Bellamy SaluteEdit
The Bellamy Salute, also known as the outstretched-arm salute, was the customary gesture used in the United States to accompany the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance from the late 19th century into the early 1940s. Named after Francis Bellamy, the Baptist minister who authored the Pledge, the salute consisted of a straight, extended right arm aimed toward the flag with the palm down. It became a widespread civic ritual taught in schools and performed at public ceremonies as part of a broader project to cultivate national unity and shared citizenship during a period of rapid social and political change.
The gesture served as a tangible symbol of allegiance to the republic and was tied to the celebratory spirit of the era, including the late 19th-century push for national identity in the wake of immigration and urbanization. Its use spread beyond classrooms into public events and patriotic ceremonies, and it was closely associated with the Pledge of Allegiance, which sought to affirm loyalty to the United States and to the constitutional order that underpinned republican government.
In the 1930s and early 1940s, however, the Bellamy Salute became entwined in a broader international controversy. The appearance of a raised, extended arm in Europe’s fascist movements—most notably under Nazi Germany—led many to view the gesture with suspicion, even though Bellamy’s original design long predated those regimes. During World War II, as the United States confronted fascism abroad, the symbolism of the salute was reassessed at home. In 1942, the United States Flag Code was amended to standardize a different gesture for the Pledge of Allegiance: the right hand over the heart. The change was promoted as a prudent move to avoid any association with militaristic or fascist displays while preserving the core civic ritual of pledging allegiance to the flag and the republic.
Since then, the basic practice in civilian life has been the hand-over-heart salute during the recitation of the pledge, and the Bellamy Salute has largely faded from formal use in schools and public ceremonies. The shift did not erase the historical importance of the gesture, but it did distance American patriotic rituals from a symbol that had become politically charged by association with a totalitarian regime abroad. In military and other formal contexts, the flag and its accompanying rituals continue to function as a focal point for national remembrance and civic participation, even as new forms of ceremony and new norms have emerged.
Controversies and debates
Historical associations versus practical heritage: Critics have argued that the Bellamy Salute carried a troubling legacy because it resembled gestures used by totalitarian movements. Proponents of the post-1942 practice contend that the United States can maintain shared patriotic rituals while clearly separating American civic identity from the symbols of tyranny that arose elsewhere. The revision to the pledge ceremony is often cited as a prudent, constitutionally appropriate adjustment that preserves civic ritual without importing foreign authoritarian imagery.
The nature of patriotism and inclusion: Some critics have claimed that traditional civic rituals privilege a particular historical form of expression and may feel exclusionary to people who interpret the gesture through the lens of 20th-century political tragedy. Supporters of the shift argue that the core purpose of the pledge—loyalty to the republic and its constitutional guarantees—can be fulfilled through gestures that are widely accessible and symbolically neutral in their modern form, while still honoring the historical origins of the pledge.
Continuity of tradition versus modern sensibilities: In debates about national symbols, conservatives often emphasize the value of continuity, ceremony, and shared memory as bulwarks of civic virtue. They argue that reaffirming loyalty to the flag and the republic through familiar rituals supports social cohesion and an orderly civic life. Critics from other perspectives may insist that ceremonies ought to evolve in light of evolving norms and historical understanding; the response from supporters is that enduring rituals can be preserved when they do not solicit or celebrate extremist associations.
The broader arc of the pledge itself: The Pledge of Allegiance has undergone other changes—most famously the addition of the words “under God” in the 1950s—reflecting ongoing debates about the relationship between religious expression and national identity. While these changes are distinct from the specifics of the Bellamy Salute, they are part of the same broader conversation about how a nation remembers its past while adapting to present-day values. See Pledge of Allegiance for related discussion of text, ritual, and symbolism.
See also