114-643: The Nazi salute , also known as the Hitler salute , or the Sieg Heil salute , is a gesture that was used as a greeting in Nazi Germany . The salute is performed by extending the right arm from the shoulder into the air with a straightened hand. Usually, the person offering the salute would say " Heil Hitler! " ( ' Hail Hitler! ' ), " Heil, mein Führer! " ( ' Hail, my leader! ' ), or " Sieg Heil! " ( ' Hail victory! ' ). It
228-554: A National Policy Institute conference, he quoted from Nazi propaganda and denounced Jews . In response to his cry "Hail Trump, hail our people, hail victory!", a number of his supporters gave the Nazi salute and chanted in a similar fashion to the Sieg Heil chant. CNN fired political commentator Jeffrey Lord on 10 August 2017, after he tweeted "Sieg Heil!" to Angelo Carusone, president of Media Matters for America , suggesting Carusone
342-448: A Nazi salute every time the command "Heil Hitler!" was uttered. The Supreme Court of Switzerland ruled in 2014 that Nazi salutes do not breach hate crime laws if expressed as one's personal opinion, but only if they are used in attempt to propagate Nazi ideology. Modified versions of the salute are sometimes used by neo-Nazis . One such version is the so-called " Kühnen salute" with extended thumb, index and middle finger , which
456-781: A Nazi salute to a Jewish student while another who allegedly built a swastika , which led the Toronto District School Board to launch an investigation, and condemnation by the Simon Wiesenthal Center . Gesture Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.150 via cp1114 cp1114, Varnish XID 443932675 Upstream caches: cp1114 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Fri, 29 Nov 2024 06:55:24 GMT Pledge of Allegiance The Pledge of Allegiance
570-535: A Nazi salute, while the other half gave an Olympic salute. According to the historian Richard Mandell, there are conflicting reports on whether athletes from France performed a Nazi salute or an Olympic Salute. In football , the England football team bowed to pressure from the British Foreign Office and performed the salute during a friendly match on 14 May 1938. Jehovah's Witnesses came into conflict with
684-504: A decree issued by Reich Minister of the Interior Wilhelm Frick on 13 July 1933 (one day before the ban on all non-Nazi parties), all German public employees were required to use the salute. The decree also required the salute during the singing of the national anthem and the " Horst-Wessel-Lied ". It stipulated that "anyone not wishing to come under suspicion of behaving in a consciously negative fashion will therefore render
798-526: A flag should be on every schoolhouse," so his publication "fostered a plan of selling flags to schools through the children themselves at cost, which was so successful that 25,000 schools acquired flags in the first year (1892–93). As the World's Columbian Exposition was set to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Americas, Upham sought to link the publication's flag drive to
912-467: A group of students of Pacifica High School of Garden Grove Unified School District in California was shown in a video giving the Nazi salute and singing Erika . The incident took place at an after-hours off-campus student athletics banquet. The school administration did not learn about the incident until March 2019, at which time the students were disciplined. The school did not release details of what
1026-625: A history of the pledge. Other musical versions of the Pledge have since been copyrighted, including by Beck (2003), Lovrekovich (2002 and 2001), Roton (1991), Fijol (1986), and Girardet (1983). In 1940, the Supreme Court , in Minersville School District v. Gobitis , ruled that students in public schools, including the respondents in that case— Jehovah's Witnesses who considered the flag salute to be idolatry —could be compelled to swear
1140-451: A physical gesture. A musical setting for "The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag" was created by Irving Caesar , at the suggestion of Congressman Louis C. Rabaut whose House Resolution 243 to add the phrase "under God" was signed into law on Flag Day, June 14, 1954. The composer Irving Caesar wrote and published over 700 songs in his lifetime. Dedicated to social issues, he donated all rights of
1254-547: A proclamation making the public school flag ceremony the center of the Columbus Day celebrations. This arrangement was formalized when Harrison issued Presidential Proclamation 335. Subsequently, the Pledge was first used in public schools on October 12, 1892, during Columbus Day observances organized to coincide with the opening of the World's Columbian Exposition (the Chicago World's Fair), Illinois . In his recollection of
SECTION 10
#17328633242631368-620: A resolution to add the words "under God" to the Pledge in 1953. Before February 1954, no endeavor to get the pledge officially amended had succeeded. The final successful push came from George MacPherson Docherty . Some American presidents honored Lincoln's birthday by attending services at the church Lincoln attended, New York Avenue Presbyterian Church by sitting in Lincoln's pew on the Sunday nearest February 12. On February 7, 1954, with President Dwight D. Eisenhower sitting in Lincoln's pew, Docherty,
1482-653: A socialist, he had initially also considered using the words equality and fraternity but decided against it. Francis Bellamy and Upham had lined up the National Education Association to support the Youth's Companion as a sponsor of the Columbus Day observance and the use in that observance of the American flag. By June 29, 1892, Bellamy and Upham had arranged for Congress and President Benjamin Harrison to announce
1596-540: A statement on the district "understanding the serious nature of the incident and appropriate action has been taken at one of its campuses." In May 2018, students at Baraboo High School , in Baraboo, Wisconsin , appeared to perform a Nazi salute in a photograph taken before their junior prom . The image went viral on social media six months later, sparking outrage. The school decided the students could not be punished because of their First Amendment rights. In November 2018,
