At our monthly poker party the other night, things were going well until my brother "went to the bad place" as my friend Julie says. Julie's husband is a second grade teacher and during a discussion about the daily flag salute, he mentioned he has not led his class in the flag salute all year. He was never a dub, just doesn't believe in children being forced to recite a pledge at such a young age. This set my brother off and he got fairly nasty (or so I was told, I had consumed too many jello shots so the whole evening is fuzzy). My brother was first df'd as a teen and spent many years out, in, and back out again. The last time he was reinstated, he never attended again. He is now a pain in the ass conservative republican (not that there's anything wrong with that) who doesn't know when or where it's appropriate to talk politics. Definitely not when drunk...and he was.
So, it got me thinking (the next day, mind you) do other countries have a pledge or flag salute like we do in the US? I honestly have no idea, nor has anyone I've asked.
My brother has since apologized and everything is fine. Despite not remembering huge chunks of the evening, I still did well in poker and somewhere around 2am we gave up and split the pot three ways.
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.
What other countries salute their flags?