The Flag is the representative symbol of all of the things that you guys say you will pledge allegiance to - God, Constitution, it’s countrymen, the whole shebang.
The author as well as several replies in this thread treat the flag as a compartmentalized part of the process. I don’t pledge allegiance to a flag - a flag is a piece of cloth that will never issue a command, fix a budget or declare a national park. Men don’t listen to flags for marching orders.
I pledge allegiance to that flag as everyone on earth pledges to theirs - For what it is not what it is not.
It might be better to pledge allegiance to a Constitution.