class we were forced to memorize the American pledge, translated into German.
I heard that the american pledge of allegience was first instituted after the Civil War “one nation under God, indivisible…” maybe as insurance that through indoctrination as children we would be less likely to secceed from the union again in the future.
No, originally to commemorate Columbus Day, believe it or not, and it dates from 1892:
The whole pledge thing never made much sense to me. First, why pledge allegiance to the FLAG? The constitition would make much more sense. Second, why do it every day? Did they think I changed my mind overnight? Third, the “under god” part violates separation of church and state. And finally, forcing kids to pledge an oath of allegiance seems to stand against the very ideals that America stands for.
From here
Michael Dukakis got in a little hot water over his veto of a Massachusetts bill that would have required teachers to lead their class in the pledge each day. This site gives a pretty good overall history.
You got it all wrong… it supports the very ideals America stands for… Its in the declaration of independence: “life, liberty, and the pursuit of global assimilation”
I don’t get it. How can you have freedom if you don’t force all the children to mindlessly recite patriotic loyalty oaths that they’re too young to even understand?
When I was in primary (elementary) school in the 70s, we had to recite a pledge once a week at school assembly. I’ve forgotten the exact wording, but it was something along the lines of “I honour my Country, I respect my Flag…”. As for this being a general Australian thing, it might well have been the midnight creativity of a drunken school principal, so I can’t vouch for it.
Could someone link to the Declaration of Independence for me? I haven’t read it in a while, an apparently I’ve forgotten the language concerning global assimilation.
Sua