Q & A Atlanta Constitution
Q: Do other countries have pledges to their flags, or is this a uniquely American custom? - Fred Gates, Norcross
A: "Pledges of allegiance are marks of totalitarian states, not democracies," says David Kertzer, a Brown University anthropologist who specializes in political rituals. "I can't think of a single democracy except the United States that has a pledge of allegiance." When Hitler ruled in Germany and Mussolini in Italy, their regimes demanded that "true patriots" publicly vow their allegiance to their respective fatherlands. Postwar democratic governments of the two countries made a conscious effort to minimize such shows of national pride.