1710-694: A time to maintain its customs. A compromise edict from the Reich Defense Ministry, issued on 19 September 1933, required the Hitler salute of soldiers and uniformed civil servants while singing the " Horst-Wessel-Lied " and national anthem , and in non-military encounters both within and outside the Wehrmacht (for example, when greeting members of the civilian government). At all other times they were permitted to use their traditional salutes. However, according to (pre-Nazi) Reichswehr and Wehrmacht protocol,
1824-512: A very large district that encompasses 58 square miles and includes the cities of Newport Beach and Costa Mesa . Officials from the district condemned the students' behavior and said they were working with law enforcement to collect information on the incident. On February 1, 2022, one of the pupils from Charles H. Best Middle School in North York , a district in Toronto , Ontario, Canada, performed
1938-595: A young girl) and the Queen Mother both performing a Nazi salute, accompanied by Edward VIII , taken from 17 seconds of home footage (also released by The Sun ). The footage ignited controversy in the UK, and there have been questions as to whether the release of this footage was appropriate. Buckingham Palace described the release of this footage as "disappointing", and considered pursuing legal action against The Sun , whereas Stig Abell (managing director of The Sun ) said that
2052-601: Is a patriotic recited verse that promises allegiance to the flag of the United States and the republic of the United States of America. The first version was written in 1885 by Captain George Thatcher Balch, a Union Army officer in the Civil War who later authored a book on how to teach patriotism to children in public schools. In 1892, Francis Bellamy revised Balch's verse as part of a magazine promotion surrounding
2166-506: Is also a criminal offence in Germany. In written correspondence, the number 88 is sometimes used by some neo-Nazis as a substitute for "Heil Hitler" ("H" as the eighth letter of the alphabet). Swiss neo-Nazis were reported to use a variant of the Kühnengruss, though extending one's right arm over their head and extending said three fingers has a different historical source for Switzerland, as
2280-463: Is believed to be based on an ancient Roman custom, but no known Roman work of art depicts it, nor does any extant Roman text describe it. Jacques-Louis David 's 1784 painting Oath of the Horatii displayed a raised arm salutatory gesture in an ancient Roman setting. The gesture and its identification with ancient Rome was advanced in other French neoclassic art . In 1892, Francis Bellamy introduced
2394-464: Is illegal in modern-day Germany ( Strafgesetzbuch section 86a ), Austria and Slovakia . The use of any Nazi phrases associated with the salute is also forbidden. In Italy , it is a criminal offence only if used with the intent to "reinstate the defunct National Fascist Party ", or to exalt or promote its ideology or members. In Canada and most of Europe (including the Czech Republic , France ,
SECTION 20
#17328633242632508-505: Is now categorized as "Old Pledge" with Bellamy's version under the heading "New Pledge." The "Old Pledge" was still taken in other organizations until the National Flag Conference established uniform flag procedures in 1923. In 1923, the National Flag Conference called for the words "my Flag" to be changed to "the Flag of the United States," so that foreign-born people would not confuse loyalties between their birth countries and
2622-545: Is seen as an adaption of the Fascist gesture, is that really so terrible"? Ian Kershaw points out that Hess did not deny the likely influence from Fascist Italy, even if indeed the salute had been used sporadically in 1921 as Hess claimed. On the night of 3 January 1942, Hitler said of the origins of the salute: I made it the salute of the Party long after the Duce had adopted it. I'd read
2736-587: Is the belief that a government requiring or promoting the phrase "under God" violates protections against the establishment of religion guaranteed in the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment . In 2004, linguist Geoffrey Nunberg said the original supporters of the addition thought that they were simply quoting Lincoln's Gettysburg Address , but to Lincoln and his contemporaries, "under God" meant "God willing", so they would have found its use in
2850-474: The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals held that students are also not required to stand for the Pledge. Requiring or promoting of the Pledge on the part of the government has continued to draw criticism and legal challenges on several grounds. One objection is that a constitutional republic built on freedom of dissent should not require its citizens to pledge allegiance to it, and that the First Amendment to
2964-464: The Amtsgericht Cottbus sentenced Horst Mahler to six months of imprisonment without parole for having, according to his own claims, ironically performed the Hitler salute when reporting to prison for a nine-month term a year earlier. The following month, a pensioner named Roland T was given a prison term of five months for, amongst other things, training his dog Adolf to raise his right paw in
3078-618: The Netherlands , Sweden , Switzerland , the United Kingdom , Ukraine , and Russia ), displaying the salute is not in itself a criminal offence, but constitutes hate speech if used for propagating the Nazi ideology . Publicly performing the salute is also illegal in Australia under Commonwealth law unless for a religious, academic, educational, artistic, literary or scientific purpose. The salute
3192-463: The World's Columbian Exposition , which celebrated the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus ' arrival in the Americas. Bellamy, the circulation manager for The Youth's Companion magazine, helped persuade then-president Benjamin Harrison to institute Columbus Day as a national holiday and lobbied Congress for a national school celebration of the day. The magazine sent leaflets containing part of Bellamy's Pledge of Allegiance to schools across
3306-520: The capitulation of Nazi Germany , a memorial for the dead of the war was held in Marktschellenberg , a small town near Hitler's Berghof residence . The British historian Ian Kershaw remarks that the power of the Führer cult and the "Hitler Myth" had vanished, which is evident from this report: When the leader of the Wehrmacht unit at the end of his speech called for a Sieg Heil for the Führer, it
