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The Christian Flag is a flag
Flag

A flag is a piece of cloth, often flown from a pole or Mast , generally used symbolically for signaling or identification. The term flag is also used to refer to the graphic design employed by a flag, or to its depiction in another medium....
 designed to represent all of Christianity
Christianity

Christianity is a Monotheistic religion #Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus as New Testament view on Jesus' life....
 (see also Christendom
Christendom

Christendom usually refers to Christianity as a territorial phenomenon. It can also refer to the part of the world in which Christianity prevails....
), but flown mainly by Protestant
Protestantism

Protestantism is a movement within Christianity that originated in the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation. It is considered to be one of the three principal traditions of Christianity, together with Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy....
 churches in North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
, Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
, and Latin America
Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages ? particularly Spanish language and Portuguese language, and variably French language ? are primarily spoken....
. The flag has a white field
Flag terminology

The design and description of flags typically uses specialised flag terminology with precise and technical meanings, and is hence a form of jargon....
, with a red Latin cross inside a blue canton
Flag terminology

The design and description of flags typically uses specialised flag terminology with precise and technical meanings, and is hence a form of jargon....
. The shade of red on the cross symbolizes the blood that Jesus Christ shed on Calvary
Calvary

Calvary or Golgotha are the English language/Western Christian names given to the site, outside of ancient Jerusalem?s early 1st century walls, ascribed to Jesus's crucifixion....
.






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Christian Flag
The Christian Flag is a flag
Flag

A flag is a piece of cloth, often flown from a pole or Mast , generally used symbolically for signaling or identification. The term flag is also used to refer to the graphic design employed by a flag, or to its depiction in another medium....
 designed to represent all of Christianity
Christianity

Christianity is a Monotheistic religion #Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus as New Testament view on Jesus' life....
 (see also Christendom
Christendom

Christendom usually refers to Christianity as a territorial phenomenon. It can also refer to the part of the world in which Christianity prevails....
), but flown mainly by Protestant
Protestantism

Protestantism is a movement within Christianity that originated in the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation. It is considered to be one of the three principal traditions of Christianity, together with Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy....
 churches in North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
, Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
, and Latin America
Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages ? particularly Spanish language and Portuguese language, and variably French language ? are primarily spoken....
. The flag has a white field
Flag terminology

The design and description of flags typically uses specialised flag terminology with precise and technical meanings, and is hence a form of jargon....
, with a red Latin cross inside a blue canton
Flag terminology

The design and description of flags typically uses specialised flag terminology with precise and technical meanings, and is hence a form of jargon....
. The shade of red on the cross symbolizes the blood that Jesus Christ shed on Calvary
Calvary

Calvary or Golgotha are the English language/Western Christian names given to the site, outside of ancient Jerusalem?s early 1st century walls, ascribed to Jesus's crucifixion....
. The blue is a picture of the royalty of Jesus Christ as King of Kings
King of Kings

King of Kings is a title that has been used by several monarchies throughout history, and in many cases the literal title meaning "King of Kings", i.e....
. And the white represents the purity of Jesus Christ. The dimensions of the flag and canton have no official specifications.

Origins

The Christian Flag was first conceived on September 26, 1897, in Brighton Chapel on Coney Island
Coney Island

Coney Island is a peninsula, formerly an island, in southernmost Brooklyn, New York City, USA, with a beach on the Atlantic Ocean. The Neighbourhood of the same name is a community of 60,000 people in the western part of the peninsula, with Seagate, Brooklyn to its west; Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, New York to its east; a...
 in Brooklyn
Brooklyn

Brooklyn is one of the five Borough of New York City, located at the western end of Long Island. An independent city until its consolidation with New York in 1898, Brooklyn is New York City's most populous borough, with 2.5 million residents, and second largest in area....
, New York
New York

The State of New York is a U.S. state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States and is the nation's List of U.S....
 in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
. The superintendent of a Sunday school
Sunday school

"Sunday school" is the generic name for many different types of religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations....
, Charles C. Overton, was forced to give an impromptu lecture to the gathered students, because the scheduled speaker had failed to arrive for the event. Overton saw a flag of the United States
Flag of the United States

The flag of the United States consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the Flag terminology bearing fifty small, white, Star s arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars alternating with rows of five stars....
 in the front of the chapel (a common custom in many American churches). Drawing on the flag for inspiration, 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.

Symbolism

Since the Christian Flag was inspired by the flag of the United States, it takes its colors and overall design from the American flag. However, elements of the flag represent Christian concepts.

The flag's most conspicuous symbol is the Christian cross, the most universal symbol for Christianity. The red color represents the blood of Jesus and brings to mind his crucifixion
Crucifixion

Crucifixion is an ancient method of execution , whereby the condemned person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead....
. Christians believe that Jesus' death and resurrection
Resurrection

Miraculous resurrection of one sort or another has been a recurrent theme or central doctrine of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and other Abrahamic religions....
 is the means God uses to save believers from their sin
Sin

Sin is a term used mainly in a religion context to describe an act that violates a morality rule, or the state of having committed such a violation....
s. The cross
Cross

A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two lines or bars perpendicular to each other, dividing one or two of the lines in half. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally; if they run diagonally, the design is technically termed a saltire....
 and blood have been used since earliest Christianity to symbolize salvation
Salvation

In religion, salvation is the concept that God saves humanity from death. As commonly conceived, He has both Will of God and omnipotence to realize human salvation....
 through Jesus; in the words of the Apostle Paul, "Through [Jesus] God reconciles himself to all things... making peace by the blood of the cross" (Colossians 1:20).

