The American Legion was chartered by Congress in 1919 as a patriotic, war-time veterans' organization, devoted to mutual helpfulness. It is a not-for-profit, community-service organization which now numbers nearly 3 million members, men and women, in nearly 15,000 American Legion Posts worldwide.

Proud to be an American

Preamble to The American Legion Constitution

For God and Country, we associate ourselves together for the following purposes: To uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of America; To maintain law and order; To foster and perpetuate a one hundred percent Americanism; To preserve the memories and incidents of our associations in the Great Wars; To inculcate a sense of individual obligation to the community, state, and Nation; To combat the autocracy of both the classes and the masses; To make right the master of might; To promote peace and good will on earth; To safeguard and transmit to posterity the principles of justice, freedom, and democracy; To consecrate and sanctify our comradeship by our devotion to mutual helpfulness.

Last updated 18 March 2013