"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."

• 1889 - June 14th Colonel Balch introduces an American Flag Salute at his NY kindergarten: “We give our heads and our hearts to God and or country; one country, one language, one Flag”
   
• 1892  The pledge, written by socialist editor and past Baptist clergyman Francis Bellamy, debuts September 8 in the juvenile periodical The Youth's Companion. It reads: "I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands; one nation indivisible, with liberty and Justice for all."   A few days later he added the word 'to' prior to 'the republic'.  After a proclamation by President Benjamin Harrison, the pledge made its debut in public schools on Oct. 12, 1892, during Columbus Day observances.
   
• 1924  After World War I, millions of immigrants who had been unable to travel to the United States during the conflict again landed on our shores. This sparked a xenophobic reaction which included, for the first time in American history, sharp limits on immigration. In keeping with the spirit of the times, organizations like the American Legion and the Daughters of the American Revolution lobbied to change the phrase "my flag" to "the flag of the United States of America."
  
  They were afraid that some of these little kids with anarchist or Communist parents, when they said 'My flag" would be thinking of the black flag of anarchy or the red flag of communism," observed Whitney Smith, director of the Flag Research Center in Winchester, Mass.
  
  Fittingly, the change takes place on Flag Day.
   
• 1940  In Minersville School District v. Gobitis, the U.S. Supreme Court upholds Pennsylvania law with opinion that local autonomy in educational policy and national unity take precedence over religious beliefs of children, thus requiring two students who were Jehovah's Witnesses, to recite Pledge in school
   
• 1942  Flag Code adopted by joint resolution of Congress, giving official government recognition to the Pledge of Allegiance; salute modified from raised stiff right arm to right hand over the heart
   
• 1943  In West Virginia State Board of Education v Barnette, the U.S. Supreme Court essentially reverses Gobitis and declares unconstitutional state laws compelling public school children to recite Pledge
   
• 1954  Religious leaders across the land form a movement to put the phrase 'under God' into the pledge. President Dwight D. Eisenhower asks congress to  put God into the pledge. Congress does what he asks, and the revised pledge reads: "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."
   
• 1978  In Lipp v Morris, the 3rd Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals, declares unconstitutional a New Jersey law requiring students to stand during the recitation of the Pledge
   
• 2002  June 26 The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules that reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools is an unconstitutional "endorsement of religion" because of the words added in 1954. The decision affects schoolchildren in eight states: Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Idaho, Montana and Hawaii.
  
  August 9 The Justice Department files an appeal of the circuit court's ruling.
   
• 2003  The U.S. Supreme Court says it will decide whether the current form of the Pledge of Allegiance is an unconstitutional blending of church and state.
   
• 2004  The U.S. Supreme Court began hearing the issues regarding the use of the phrase 'under God' in the pledge of allegiance.