United ‘Under God’

July 1, 2026

A campaign launched by the Knights of Columbus 75 years ago led to a historic amendment to the Pledge of Allegiance

By Columbia staff

July 1, 2026

Then-Supreme Knight Luke E. Hart presents President John F. Kennedy with a framed copy of the Pledge of Allegiance during a meeting at the White House on Oct. 11, 1961. — Then-Supreme Knight Luke E. Hart presents President John F. Kennedy, a fellow Knight of Columbus, with a framed copy of the Pledge of Allegiance during a meeting at the White House on Oct. 11, 1961. (Knights of Columbus Multimedia Archives)

In 1951, the Knights of Columbus began a campaign to add the words “under God” to the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance. Grounded in historical precedent and a growing grassroots movement, the effort reached Congress and culminated when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a bill amending the Pledge on Flag Day, June 14, 1954.

“It is a strange fact that the Pledge of Allegiance, which had its origin on Columbus Day in 1892, should have made no reference to the dependence of our nation upon Almighty God,” observed Supreme Knight Luke E. Hart the following year during the 73rd Supreme Convention in Philadelphia. “It remained for the Knights of Columbus to adopt and use and promote an amendment to that Pledge whereby the words ‘under God’ should be inserted after the words ‘one nation.’”

The original Pledge was written in 1892 by Baptist minister Francis Bellamy and published nationwide with the approval of the National Education Association. Millions of schoolchildren first recited it on Columbus Day as part of the celebration marking the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ arrival in the Americas. It read:

I pledge allegiance to my flag and [to] the Republic for which it stands — one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

The absence of any reference to God was notable in light of the nation’s political tradition and the Declaration of Independence’s foundational affirmation that all people “are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.”

Nevertheless, millions of students recited the Pledge daily until 1923, when “my flag” was changed to “the flag of the United States of America” to avoid confusion among children of immigrants.

Then, in February 1948, Louis A. Bowman, an Illinois attorney and member of the Sons of the American Revolution, began including the words “under God” after “one nation” when leading his organization in reciting the Pledge. His inspiration was Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, which expressed the hope that “this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom.”

In April 1951, the Knights of Columbus Board of Directors voted to amend the recitation of the Pledge at all Fourth Degree assembly meetings in the United States by adding “under God” after “one nation.”

In the postwar era, the added emphasis also underscored the contrast between American ideals and those of the officially atheistic Soviet Union, where religion was suppressed and fundamental rights were seen as the gift of the state. As President John F. Kennedy, a brother Knight, later affirmed in his 1961 inaugural address, America’s forebears fought for “the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God.”

At the 1952 Supreme Convention in Los Angeles, the Supreme Council adopted a resolution urging Congress to make “under God” part of the nation’s official Pledge. Copies were sent to President Harry S. Truman, Vice President Alben W. Barkley and Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn.

The campaign soon gained broader support. Hart, who also served as president of the National Fraternal Congress of America, urged its more than 100 member societies to adopt a similar resolution.

The following year, the Supreme Council renewed its appeal, sending copies of its resolution to every member of the Senate and House of Representatives. Rep. Louis C. Rabaut of Michigan introduced one of several congressional measures supporting the amendment.

Congress approved the amendment in 1954, and Eisenhower signed it into law on Flag Day, June 14.

In a letter to the Knights of Columbus read at that year’s Supreme Convention in Louisville, Kentucky, Eisenhower wrote: “This year we are particularly thankful to you for your part in the movement to have the words ‘under God’ added to our Pledge of Allegiance. These words will remind Americans that despite our great physical strength we must remain humble. They will help us to keep constantly in our minds and hearts the spiritual and moral principles which alone give dignity to man, and upon which our way of life is founded.”

A clandestine Mass is celebrated in a safe house in Mexico City, circa 1927.

United ‘Under God’

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