Peter Emerson, age 11, of Biloxi, Miss., for his question:

WHO WROTE THE PLEDGE TO THE FLAG?

In 1892, for patriotic exercises in schools to mark the 400th    1 78 A anniversary of the discovery of America, President Benjamin Harrison had pubic school children recite for the first time the pledge to the flag, as a solemn promise of allegiance to the United States.

The original pledge was written by Francis Bellamy of Boston, the associate editor of The Youth's Companion. Bellamy lived from 1855 until 1931.

The National Flag Conferences of the American Legion expandced the original wording in 1923 and 1924.

In 1942, Congress made the pledge part of its code for the use of the flag. In 1954, it added the words under God."