3420-497: The raised fist salute and the Nazi salute in its "Class Of 2017" photo. The photo was then sent from one of the students to six other students by message and claiming that "some females held the fist while some white males raised the Nazi salute." The incident was reported to the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District saying that "they are extremely disappointed with the actions," and later made
3534-590: The 1880s, as rates of immigration increased dramatically. An early pledge was created in 1887 by Captain George T. Balch, a veteran of the Civil War, who later became auditor of the New York Board of Education. Balch's pledge, which was recited contemporaneously with Bellamy's until the 1923 National Flag Conference, read: We give our heads and hearts to God and our country; one country, one language, one flag! Balch
Nazi salute - Misplaced Pages Continue
3648-566: The 1910s, and by the Grand Army of the Republic until the 1923 National Flag Conference, is often overlooked when discussing the history of the Pledge. The pledge that later evolved into the form used today was composed in August 1892 by Francis Bellamy (1855–1931) for the popular children's magazine The Youth's Companion . Francis Bellamy, who was a Baptist minister, a Christian socialist , and
3762-778: The 1930s (although, unlike the Bellamy salute, this one did not end with the palm up). As a result, the US Congress stipulated that the hand-over-the-heart gesture would instead be rendered by civilians during the Pledge of Allegiance and the national anthem , thereby replacing the Bellamy salute. Removal of the Bellamy salute occurred on December 22, 1942, when Congress amended the Flag Code language first passed into law on June 22, 1942. Attached to bills passed in Congress in 2008 and then in 2009 (Section 301(b)(1) of title 36, United States Code), language
3876-537: The American Pledge of Allegiance , which was to be accompanied by a visually similar saluting gesture, referred to as the Bellamy salute . A raised arm gesture was then used in the 1899 American stage production of Ben-Hur , and its 1907 film adaptation . The gesture was further elaborated upon in several early Italian films. Of special note was the 1914 silent film Cabiria , whose screenplay had contributions from
3990-473: The Armed Forces , had expressed a desire to standardize the salute across all organizations in Germany. On 23 July 1944, several days after the failed assassination attempt , Goebbels suggested to Hitler that the military be ordered to fully adopt the Hitler salute as a show of loyalty, since Army officers had been responsible for the assassination attempt. Hitler approved the suggestion without emotion, and
4104-475: The Embassy. He was tall and slender, with a vague blond handsomeness. Outstanding among all the guests, Ribbentrop arrived in Nazi uniform. Most Nazis came to diplomatic functions in ordinary suits unless the affair was extremely formal. His manner of shaking hands was an elaborate ceremony in itself. He held out his hand, then retreated and held your hand at arm’s length, lowered his arm stiffly by his side, then raised
4218-453: The Flag: "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," should be rendered by standing at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart. When not in uniform, men should remove any non-religious headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder,
4332-554: The German Greeting. ... see to it that said animals are destroyed." The salute soon became part of everyday life, a historically unique phenomenon that politicised all communication in Germany for twelve years, superseding all prior forms of greeting, such as " Grüß Gott " ("Hello"), "Guten Tag" ("Good day"), and "Auf Wiederseh(e)n" ("Goodbye"). Postmen used the greeting when they knocked on people's doors to deliver packages or letters. Small metal signs that reminded people to use
4446-894: The German salute likewise into the Army. Despite indoctrination and punishment, the salute was ridiculed by some people. Since heil is also the imperative of the German verb heilen ('to heal'), a common joke in Nazi Germany was to reply with, "Is he sick?" "Am I a doctor?" or "You heal him!" Jokes were also made by distorting the phrase. For example, "Heil Hitler" might become "Ein Liter" ('One liter') or "Drei Liter" ('Three Liter'). Cabaret performer Karl Valentin would quip, "It's lucky that Hitler's name wasn't ' Kräuter '. Otherwise, we'd have to go around yelling Heilkräuter ('medicinal herbs')". Similar puns were made involving "-bronn" (rendering " Heilbronn " ,
4560-510: The German salute. It was in the Ratskeller at Bremen , about the year 1921, that I first saw this style of salute. It must be regarded as a survival of an ancient custom, which originally signified: "See, I have no weapon in my hand!" I introduced the salute into the Party at our first meeting in Weimar . The SS at once gave it a soldierly style. It's from that moment that our opponents honored us with
4674-648: The Hitler Greeting," and its use quickly spread as people attempted to avoid being labelled as a dissident. A rider to the decree, added two weeks later, stipulated that if physical disability prevented raising of the right arm, "then it is correct to carry out the Greeting with the left arm." On 27 September, prison inmates were forbidden to use the salute, as were Jews by 1937. By the end of 1934, special courts were established to punish those who refused to salute. Offenders, such as Protestant preacher Paul Schneider , faced
Nazi salute - Misplaced Pages Continue
4788-517: The Hitler salute were displayed in public squares and on telephone poles and street lights throughout Germany. Department store clerks greeted customers with "Heil Hitler, how may I help you?" Dinner guests brought glasses etched with the words "Heil Hitler" as house gifts. The salute was required of all persons passing the Feldherrnhalle in Munich, site of the climax of the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch , which
