The Christian Flag is a flag designed in the early 20th century to represent all of Christianity and Christendom, and has been most popular among Protestant churches in North America, Africa and Latin America. The flag has a white field, with a red Latin cross inside a blue canton. The shade of red on the cross symbolizes the blood that Jesus shed on Calvary. The blue represents the waters of baptism as well as the faithfulness of Jesus. The white represents Jesus' purity. In conventional vexillology, a white flag is linked to surrender, a reference to the Biblical description of Jesus' non-violence and surrender to God. The dimensions of the flag and canton have no official specifications.
All flag animations made available on this blog thus far were made using the following free online software found at ABFlags and MakeSweet. All flags made by the staff using these free software programs may be downloaded and used freely by their perspective churches without any written consent from our staff this is because: the time and talents that have been orchestrated at our blog are considered tythed to the body of believers who profess the Apostles Creed, Nicene Creed, Baptist Confessions all of which may be researched at Spurgeon.org.
The Christian Flag was first conceived on September 26, 1897, at Brighton Chapel on Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York in the United States. The superintendent of a Sunday school,
Charles C. Overton, gave an impromptu lecture to the gathered students,
because the scheduled speaker had failed to arrive for the event. He
gave a speech asking the students what a flag representing Christianity
would look like. Overton thought about his improvised speech for many years afterward. In 1907, he and Ralph Diffendorfer, secretary of the Methodist Young People's Missionary Movement, designed and began promoting the flag. With regard to the Christian symbolism of the Christian Flag:
- The ground is white, representing peace, purity and innocence.
- In the upper corner is a blue square, the color of the unclouded sky, emblematic of heaven, the home of the Christian; also a symbol of faith and trust.
- In the center of the blue is the cross, the ensign and chosen symbol of Christianity: the cross is red, typical of Christ's blood.
The ecumenical Christian organization, Federal Council of Churches, now succeeded by the National Council of Churches and Christian Churches Together, adopted the flag on 23 January 1942. The Christian Flag intentionally has no patent, as the designer dedicated the flag to all of Christendom. The famous hymn writer, Fanny J. Crosby, devoted a hymn titled “The Christian Flag”, with music by R. Huntington Woodman, in its honor; like the flag, the hymn is also free use. On the Sunday nearest 26 September 1997, the Christian Flag celebrated its one hundredth anniversary.
The flag was first accepted by the mainline Protestant
denominations in the United States, and by the 1980s many institutions
had described policies for displaying it inside churches. During World War II the flag was flown along with the U.S. flag in a number of Lutheran churches, many of them with German backgrounds, who wanted to show their solidarity with the United States during the war with Germany.
The Christian Flag spread outside North America with Protestant missionaries. It can be seen today in or outside many Protestant churches throughout the world, particularly in Latin America and Africa, It has so far been adopted by some churches in Europe, Asia, and Africa as well. Eastern Orthodox, especially parishes in the Western Rite tradition have only recently started to use the flag.
Some churches practice a "pledge of allegiance" or "affirmation of loyalty" to the Christian Flag, which is similar to the Pledge of Allegiance
to the American flag. The first pledge was written by Lynn Harold
Hough, a Methodist minister who had heard Ralph Diffendorfer, secretary
to the Methodist Young People's Missionary Movement, promoting the
Christian flag at a rally. He wrote the following pledge:
"I pledge allegiance to the Christian flag and to the Savior for whose
kingdom it stands; one brotherhood, uniting all mankind in service and
in love."
Some more conservative churches may use an alternative version of the pledge:
"I pledge allegiance to the Christian flag, and to the Savior for whose
Kingdom it stands; one Savior, crucified, risen, and coming again with
life and liberty to all who believe."
Denominational Flags
Many Christian denominations have their own denominational flag and
display it alongside the Christian Flag or independent from it.Catholic Churches in communion with the Holy See often display the Vatican flag along with their respective national flag, typically on opposite sides of the sanctuary, near the front door, or hoisted on flagstaffs outside. Individual dioceses may also fly flags based on the diocesan coat of arms.
Eastern Orthodox Churches, particularly jurisdictions of the Greek Orthodox Church under the direct authority of the Ecumenical Patriarch, often display his flag, which is a Byzantine double-headed eagle on a yellow (Or) field.
Parishes in the Episcopal Church frequently fly the Episcopal flag, a Cross of St. George with the upper-left canton containing a Cross of St. Andrew formed by nine cross-crosslets, representing the nine original dioceses, on a blue background.
The Salvation Army has a flag with a blue border (symbolizing the purity of God the Father), a red field (symbolizing the blood of Jesus Christ), and a gold eight-pointed star (symbolizing the fire of the Holy Spirit). The star bears the Salvation army's motto, "Blood and Fire".