The white field draws on symbolism throughout the Bible equating white clothes with purity and forgiveness. People who have been "washed white as snow" in the Bible have been cleansed from their sins (Isaiah 1:18). In conventional vexillology
Vexillology

Vexillology is the scholarly study of flags. The word is a synthesis of the Latin word vexillum and the suffix -logy, meaning "study of"....
 a white flag is linked to surrender, a reference to the Biblical description Jesus' non-violence and surrender to God's will.

The blue square represents the royalty of Jesus Christ as King of Kings.

Since the flag is not tied to any specific religious denomination
Religious denomination

A religious denomination is a subgroup within a religion that operates under a common name, tradition and identity.The term describes various Christian denominations ....
 or church institution, it signifies the unity of all followers of Jesus Christ within the Kingdom of God despite historical, cultural, and dogmatic differences. Its simplicity makes it easily copied by any community of Christians.

The canton of this flag transgresses one of the traditional rules of flag design
Rule of tincture

The first rule of heraldry is the rule of tincture: metal should not be put on metal, nor colour on colour . This means that Or and argent may not be placed against each other; neither may any of the Tincture or paints be placed against another colour....
, which states that two colors (other than white or yellow) have to be separated by a metal (silver = white, or gold = yellow). The white field would also be advised against in conventional vexillology as it is easily mistaken for the white flag of surrender.

Usage

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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
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
 the flag was flown along with the U.S. flag in a number of Lutheran
Lutheranism

Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the teachings of the sixteenth-century Germans Reformer Martin Luther....
 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
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
 with Protestant missionaries. It can be seen today in or outside many Protestant churches throughout the world, particularly in Latin America
Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages ? particularly Spanish language and Portuguese language, and variably French language ? are primarily spoken....
 and Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
. It has so far been adopted by very few churches in Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
. Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and other non-Protestant branches of Christianity do not generally use the flag.

Pledge

Some American churches practice a "pledge of allegiance" or "affirmation of loyalty" to the Christian Flag, based on the Pledge of Allegiance
Pledge of Allegiance

The Pledge of Allegiance to the United States flag is an oath of loyalty to the country. It is recited at many public events. US Congressional sessions open with the recitation of the Pledge....
 to the American flag. There are various versions of the pledge, including the following:
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 for all who believe.
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 repent and believe The Gospel
I pledge allegiance to the Christian flag and to the Savior for whose kingdom it stands; One brotherhood, uniting all Christians in service and in love.


Other Christian flags

In the United States, Catholic Churches in communion
Communion (Christian)

The term Communion is derived from Latin language communio . The corresponding term in Greek language is ???????a, which is often translated as "fellowship"....
 with the Holy See
Holy See

The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome, commonly known as the Pope, and is the preeminent episcopal see of the Roman Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church....
 display the Vatican flag along with the American flag, typically opposite sides of the sanctuary
Sanctuary

Sanctuary has multiple meanings. A sanctuary is the consecrated area of a church or temple around its church tabernacle or altar. An animal sanctuary is a place where animals live and are protected....
, near the front door, or outside.

Eastern Orthodox Churches, particularly the Greek Orthodox Church
Greek Orthodox Church

The term Greek Orthodox Church refers to several churches within the larger full communion of Eastern Orthodox Church Christianity sharing a common cultural tradition and whose liturgy is traditionally conducted in Koine Greek, the original language of the New Testament....
 may fly the flag of the Ecumenical Patriarch, which is a Byzantine
Byzantine

The word Byzantine may refer to:Topics directly related to the Byzantine Empire* A citizen of Byzantine Empire, or native Greeks during the Middle Ages ....
 double-headed eagle on a yellow (Or) field.

Additionally, both Catholic and Orthodox Churches maintain the use of the Labarum
Labarum

For the article about the "PX" symbol see Chi RhoThe Labarum was a typographic ligature formed from Chi and Rho , which had particular symbolic significance to the Roman Empires, Ancient Greece, and to the Christianity of Late Antiquity in general....
, a historical symbol of Christianity, which is rarely used as a flag at present.

Churches in The Episcopal Church USA frequently fly the Episcopal flag, a Cross of St. George
Cross of St. George

The Cross of St. George , or simply the George's Cross, was, until 1913, officially known as the Sign of Distinction of the Military Order of St....
 with the upper-left canton containing a Cross of St. Andrew formed by nine cross-crosslets
Cross

A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two lines or bars perpendicular to each other, dividing one or two of the lines in half. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally; if they run diagonally, the design is technically termed a saltire....
 (representing the nine original diocese
Diocese

In many rites of the Roman Catholic Church and in Anglicanism, a diocese is an administrative territorial unit administered by a bishop. It is also referred to as a bishopric or Episcopal Area or episcopal see, though strictly the term episcopal see refers to the domain of ecclesiastical authority officially held by the bi...
s) on a blue background.

See also

  • Christian symbolism
    Christian symbolism

    Christian symbolism invests objects or actions with an inner meaning expressing Christian ideas. Christianity has borrowed from the common stock of significant symbols known to most periods and to all regions of the world....
  • Civil religion
    Civil religion

    The intended meaning of the term civil religion often varies according to whether one is a sociologist of religion or a professional political commentator....


External links

  • on Flags of the World website dealing with the Christian Flag.
  • : Article discussing the flag's use in Africa
  • Christian Flag Craft for Kids
  • Explains some of the uses and purposes for Christian flags for praise and worship
  • An alternative to the Christian Flag