Editing Allegiance (section)

==Oath of allegiance==
{{main|Oath of allegiance}}
The oath of allegiance is an [[oath]] of fidelity to the sovereign taken by all persons holding important public office and as a condition of naturalization. By ancient common law, it was required of all persons above the age of 12, and it was repeatedly used as a test for the disaffected. In England, it was first imposed by statute in the reign of [[Elizabeth I]] (1558), and its form has, more than once, been altered since. Up to the time of the [[English Civil War|revolution]], the promise was "to be true and faithful to the king and his heirs, and truth and faith to bear of life and limb and terrene [[honour]], and not to know or hear of any ill or damage intended him without defending him therefrom." This was thought to favour the doctrine of absolute non-resistance, and, accordingly, the [[Convention Parliament (England)|Convention Parliament]] enacted the form that has been in use since that time—"I do sincerely promise and swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty ..."<ref name="Chisholm1911"/>

In the United States and some other republics, the oath is known as the Pledge of Allegiance. Instead of declaring fidelity to a monarch, the pledge is made to the flag, the republic, and to the core values of the country, specifically [[liberty]] and [[justice]]. The reciting of the pledge in the United States is [[Pledge of Allegiance (United States)#Legal challenges|voluntary]] because of the rights guaranteed to the people under the [[First Amendment]] to the [[United States Constitution]]—specifically, the guarantee of [[freedom of speech]], which inherently includes the freedom ''not'' to speak.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/319/624|title=West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette|website=LII / Legal Information Institute|language=en|access-date=2018-05-08}}</ref>