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Allegiance is the duty which a subject or a Citizen owes to the State or to the Sovereign of the state to which he belongs. ORIGIN OF THE WORD Mid. English ''ligeaunce''; med. Latin ''ligeantia''; the al- was probably added through confusion with another legal term, ''allegeance'', an ''allegation''; the French ''allegeance'' comes from the English; the word is formed from "liege," of which the derivation is given under that heading; the connection with Latin ''ligare'', to bind, is erroneous. USAGE The term ''allegiance'' is often used by English legal commentators in a larger sense, divided by them into natural and local, the latter applying to the deference which even a foreigner must pay to the institutions of the country in which he happens to live; but it is in its proper sense, in which it indicates national character and the subjection due to that character, that the word is important. In that sense it represents the Feudal Liege Homage , which could be due only to one lord, while simple Homage might be due to every lord under whom the person in question held land. UNITED KINGDOM The English doctrine, which was at one time adopted in the , every person who by birth or Naturalization satisfied the conditions set forth, though he should be removed in infancy to another country where his family resided, owed an allegiance to the British crown which he could never resign or lose, except by act of parliament or by the recognition of the independence or the cession of the portion of British territory in which he resided. Allegiance is the tie which binds the subject to the Sovereign in return for that protection which the Sovereign affords the subject. It was the mutual bond and obligation between the King or Queen and his or her subjects, whereby subjects are called his liege subjects, because they are bound to obey and serve him; and he is called their liege lord, because he should maintain and defend them (''Ex parte Anderson'' (1861) 3 El & El 487; 121 ER 525; ''China Navigation Co v Attorney-General'' (1932) 48 TLR 375; ''Attorney-General v Nissan'' 1 All ER 629; ''Oppenheimer v Cattermole'' [1972 3 All ER 1106). The duty of the Crown towards its subjects is to govern and protect. The reciprocal duty of the subject towards the Crown is that of allegiance. At common law allegiance is a true and faithful obedience of the subject due to his Sovereign. As the subject owes to his king his true and faithful allegiance and obedience, so the Sovereign is to govern and protect his subjects, ''regere et protegere subdititos suos'', so as between the Sovereign and subject there is:
Natural allegiance and obedience is an incident inseparable to every subject, for as soon as he or she is born they owe, by birthright, allegiance and obedience to their Sovereign (''Ex parte Anderson'' (1861) 3 El & El 487; 121 ER 525). A natural-born subject owes allegiance wherever he or she may be. Where territory is occupied in the course of hostilities by an enemy's force, even if the annexation of the occupied country is proclaimed by the enemy, there can be no change of allegiance during the progress of hostilities on the part of a citizen of the occupied country (''R v Vermaak'' (1900) 21 NLR 204 (South Africa)). Allegiance is owed both to the Sovereign as a natural person and to the Sovereign in his or her political capacity (''Re Stepney Election Petition, Isaacson v Durant'' (1886) 17 QBD 54 (per Lord Coleridge CJ)). Attachment to the person of the reigning Sovereign is not sufficient. Loyalty requires affection also to the office of the Sovereign, attachment to royalty, attachment to the law and to the constitution of the realm, and he who would, by force or by fraud, endeavour to prostrate that law and constitution, though he may retain his affection for its head, can boast but an imperfect and spurious species of loyalty (''R v O'Connell'' (1844) 7 ILR 261). There were four kinds of allegiances (''Rittson v Stordy'' (1855) 3 Sm & G 230; ''De Geer v Stone'' (1882) 22 Ch D 243; ''Isaacson v Durant'' (1886) 54 LT 684; ''Gibson, Gavin v Gibson'' 3 KB 379; ''Joyce v DPP'' [1946 AC 347; ''Collingwood v Pace'' (1661) O Bridg 410; ''Lane v Bennett'' (1836) 1 M & W 70; ''Lyons Corp v East India Co'' (1836) 1 Moo PCC 175; ''Birtwhistle v Vardill'' (1840) 7 Cl & Fin 895; ''R v Lopez, R v Sattler'' (1858) Dears & B 525; Ex p Brown (1864) 5 B & S 280); (a) ''Ligeantia naturalis, absoluta, pura et indefinita'', and this originally is due by nature and birthright, and is called ''alta ligeantia'', and those that owe this are called ''subditus natus''; (b) ''Ligeantia acquisita'', not by nature but by acquisition or denization, being