Ironclad Oath

Okay kiddo, so let's say you have a really important secret that you don't want anyone else to know about. Maybe it's something you did that you're not proud of, or maybe it's just a surprise birthday present for your mom. Whatever it is, you want to make sure the secret stays safe.

Well, a long time ago, grown-ups who worked for the government or the military had secrets too. And they wanted to make sure those secrets stayed safe, just like you. So they made something called an "ironclad oath."

An ironclad oath is like a promise that a grown-up takes to never, ever tell anyone about the secrets they know. They can swear the oath on a very important book, like a Bible or a Constitution, to show that they are serious about keeping the secret safe. And if they break that promise and tell someone else the secret, they can get in big trouble.

So basically, an ironclad oath is a really important promise that grown-ups in important jobs take to keep secrets safe. Just like how you promise to keep your secrets safe too!