The pledge was written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, who wrote it for children across the United States to recite in honor of the flag at the 400th anniversary celebration of Christopher Columbus's arrival. His salute was simple and only one sentence long:

I pledge allegiance to my flag and to the republic for which it stands-one Nation-indivisible-with liberty and justice for all.

It was well-liked and soon children were saying it every morning to begin the school day. Since those first days, there have been two changes made to his pledge. First, in 1923 the words "my flag" were changed to "the flag of the United States of America" so that there would be no question about which flag. Then in 1954 Congress decided to add the words "under God" because Abraham Lincoln had used the phrase "this nation, under God" in his Gettysburg Address.