4902-806: The Hitler salute" and "Millions stand behind me". Heartfield was forced to flee in 1933 after the Nazi seizure of power in Germany. Another example is a cartoon by New Zealand political cartoonist David Low , mocking the Night of the Long Knives . Run in the Evening Standard on 3 July 1934, it shows Hitler with a smoking gun grimacing at terrified SA men with their hands up. The caption reads: "They salute with both hands now". When Achille Starace proposed that Italians should write Evviva Il Duce in letters, Mussolini wrote an editorial in Il Popolo d'Italia mocking
5016-654: The Italian ultra-nationalist Gabriele d'Annunzio , arguably a forerunner of Italian Fascism . In 1919, when he led the occupation of Fiume , d'Annunzio used the style of salute depicted in the film as a neo-Imperialist ritual and the Italian Fascist Party quickly adopted it. By autumn 1923, or perhaps as early as 1921, some members of the Nazi Party were using the rigid, outstretched right arm salute to greet Hitler, who responded by raising his own right hand crooked back at
5130-410: The Nazi regime because they refused to salute Adolf Hitler with the Nazi salute, believing that it conflicted with their worship of God. Because refusing to salute Hitler was considered a crime, Jehovah's Witnesses were arrested, and their children attending school were expelled, detained and separated from their families. The Wehrmacht refused to adopt the Hitler salute officially and was able for
5244-425: The Nazi salute and broke into a goose step ; Turkish athletes maintained the salute all around the track. There is some confusion over the use of the salute, since the stiff-arm Nazi salute could have been mistaken for an Olympic salute , with the right arm held out at a slight angle to the right from the shoulder. According to the American sports writer Jeremy Schaap , only half of the athletes from Austria performed
5358-521: The Nazis had heard about the Italian Fascists. He admits in the article: "The NSDAP's introduction of the raised-arm greeting approximately two years ago still gets some people's blood boiling. Its opponents suspect the greeting of being un-Germanic. They accuse it of merely aping the [Italian] Fascists", but goes on to ask, "and even if the decree from two years ago [Hess' order that all party members use it]
5472-518: The Pledge at other meetings. During the Cold War era, many Americans wanted to distinguish the United States from the state atheism promoted by communist countries , a view that led to support for the words "under God" to be added to the Pledge of Allegiance. In 1951, the Knights of Columbus , the world's largest Catholic fraternal service organization , also began including the words "under God" in
5586-519: The Pledge of Allegiance. In New York City, on April 30, 1951, the board of directors of the Knights of Columbus adopted a resolution to amend the text of their Pledge of Allegiance at the opening of each of the meetings of the 800 Fourth Degree Assemblies of the Knights of Columbus by addition of the words "under God" after the words "one nation." Over the next two years, the idea spread throughout Knights of Columbus organizations nationwide. On August 21, 1952,
5700-487: The Pledge, but it is not enforced. The Supreme Court has ruled in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette that students cannot be compelled to recite the Pledge, nor can they be punished for not doing so. In several states, state flag pledges of allegiance are required to be recited after the pledge to the American flag. The current United States Flag Code says: The Pledge of Allegiance to
5814-460: The Pledge. In 1943, in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette , the Supreme Court reversed its decision. Justice Robert H. Jackson , writing for the 6 to 3 majority, went beyond simply ruling in the precise matter presented by the case to say that public school students are not required to say the Pledge on narrow grounds, and asserted that such ideological dogmata are antithetical to
SECTION 50
#17328633242635928-473: The September 8, 1892, article; Keating represented New York's 38th congressional district , which included Bellamy's birthplace, Mount Morris . Bellamy's original Pledge : I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The Pledge was supposed to be quick and to the point. Bellamy designed it to be recited in 15 seconds. As
6042-765: The Supreme Council of the Knights of Columbus at its annual meeting adopted a resolution urging that the change be made universal, and copies of this resolution were sent to the President, the Vice President (as Presiding Officer of the Senate), and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The National Fraternal Congress meeting in Boston on September 24, 1952, adopted a similar resolution upon
6156-416: The US apart from other nations. President Eisenhower had been baptized a Presbyterian very recently, just a year before. He responded enthusiastically to Docherty in a conversation following the service. Eisenhower acted on his suggestion the next day and on February 8, 1954, Rep. Charles Oakman ( R – MI ), introduced a bill to that effect. Congress passed the necessary legislation and Eisenhower signed
6270-400: The US. The words "of America" were added a year later. Congress officially recognized the Pledge for the first time, in the following form, on June 22, 1942: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Louis Albert Bowman, an attorney from Illinois, was the first to suggest
6384-408: The United States Constitution protects the right to refrain from speaking or standing, which itself is also a form of speech in the context of the ritual of pledging allegiance. Another objection is that the people who are most likely to recite the Pledge every day, small children in schools, cannot really give their consent or even completely understand the Pledge they are making. Another criticism
6498-426: The addition of "under God" to the pledge. The National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution gave him an Award of Merit as the originator of this idea. He spent his adult life in the Chicago area and was chaplain of the Illinois Society of the Sons of the American Revolution . At a meeting on February 12, 1948, he led the society in reciting the pledge with the two words "under God" added. He said that