called a denizen, or rather denizon, because he or she is ''subditus datus''; (c) ''Ligeantia localis'', by operation of law, when a friendly alien enters the country, because so long as he or she is in the country they are within the Sovereign's protection, therefore they owe the Sovereign a local obedience or allegiance (''R v Cowle'' (1759) 2 Burr 834; ''Low v Routledge'' (1865) 1 Ch App 42; ''Re Johnson, Roberts v Attorney-General'' 1 Ch 821; ''Tingley v Muller'' [1917 2 Ch 144; ''Rodriguez v Speyer'' AC 59; ''Johnstone v Pedlar'' [1921 2 AC 262; ''R v Tucker'' (1694) Show Parl Cas 186; ''R v Keyn'' (1876) 2 Ex D 63; ''Re Stepney Election Petn, Isaacson v Durant'' (1886) 17 QBD 54); (d) A legal obedience, where a particular law requires the taking of an oath of allegiance by subject or alien alike. Natural allegiance was acquired by birth within the Sovereign's dominions (except for the issue of diplomats or of invading forces or of an alien in enemy occupied territory). The natural allegiance and obedience is an incident inseparable to every subject, for as soon as he or she is born they owe by birthright allegiance and obedience to the Sovereign (''Ex p. Anderson'' (1861) 3 E & E 487). A natural-born subject owes allegiance wherever they may be, so that where territory is occupied in the course of hostilities by an enemy's force, even if the annexation of the occupied country is proclaimed by the enemy, there can be no change of allegiance during the progress of hostilities on the part of a citizen of the occupied country (''R v Vermaak'' (1900) 21 NLR 204 (South Africa)). Acquired allegiance was acquired by naturalisation or denization. Denization, or ''ligeantia acquisita'', appears to be three-fold (''Thomas v Sorrel'' (1673) 3 Keb 143);
Local allegiance was due by an alien while in the protection of the Crown. All friendly resident aliens incurred all the obligations of subjects (''The Angelique'' (1801) 3 Ch Rob App 7). An alien, coming into a colony also became, temporarily a subject of the Crown, and acquired rights both within and beyond the colony, and these latter rights could not be affected by the laws of that colony (''Routledge v Low'' (1868) LR 3 HL 100; 37 LJ Ch 454; 18 LT 874; 16 WR 1081, HL; ''Reid v Maxwell'' (1886) 2 TLR 790; ''Falcon v Famous Players Film Co'' {Link without Title} 2 KB 474). A resident alien owed allegiance even when the protection of the Crown was withdrawn owing to the occupation of an enemy, because the absence of the Crown's protection was temporary and involuntary (''de Jager v Attorney-Geneneral of Natal'' {Link without Title} AC 326). Legal allegiance was due when an alien took an oath of allegiance required for a particular office under the Crown. By the expansion. UNITED STATES The doctrine that no man can cast off his native allegiance without the consent of his sovereign was early abandoned in the United States, and on July 27 , 1868 , the day before the Fourteenth Amendment was adopted, U.S. Congress declared in the preamble of the Expatriation Act that "the right of expatriation is a natural and inherent right of all people, indispensable to the enjoyment of the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," and (Section I) one of "the fundamental principles of this government" ( United States Revised Statutes , sec. 1999). Every citizen of a foreign state in America owes a double allegiance, one to it and one to the United States. He may be guilty of treason against one or both. If the demands of these two sovereigns upon his duty of allegiance come into conflict, those of the United States have the paramount authority in American law. OATH OF ALLEGIANCE ''Main article: Oath Of Allegiance '' The oath of allegiance is an Oath of fidelity to the sovereign taken by all persons holding important public office and as a condition of naturalization. By ancient common law it might be required of all persons above the age of twelve, and it was repeatedly used as a test for the disaffected. In England it was first imposed by statute in the reign of Elizabeth I Of England ( 1558 ) and its form has more than once been altered since. Up to the time of the revolution the promise was, "to be true and faithful to the king and his heirs, and truth and faith to bear of life and limb and terrene Honour , and not to know or hear of any ill or damage intended him without defending him therefrom." This was thought to favour the doctrine of absolute non-resistance, and accordingly the convention parliament enacted the form that has been in use since that time - "I do sincerely promise and swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty ..." SEE ALSO REFERENCES
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