Daily AncestorRenounce allegiance
To renounce allegiance meant to give up, under oath, all loyalty to a foreign king or state, a required part of every U.S. naturalization.
Declarations and oaths often named the ruler being given up, such as a king, an emperor or a republic. One court record holds Chinese declarants renouncing allegiance to the Emperor of China. That line is a useful clue to the country whose subject the immigrant counted himself at the time.
The modern oath still uses the old wording: to renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty.
As seen in a recordDeclaration of intention, county court, 1888
Nils Ekdahl renounces forever all allegiance and fidelity to the King of Sweden and Norway, of whom he is now a subject
Sources
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Daily Ancestor. "Renounce allegiance." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/immigration/renounce-allegiance. Last checked 2026-10-03.