6612-428: The amendment to the Pledge of Allegiance. Swearing of the Pledge is accompanied by a salute . An early version of the salute, adopted in 1887, accompanied the Balch pledge and was known as the Balch Salute. This salute instructed students to stand with their right hand outstretched toward the flag, the fingers of which are then brought to the forehead, followed by being placed flat over the heart, and finally falling to
6726-411: The arm swiftly in a Nazi salute, just barely missing your nose. All the time he was staring at you with such intensity you were wondering what new sort of mesmerism he thought he was effecting. The whole ritual was performed with such self-conscious dignity and in such silence that hardly a word was whispered while Ribbentrop made his exhibitionistic acquaintance with the guests present. To me the procedure
6840-494: The beginning and end of the school day, between classes, or whenever an adult entered the classroom. In 1935, at the end of Hans Spemann ’s acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize, he gave a Nazi salute. Some athletes used the Nazi salute in the opening ceremony of the 1936 Berlin Olympics as they passed by Hitler in the reviewing stand. This was done by delegates from Afghanistan, Bermuda, Bulgaria, Bolivia, France, Greece, Iceland, Italy and Turkey. The Bulgarian athletes performed
6954-546: The bill into law on Flag Day , June 14, 1954. Eisenhower said: From this day forward, the millions of our school children will daily proclaim in every city and town, every village and rural school house, the dedication of our nation and our people to the Almighty.... In this way we are reaffirming the transcendence of religious faith in America's heritage and future; in this way we shall constantly strengthen those spiritual weapons which forever will be our country's most powerful resource, in peace or in war. The phrase "under God"
SECTION 60
#17328633242637068-479: The church's pastor, delivered a sermon based on the Gettysburg Address entitled "A New Birth of Freedom." He argued that the nation's might lay not in arms but rather in its spirit and higher purpose. He noted that the Pledge's sentiments could be those of any nation: "There was something missing in the pledge, and that which was missing was the characteristic and definitive factor in the American way of life." He cited Lincoln's words "under God" as defining words that set
7182-537: The country and on October 21, 1892, over 10,000 children recited the verse together. Bellamy's version of the pledge is largely the same as the one formally adopted by Congress 50 years later, in 1942. The official name of The Pledge of Allegiance was adopted in 1945. The most recent alteration of its wording came on Flag Day (June 14) in 1954, when the words "under God" were added. However, Bellamy's authorship has been contested, as evidence has come out contradicting his claim. Congressional sessions open with
7296-408: The cousin of Edward Bellamy (1850–1898), described the text of Balch's pledge as "too juvenile and lacking in dignity." The Bellamy "Pledge of Allegiance" was first published in the September 8, 1892, issue of The Youth's Companion as part of the National Public-School Celebration of Columbus Day , a celebration of the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus 's arrival in the Americas. The event
7410-399: The creation of the Pledge, Francis Bellamy said, "At the beginning of the nineties patriotism and national feeling was [sic] at a low ebb. The patriotic ardor of the Civil War was an old story ... The time was ripe for a reawakening of simple Americanism and the leaders in the new movement rightly felt that patriotic education should begin in the public schools." James Upham "felt that
7524-542: The cry of an officer of the word Sieg ( ' victory ' ), the crowd responded with Heil ( ' hail ' ). For example, at the 1934 Nuremberg Rally, Rudolf Hess ended his climactic speech with the words "The Party is Hitler. But Hitler is Germany, just as Germany is Hitler. Hitler! Sieg Heil!" At his total war speech delivered in 1943, audiences shouted "Sieg Heil!" , as Joseph Goebbels solicited from them "a kind of plebiscitary 'Ja ' " to total war ( ja meaning 'yes' in German). On 11 March 1945, less than two months before
7638-399: The description of the sitting of the Diet of Worms , in the course of which Luther was greeted with the German salute. It was to show him that he was not being confronted with arms, but with peaceful intentions. In the days of Frederick the Great , people still saluted with their hats, with pompous gestures. In the Middle Ages the serfs humbly doffed their bonnets, whilst the noblemen gave
7752-430: The discipline entailed, but released a statement saying that they would continue to deal with the incident "in collaboration with agencies dedicated to anti-bias education." On 20 August 2019, the school district announced that it was reopening the investigation into the incident because new photographs and another video has surfaced of the event, along with "new allegations" and "new claims". Parents and teachers criticized
7866-430: The drive to gain acceptance did not go unchallenged. Some party members questioned the legitimacy of the so-called Roman salute, employed by Fascist Italy, as un- Germanic . In response, efforts were made to establish its pedigree by inventing a tradition after the fact. In June 1928, Rudolf Hess published an article titled "The Fascist Greeting", which claimed that the gesture was used in Germany as early as 1921, before
7980-405: The elbow, palm opened upwards, in a gesture of acceptance. In 1926, the Nazi salute was made compulsory for all party members. It functioned as a display of commitment to the Party and a declaration of principle to the outside world. Gregor Strasser wrote in 1927 that the greeting in and of itself was a pledge of loyalty to Hitler, as well as a symbol of personal dependence on the Führer. Even so,
8094-447: The epithet "dogs of Fascists". Nazi chants like "Heil Hitler!" and "Sieg Heil!" were prevalent across Nazi Germany , sprouting in mass rallies and even regular greetings alike. In Nazi Germany, the Nazi chants "Heil Hitler!" and "Sieg Heil!" were the formulas used by the regime: when meeting someone it was customary to greet with the words "Heil Hitler!" , while "Sieg Heil!" was a verbal salute used at mass rallies. Specifically to
