Allegiance in United Kingdom

Definition of Allegiance

In accordance with the work A Dictionary of Law, this is a description of Allegiance :

The duty of obedience owed to a head of state in return for his protectio It is due from all citizens of that state and its dependencies and also from any *alien present in the state (including enemy aliens under licence; for example, internees). A person who is declared by the British Nationality Act 1981 not to be an alien but who has a primary citizenship conferred by a state other than the UK is probably governed by the same principles as aliens so far as allegiance is concerned.

Meaning of Allegiance

The following is an old definition of Allegiance [1]: The tie, or ligamen which binds the subject to the king in returi for that protection which the king aflfordi the subject. When acknowledgment was made to the absolut superior, who was vassal to no man, it was in early times no longer called the oath of fealty (see, in this resource, the term), but the oath of allegiance: therein the tenant swore to bear faith to his sovereign lord, in opposition to al men, without any saving or exception. . . There is an implied, original, and virtual allegiance owing from every subject to his sovereign, antecedently to any express promise.

Resources

Notes and References

1. Concept of Allegiance provided by the Anderson Dictionary of Law (1889) (Dictionary of Law consisting of Judicial Definitions and Explanations of Words, Phrases and Maxims and an Exposition of the Principles of Law: Comprising a Dictionary and Compendium of American and English Jurisprudence; William C. Anderson; T. H. Flood and Company, Law Publishers, Chicago, United States)