Beloved American entertainer Richard Red Skelton was best known for his national radio and television shows between 1937 and 1971. He is primarily remembered as the host of the television program The Red Skelton Show. He was best known as a comedian and star of radio, television, and motion pictures, but he was also a real patriot. He loved America, its flag, and the God-given freedom it stood for.

In 1969, Skelton wrote and presented a monologue about the Pledge of Allegiance. As part of the speech, he described the meaning of each phrase of the pledge. The statement he makes at the end has actually come true. His monologue touched the hearts of Americans nationwide. Inundated with 200,000 requests for copies, CBS decided to release the monologue as a single on Columbia Records. Red Skelton’s Pledge of Allegiance received awards and was twice read into the Congressional Record of the United States.

Red Skelton’s Pledge of Allegiance

The monologue was first broadcast on The Red Skelton Hour, CBS TV, January 14, 1969. You can watch a video of his performance or read the transcript below.

I remember this one teacher. To me, he was the greatest teacher, a real sage of my time. He had such wisdom. We were all reciting the Pledge of Allegiance one day, and he walked over. Mr. Lasswell was his name. He said, “I’ve been listening to you boys and girls recite the Pledge of Allegiance all semester, and it seems as though it is becoming monotonous to you. If I may, may I recite it and try to explain to you the meaning of each word?”

I: me, an individual, a committee of one.

PLEDGE: dedicate all of my worldly goods to give without self-pity.

ALLEGIANCE: my love and my devotion.

TO THE FLAG: our standard, Old Glory, a symbol of freedom. Wherever she waves, there is respect because your loyalty has given her a dignity that shouts freedom is everybody’s job.

OF THE UNITED: that means that we have all come together.

STATES: individual communities that have united into 48 great states. Forty-eight individual communities with pride and dignity and purpose, all divided with imaginary boundaries yet united to a common purpose, and that’s love for country.

OF AMERICA AND TO THE REPUBLIC: a state in which sovereign power is vested in representatives chosen by the people to govern. And government is the people and it’s from the people to the leaders, not from the leaders to the people.

FOR WHICH IT STANDS ONE NATION: meaning, so blessed by God.

INDIVISIBLE: incapable of being divided.

WITH LIBERTY: which is freedom, the right of power to live one’s own life without threats, fear, or some sort of retaliation.

AND JUSTICE: the principle or quality of dealing fairly with others.

FOR ALL: which means, boys and girls, it’s as much your country as it is mine.

Since I was a small boy, two states have been added to our country, and two words have been added to the Pledge of Allegiance:

UNDER GOD: Wouldn’t it be a pity if someone said, “That is a prayer,” and that would be eliminated from schools, too?

Red Skelton’s Pledge of Allegiance is also mentioned in the sermon Liberty and Justice for All.

© 1969 Richard Red Skelton