8208-600: The event, "so that every school in the land ... would have a flag raising, under the most impressive conditions." Bellamy was placed in charge of this operation and was soon lobbying "not only the superintendents of education in all the States, but [he] also worked with governors, Congressmen, and even the President of the United States." The publication's efforts paid off when Benjamin Harrison declared Wednesday October 12, 1892, to be Columbus Day for which The Youth's Companion made "an official program for universal use in all
8322-527: The face of the palm parallel with the sky. It was also adopted by those with rank who would themselves be saluted. The spoken greeting "Heil" became popular in the pan-German movement around 1900. It was used by the followers of Georg Ritter von Schönerer , head of the Austrian Alldeutsche Partei ( ' Pan-German Party ' ) who considered himself leader of the Austrian Germans , and who
8436-534: The first three Eidgenossen or confederates are often depicted with this motion. Hezbollah supporters in Lebanon often raise their arms in a Nazi-style salute. The Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging , a South African neo-Nazi organization known for its militant advocacy of white separatism , has espoused brown uniforms as well as Nazi German-esque flags, insignia, and salutes at meetings and public rallies. Hundreds of supporters in 2010 delivered straight-arm salutes outside
8550-493: The flag is the Republic for which it stands." Bellamy then reflected on the sayings of Revolutionary and Civil War figures, and concluded "all that pictured struggle reduced itself to three words, one Nation indivisible." Bellamy considered the slogan of the French Revolution , Liberté, égalité, fraternité ("liberty, equality, fraternity"), but held that "fraternity was too remote of realization, and … [that] equality
8664-600: The footage was "a matter of national historical significance to explore what was going on in the [1930s] ahead of the Second World War ". Abell responded to criticism by assuring that The Sun was not suggesting "anything improper on the part of the Queen or indeed the Queen Mum". American white supremacist Richard B. Spencer drew considerable media attention in the weeks following the 2016 U.S. presidential election , where, at
8778-592: The funeral for AWB leader Eugène Terre'Blanche , who was murdered by two black farm workers over an alleged wage dispute. On October 9, 2004, the Iranian side of the stadium in a friendly football match between Germany and Iran performed Nazi salutes while the German national anthem was playing. On 28 May 2012, BBC current affairs programme Panorama examined the issues of racism, antisemitism and football hooliganism , which it claimed were prevalent among Polish and Ukrainian football supporters. The two countries hosted
8892-472: The government had made into a shrine to the Nazi dead; so many pedestrians avoided this mandate by detouring through the small Viscardigasse behind that the passage acquired the nickname "Dodgers' Alley" ( Drückebergergasse ). The daughter of the American Ambassador to Germany, Martha Dodd , describes the first time she saw the salute: The first time I met von Ribbentrop was at a luncheon we gave at
9006-419: The hand being over the heart. Persons in uniform should remain silent, face the flag, and render the military salute. Members of the Armed Forces not in uniform and veterans may render the military salute in the manner provided for persons in uniform. Historians point to surges in American patriotic oaths and pledges to the flag after the Civil War, when tensions surrounding political loyalties persisted, and in
9120-440: The idea. Today in Germany, Nazi salutes in written form, vocally, and even straight-extending the right arm as a saluting gesture (with or without the phrase), are illegal. The offence is punishable by up to three years in prison ( Strafgesetzbuch section 86a ). Usage for art, teaching and science is allowed unless "the existence of an insult results from the form of the utterance or the circumstances under which it occurred." Use of
9234-612: The international football competition UEFA Euro 2012 . On 16 March 2013, Greek footballer Georgios Katidis of AEK Athens F.C. was handed a life ban from the Greek national team for performing the salute after scoring a goal against Veria F.C. in Athens' Olympic Stadium. On 18 July 2015, The Sun published an image of the British Royal Family from private film shot in 1933 or 1934, showing Princess Elizabeth (the future Queen, then
9348-407: The minds of our American youth a love for their country and the principles on which it was founded, and create in them an ambition to carry on with the ideals which the early founders wrote into The Constitution, I shall not have lived in vain. ' " In 1957, Kenneth Keating instigated a report by Congress' Legislative Research Service that it was Francis Bellamy, and not James B. Upham, who authored
9462-422: The musical setting to the U.S. government, so that anyone can perform the piece without owing royalties. It was sung for the first time on the floor of the House of Representatives on Flag Day, June 14, 1955, by the official Air Force choral group the "Singing Sergeants". A July 29, 1955, House and Senate resolution authorized the U.S. Government Printing Office to print and distribute the song sheet together with
9576-523: The name of a German city), and "-butt" (rendering "Heilbutt" , the German word for ' halibut '). Satirical use of the salute dates back to anti-Nazi propaganda in Germany before 1933. In 1932, photomontage artist John Heartfield used Hitler's modified version, with the hand bent over the shoulder, in a poster that linked Hitler to Big Business . A giant figure representing right-wing capitalists stands behind Hitler, placing money in his hand, suggesting "backhand" donations. The caption is, "the meaning of
9690-477: The new word allegiance, I first decided that 'pledge' was a better school word than 'vow' or 'swear'; and that the first person singular should be used, and that 'my' flag was preferable to 'the. ' " Bellamy considered the words "country, nation, or Republic," choosing the last as "it distinguished the form of government chosen by the founding fathers and established by the Revolution. The true reason for allegiance to
