The Bellamy salute was named after Francis J. Bellamy, the author of the Pledge of Allegiance. However, anyone can see the trouble this salute may have caused in the WWII era. The similarities between the Bellamy salute and Hitler’s salute drew commentary as early as the mid-1930s. Congress feared footage of the Bellamy salute could be used by Nazis as propaganda: “the photos could be mischaracterized as proof that Americans were expressing support for the ideologies of Hitler and Mussolini.”

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Originally published on Daily Curiosity