Is it weird Americans pledge allegiance to a flag?

[Anonymous]

After all a flag is just a symbol, a piece of cloth. Wouldn't it make more sense for the Pledge to say "I pledge allegiance to the republic of the United States of America, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all" and still face the flag?

Do other countries do this?

yes, it's weird to pledge allegiance to a symbol

No, it's not weird to pledge allegiance to a symbol if the symbol stands for something important

other

Updates

+1 y

Wouldn't it make more sense to pledge allegiance to the country, not the country's flag?

[strateguy632]

i don't know what other countries do, but pledging allegiance to a flag is the smartest clearest way.

this is not about loving, this is about allegiance, and loyalty. so the simplest way to show the republic as they do say, is by the symbol.

whenever they see the symbol that is the symbol for the republic therefore the allegiance is through the simple symbol.

admittedly when i was in prescool i pledged allegiance and only knew the word flag! i didn't know what i was saying!

how can a 3 year old understand words we never heard?

what is pledge? what is allegiance? what is this name u. s. a. mean? what is a republic? can a republic stand?

after a few weeks i got fed up. and asked the nanny what are we saying.

"just say it!"

well i was probably the youngest "rebel" refusing to pledge allegiance unintentionally!

[strateguy632]

now i understand why asker skipped the word stand!
"for the republic for which it stands" was how they said "the flag stands for the republic"
which is the reason they used a flag! this flag stands for this republic.

[Lynx122]

I do think it's weird just because of the mindset it creates. You should love your country because it's actually great not because it was taught to you as a child. The countries with the most nationalistic educations are the ones who need to make sure people stay in line because the country is not that great. Like North Korea, Russia, China, U. S. Countries where it's actually really nice to live they don't have to do that because people automatically like it, it speaks for itself.

[Asker]

but why pledge allegiance to the flag and not just the country?

[Lynx122]

The flag is the symbol for the country. How would a parade look if there were no flags to represent the country are you just supposed to imagine a map of the country floating above the parade or something?

[Asker]

You can have the symbols and not pledge allegiance to them. There are lots of Irish flags are St. Patrick's Day parades, but no one pledges allegiance to them. It's just a piece of cloth. Would you risk your life to protect a flag?

[Lynx122]

No I wouldn't. You can't understand anything but your own perspective so it's not possible to explain this to you.

[Asker]

I want to know why some people would pledge allegiance to a symbol. It makes no sense to me. It’s like making marriage vows to a ring instead of your spouse

[Anonymous]

Are you talking about the pride flag?

[Asker]

any flag

[Opinion Owner]

Are you an American?

[Asker]

yes I am

[Opinion Owner]

Can you name a country that doesn't have a flag?

[Asker]

this is not about having a flag; it's about pledging allegiance to one

[Opinion Owner]

Then why did you mention America?

[Asker]

does any other country pledge to their flag? The US is the only country I know that does that

[Opinion Owner]

They all do. It's a symbol of patriotism. It's scary that this bothers you.

[Asker]

can you cut and paste another country's pledge to their flag?

[Opinion Owner]

Sure, but what would be the point? I regret wasting my time on you.

[Asker]

you can't, so you make up a flimsy excuse to get out of the conversation. Busted

[Opinion Owner]

I'm bored with you. But I'm sure others will indulge you in your phobia. Busted.

[AngryCarl]

Well as an Englishman my only allegiance is to Dread Cthulhu. I wouldn't even know which flag to be allegiant to. We have two.

[strateguy632]

wonderful, that is why they show the flag.

[jahaims]

Nah, standard propaganda

[Pterodon]

It instills patriotism

[Asker]

so if people didn't say it, they would be less patriotic?

[Pterodon]

It puts it on the mind

[Asker]

But why pledge allegiance to a flag? Why not just pledge allegiance to the country?

[Pterodon]

You are. It’s in the pledge

[strateguy632]

to @Pterodon part of woke goal is to destroy American culture, doubting the American flag serves to remove a "key symbol for the culture." which is the purpose of this doubt!
that is the phase woke has ALREADY reached,
trying to doubt the flag.
see my question about democrats and American flag
Should democrats start showing American flags at political events n rallies? or would American flags be a turn off n alienate the democrat voters? ↗
there.