9804-506: The order went into effect on 24 July 1944. On the night of 3 January 1942, Hitler stated the following about the compromise edict of 1933: I imposed the German salute for the following reason. I'd given orders, at the beginning, that in the Army I should not be greeted with the German salute. But many people forgot. Fritsch drew his conclusions, and punished all who forgot to give me the military salute, with fourteen days' confinement to barracks. I, in turn, drew my conclusions and introduced
9918-582: The pledge to Francis Bellamy in The Yale Book of Quotations , which he edits, but now regards Popik's discovery as favoring Frank E. Bellamy rather than Francis Bellamy as the originator and intends to update future versions of the book to reflect this. In 1906, The Daughters of the American Revolution's magazine, The American Monthly , used the following wording for the pledge of allegiance, based on Balch's Pledge: I pledge allegiance to my flag, and
10032-711: The possibility of being sent to a concentration camp. Foreigners were not exempt from intimidation if they refused to salute. For example, the Portuguese Consul General was beaten by members of the Sturmabteilung for remaining seated in a car and not saluting a procession in Hamburg . Reactions to inappropriate use were not merely violent but sometimes bizarre. For example, a memo dated 23 July 1934 sent to local police stations stated: "There have been reports of traveling vaudeville performers training their monkeys to give
10146-416: The principles of the country, concluding with: If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein. If there are any circumstances which permit an exception, they do not now occur to us. In 2004,
10260-428: The recital of the Pledge, as do many government meetings at local levels, and meetings held by many private organizations. All states except Nebraska , Hawaii , Vermont , and Wyoming require a regularly scheduled recitation of the pledge in public schools . Many states give a variety of exemptions from reciting the pledge, such as California which requires a "patriotic exercise" every day, which would be satisfied by
10374-415: The recommendation of its president, Supreme Knight Luke E. Hart . Several State Fraternal Congresses acted likewise almost immediately thereafter. This campaign led to several official attempts to prompt Congress to adopt the Knights of Columbus policy for the entire nation. These attempts were eventually a success. At the suggestion of a correspondent, Representative Louis C. Rabaut ( D – MI ), sponsored
10488-593: The republic for which it stands. I pledge my head and my heart to God and my country. One country, one language and one flag. In subsequent publications of the Daughters of the American Revolution, such as in 1915's "Proceedings of the Twenty-Fourth Continental Congress of the Daughters of the American Revolution" and 1916's annual "National Report," the previous pledge (adjusted to read "I pledge my head, my hand, my heart..."), listed as official in 1906,
10602-435: The right arm, it was acceptable to raise the left. Hitler gave the salute in two ways. When reviewing his troops or crowds, he generally used the traditional stiff-armed salute. When greeting individuals who saluted, he used a modified version of the salute, bending his right arm at a 90° angle with the elbow facing forward while holding an open hand with the bottom of the palm facing towards those greeted at shoulder height and
10716-527: The salute, or any phrases associated with the salute, has also been illegal in Austria since the end of World War II. In Germany, usage that is "ironic and clearly critical of the Hitler Greeting" is exempt, which has led to legal debates as to what constitutes ironic use. One case involved Prince Ernst August of Hanover who was brought to court after using the gesture as a commentary on the behavior of an unduly zealous airport baggage inspector. On 23 November 2007,
10830-401: The school's administration for their initial secrecy about the incident, for which the school's principal apologized. In March 2019, students from Newport Beach, California , attending a private party made a swastika from red-and-white plastic party cups and gave Nazi salutes over it. Some of the students may have been from Newport Harbor High School of Newport-Mesa Unified School District ,
10944-419: The schools." Bellamy recalled that the event "had to be more than a list of exercises. The ritual must be prepared with simplicity and dignity." Edna Dean Proctor wrote an ode for the event, and "There was also an oration suitable for declamation." Bellamy held that "Of course, the nub of the program was to be the raising of the flag, with a salute to the flag recited by the pupils in unison." He found "There
11058-404: The side. In 1892, Francis Bellamy created what was known as the Bellamy salute to accompany his own version of the Pledge of Allegiance. It started with the hand outstretched toward the flag, palm down, and ended with the palm up. Many decades later, during World War II , controversy arose because of the similarity between the Bellamy salute and the Nazi salute , which was adopted in Germany in
11172-492: The traditional military salute was prohibited when the saluting soldier was not wearing a uniform headgear (helmet or cap). Because of this, all bareheaded salutes used the Nazi salute, making it de facto mandatory in most situations. Full adoption of the Hitler salute by the military was discussed in January 1944 at a conference regarding traditions in the military at Hitler's headquarters. Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel , head of
11286-581: The words 'to my flag' were changed to 'to the flag of the United States of America' because of the large number of foreign children in the schools." Bellamy disliked the change, as "it did injure the rhythmic balance of the original composition." An alternative theory is that the pledge was submitted to an 1890 patriotic competition in The Youth's Companion by a 13-year-old Kansas schoolboy, coincidentally named Frank E. Bellamy. A May 1892 newspaper from Hays, Kansas reported on an April 30 school flag-raising that
11400-472: The words came from Lincoln's Gettysburg Address . Although not all manuscript versions of the Gettysburg Address contain the words "under God" , all the reporters' transcripts of the speech as delivered do, as perhaps Lincoln may have deviated from his prepared text and inserted the phrase when he said "that the nation shall, under God, have a new birth of freedom." Bowman repeated his revised version of