The Anglican Communion have a blue flag with a St George's Cross in the center surrounded with a gold band with the wording, "The Truth shall make you free." in New Testament Greek on it. From the band sprout the points of a compass, symbolizing the spread worldwide of Anglicanism. On the "North" of the compass is a mitre, a symbol of apostolic order essential to all Churches and Provinces constituting the Anglican Communion.
The Church of Scotland use a Flag of Scotland depicting the Burning Bush (or Unburnt Bush, in some traditions).
The Church in Wales use a blue Cross of St George defaced with a gold Celtic Cross.
The Church of Ireland use the St Patrick's Saltire but also use the Compass-rose Flag of the Anglican Communion equally.
The Coptic flag represents Coptic communities both in Egypt and in the Coptic diaspora. It is not recognized by the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, but many Copts worldwide have adopted it as a symbol of Coptic identity. The Coptic flag has been officially recognized and adopted by the New Zealand Coptic Association and the Free Copts.
The Armenian Apostolic Church is the world's oldest national church. It is part of Oriental Orthodoxy and is one of the most ancient Christian communities. Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as its official religion in the early fourth century (traditionally in 301) in establishing this church.
The Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Albania is one of the newest autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches. It declared it's autocephaly in 1922 through its Congress of 1922, and gained recognition from the Patriarch of Constantinople in 1937.
Eastern Orthodox Churches, particularly jurisdictions of the Greek Orthodox Church under the direct authority of the Ecumenical Patriarch, often display his flag, which is a Byzantine double-headed eagle on a yellow (Or) field.
Parishes in the Episcopal Church frequently fly the Episcopal flag, a Cross of St. George with the upper-left canton containing a Cross of St. Andrew formed by nine cross-crosslets, representing the nine original dioceses, on a blue background.
The Salvation Army has a flag with a blue border (symbolizing the purity of God the Father), a red field (symbolizing the blood of Jesus Christ), and a gold eight-pointed star (symbolizing the fire of the Holy Spirit). The star bears the Salvation army's motto, "Blood and Fire".
The Anglican Communion have a blue flag with a St George's Cross in the center surrounded with a gold band with the wording, "The Truth shall make you free." in New Testament Greek on it. From the band sprout the points of a compass, symbolizing the spread worldwide of Anglicanism. On the "North" of the compass is a mitre, a symbol of apostolic order essential to all Churches and Provinces constituting the Anglican Communion.
The Church of Scotland use a Flag of Scotland depicting the Burning Bush (or Unburnt Bush, in some traditions).
The Church in Wales use a blue Cross of St George defaced with a gold Celtic Cross.
The Church of Ireland use the St Patrick's Saltire but also use the Compass-rose Flag of the Anglican Communion equally.
The Coptic flag represents Coptic communities both in Egypt and in the Coptic diaspora. It is not recognized by the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, but many Copts worldwide have adopted it as a symbol of Coptic identity. The Coptic flag has been officially recognized and adopted by the New Zealand Coptic Association and the Free Copts.
The Armenian Apostolic Church is the world's oldest national church. It is part of Oriental Orthodoxy and is one of the most ancient Christian communities. Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as its official religion in the early fourth century (traditionally in 301) in establishing this church.
The Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Albania is one of the newest autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches. It declared it's autocephaly in 1922 through its Congress of 1922, and gained recognition from the Patriarch of Constantinople in 1937.
The Georgian Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church. It asserts apostolic foundation,
and its historical roots can be traced to the conversion of the Kingdom of Iberia to Christianity in the 4th century AD. Christianity, as embodied by the Church, was the state religion of Georgia until 1921, when a constitutional change separated church and state.
The Serbian Orthodox Church is one of the autocephalous Orthodox Christian churches. It is the second oldest Slavic Orthodox Church in the world.
Sometimes Christians use symbols/colors on flags to adorn their churches with traditional Christian seals or symbols, whether these are officiated by their denomination or not. These symbols are usually quite old and their meanings are widely understood.
Lutheran Church flags that depict Martin Luther's Rose. Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestant Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German friar, ecclesiastical reformer, and theologian.
Lutheran Church flags that depict Martin Luther's Rose. Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestant Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German friar, ecclesiastical reformer, and theologian.
The Moravian Church is one of the oldest Protestant denominations in the world, with its heritage dating back to the Bohemian Reformation in the fifteenth century. The Church's emblem is the Lamb of God with the flag of victory, surrounded by the Latin inscription: Vicit agnus noster, eum sequamur, or in English: "Our Lamb has conquered, let us follow Him".
Additionally, many Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox churches maintain the use of the Labarum, a historical symbol of Christianity, which is rarely used as a flag at present.
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