I’m taking a class in military history, and this is what my prof said to the class today.
“You can tell alot about a society by what they have their soldiers do to prove their loyalty, and what the culture thinks is important enough to require an oath. Americans in military service swear to defend the Constitution. The British swear loyalty to “the Queen and her ministers”. Canadians swear allegiance to the Queen without bothering with her ministers. But do you know what the French swear to?
“Nothing!!”
Hardly a surprise, that.
…on the other hand, the French swear at the Americans…
As far as I know the French are not the only one to swear allegiance. Western countries except english speaking do not swear allegiance.
I understand that US school children can be shocked when they learn that other do not swear allegiance to the flag everyday.