11514-407: Was a dubious word." Concluding "Liberty and justice were surely basic, were undebatable, and were all that any one Nation could handle. If they were exercised for all. They involved the spirit of equality and fraternity." After being reviewed by Upham and other members of The Youth's Companion , the Pledge was approved and put in the official Columbus Day program. Bellamy noted that "in later years
11628-480: Was a fascist. In August 2021, a Michigan man named Paul Marcum gave the Nazi salute during a dispute over mask mandates and was fired from his job as a tennis instructor after Birmingham Public Schools announced that it would not tolerate any acts of racism, disrespect, violence, or inequitable treatment of any person. On January 31, 2017, multiple students at Cypress Ranch High School in Cypress, Texas , performed both
11742-463: Was a proponent of teaching children, especially those of immigrants, loyalty to the United States, even going so far as to write a book on the subject and work with both the government and private organizations to distribute flags to every classroom and school. Balch's pledge, which predates Francis Bellamy's by five years and was embraced by many schools, by the Daughters of the American Revolution until
11856-456: Was accompanied by an almost identical pledge. This ceremony would have taken place months before Francis supposedly created the pledge during August of that same year, according to his own testimony. The discovery was made by the noted amateur lexicographer Barry Popik , who collaborated with Fred Shapiro , an associate library director at the Yale School of Law. Shapiro previously attributed
11970-439: Was conceived and promoted by James B. Upham, a marketer for the magazine, as a campaign to instill the idea of American nationalism in students and to encourage children to raise flags above their schools. According to author Margarette S. Miller, this campaign was in line both with Upham's patriotic vision as well as with his commercial interest. According to Miller, Upham "would often say to his wife: 'Mary, if I can instill into
12084-539: Was dangerous for participants in the subculture; on 2 January 1942, Heinrich Himmler suggested that the leaders be sent to concentration camps. The form "Heil, mein Führer!" ('Hail, my Leader!') was for direct address to Hitler, while "Sieg Heil" was repeated as a chant on public occasions. Written communications would be concluded with either "mit deutschem Gruß" ("with German regards"), or with "Heil Hitler" . In correspondence with high-ranking Nazi officials, letters were usually signed with "Heil Hitler" . Under
12198-452: Was described by Carl E. Schorske as "The strongest and most thoroughly consistent anti-Semite that Austria produced" before the coming of Hitler. Hitler took both the "Heil" greeting – which was popularly used in his "hometown" of Linz when he was a boy – and the title of "Führer" for the head of the Nazi Party from Schönerer, whom he admired. The extended arm saluting gesture
12312-427: Was executed by extending the right arm stiff to an upward 45° angle and then straightening the hand so that it is parallel to the arm. Usually, an utterance of " Sieg Heil ", " Heil Hitler! ", or " Heil! " accompanied the gesture. If one saw an acquaintance at a distance, it was enough to simply raise the right hand. If one encountered a superior, one would also say " Heil Hitler ". If physical disability prevented raising
12426-467: Was included which authorized all active duty military personnel and all veterans in civilian clothes to render a proper hand salute during the raising and lowering of the flag, when the colors are presented, and during the National Anthem. Sarah Churchwell has argued that the term "salute", as it relates to the Bellamy and Balch salutes, historically referred to the words of the pledges themselves, not
12540-678: Was incorporated into the Pledge of Allegiance on June 14, 1954, by a Joint Resolution of Congress amending § 4 of the Flag Code enacted in 1942. On October 6, 1954, the National Executive Committee of the American Legion adopted a resolution, first approved by the Illinois American Legion Convention in August 1954, which formally recognized the Knights of Columbus for having initiated and brought forward
12654-437: Was not a satisfactory enough form for this salute. The Balch salute, which ran, "I give my heart and my hand to my country, one country, one language, one flag," seemed to him too juvenile and lacking in dignity." After working on the idea with Upham, Bellamy concluded, "It was my thought that a vow of loyalty or allegiance to the flag should be the dominant idea. I especially stressed the word 'allegiance'. ... Beginning with
12768-456: Was officially adopted by the Nazi Party in 1926, although it had been used within the party as early as 1921, to signal obedience to the party's leader, Adolf Hitler , and to glorify the German nation (and later the German war effort). The salute was mandatory for civilians but mostly optional for military personnel , who retained a traditional military salute until the failed assassination attempt on Hitler on 20 July 1944. Use of this salute
12882-564: Was returned neither by the Wehrmacht present, nor by the Volkssturm , nor by the spectators of the civilian population who had turned up. This silence of the masses ... probably reflects better than anything else, the attitudes of the population. The Swing Youth (German: Swingjugend ) were a group of middle-class teenagers who consciously separated themselves from Nazism and its culture, greeting each other with "Swing-Heil!" and addressing one another as "old-hot-boy". This playful behaviour
12996-465: Was so ridiculous I could scarcely keep a straight face. Children were indoctrinated at an early age. Kindergarten children were taught to raise their hand to the proper height by hanging their lunch bags across the raised arm of their teacher. At the beginning of first grade primers was a lesson on how to use the greeting. The greeting found its way into fairy tales, including classics like Sleeping Beauty . Students and teachers would salute each other at
#262737