The Pledge was written by Francis Bellamy in 1892, however the diagram is
of the post-1954 version of the pledge. There were modifications of Bellamy's
original language and of the pledge's early shocking salute gesture. http://rexcurry.net/pledge-allegiance-pledge-allegiance2.jpg
For more information about language changes and gesture changes to Francis
Bellamy's pledge see http://rexcurry.net/pledge2.html
The diagram is of this Pledge language: "I pledge allegiance to the flag
of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands,
one nation under God, with liberty and justice for all."
Another way of diagramming the two major prepositional phrases (beginning
with "to") would be to put them both under "pledge" and to connect the two
to's with a horizontal dotted line with "and" typed above it. That would lead
to a very wide diagram.
An earlier version of this diagram included the prepositional phrases under
"allegiance," but Dennis Beach (of St. John's University/College of St. Benedict
in Collegeville, Minnesota) believes that they properly modify the verb "pledge."
Mary Steele has made other helpful suggestions.
The final prepositional phrase, "for all," is diagrammed in such a way that
it will modify both "liberty" and "justice." Another interpretation is that
the phrase is meant to modify only "justice" and, if so, then the phrase will
be attached to the horizontal line below that word and there will be no dotted
line to "liberty."
Some people would put "the United States of America" all on one line, since
it is, indeed, one proper noun. This is probably correct, and it is shown
as an option below. In the original version, the country's name is shown as
one word, "States," with accompanying modifiers. Ann F. Reyna suggested that
"States" should be placed on a pedestal which would allow placement of modifiers
under it.
"One nation. . . " is regarded as an appositive for "Republic" in this rendering.
There may be alternative ideas for the placement and function of "for which
it stands" (or of the entire sentence, for that matter).
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the
Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, with liberty and justice
for all.
