Flying Standard of The Salvation Army

More Symbols Used in The Army: The Red Shield has its origins in Salvation Army work during war time. At the end of the 19th century, Staff-Captain Mary Murray was sent by William Booth to support British troops serving in the Boer War in South Africa. Then, in 1901, this same officer was given the task of establishing the Naval and Military League, the forerunner of the Red Shield Services.

The Salvation Army red shield logo,
 displayed on the side of a night
shelter in Geneva, Switzerland.

       Salvation Army officers serving in the Red Shield Services in wartime performed many functions. The Doughnut Girls of World War I are an early example, serving refreshments to troops in the trenches. They also provided first aid stations, ambulances, chaplaincy, social clubs, Christian worship and other front-line services.

       This symbol is still used in Blue Shield Services that serve the British Armed Forces but it is widely used as a simple, more readily identifiable symbol in many Salvation Army settings. It is common to see the Red Shield used on casual Salvation Army uniform. It is now official Salvation Army policy in the UK that the red shield should be used as the external symbol of the Salvation Army, with the Crest only being used internally. Therefore, any new Salvation Army building will now have the red shield on the outside rather than the crest which certainly would have been used on its Corps (church) buildings.

Logo of The Salvation Army
 (Anglophone version)

       In Australia, the Red Shield has become one of the country's most identified and trusted brands, leading the Australian Salvation Army to prefer to use this symbol over the logo on its uniform, corps buildings and advertising materials. In the 5th Volume of Australian Superbrands it was recorded that "Research reveals that the popular Salvation Army slogan ‘Thank God for the Salvos’ has almost total recognition amongst the Australian public, achieving 93 per cent aided awareness".

       Since 1983 there has been an official Salvation Army tartan. It was designed by Captain Harry Cooper, for the Perth Citadel Corps centenary commemoration. It is based upon the colors of the Salvation Army Flag, with which it shares the same symbolism. However, it is rarely seen outside Scotland.

       The Salvation Army has a unique form of salute which involves raising the right hand above shoulder-height with the index finger pointing upwards. It signifies recognition of a fellow citizen of heaven, and a pledge to do everything possible to get others to heaven also. In the case of saluting in response to applause, in circumstances such as a musical festival or being applauded for a speech, it also signifies that the Salvationist wishes to give Glory to God and not themselves.

       In some instances, the salute is accompanied with a shout of 'hallelujah!' Read more . . .

The Salvation Army Dress Tartan

      All flag animations are made by the staff at our blog and are created with graphics attributed to the public domain at both Wikipedia and by some visitors that have requested that flag animations be made for their own Denominations or church groups.

       To read about how we make the flags go the the index page. To request animated flags for your own church: 

• Visit your churches denominational pages to request that they contact our gallery staff via email to make inquiries about including their own versions on our web pages. Many logos are copyrighted and are only free to use under special permissions. So if you do not see your Denomination's flag represented here, it may be because it has not been filed at Wikipedia under "fair use" or tagged as public domain.
• If your flag design is for a church youth group or a missions organization we will make the animation for you. However, if we make it, it will be included on this blog for others to download.
• There are no fees for the making of flag animations.
• You may contact Kathy Grimm at pickandprintgallery@yahoo.com and she will pass on the information.