Ecumenical and religious flag used to represent Christianity.
This article is about the Christian Flag adopted by the United States Federal Council of Churches. For use of various Christian flags since antiquity, see History of Christian flags.
Christian Flag
Use
Banner
Adopted
September 26, 1897; 126 years ago (1897-09-26) (unofficial) January 23, 1942; 82 years ago (1942-01-23) (official)
Design
A white banner with a red Latin Cross charged upon a blue canton
Designed by
Charles C. Overton and Ralph Eugene Diffendorfer
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The Christian Flag is an ecumenical flag designed in the late 19th century to represent much of Christianity and Christendom, however is used by Protestant denominations only.[1] Since its adoption by the United States Federal Council of Churches in 1942, it has been used by congregations of many Christian traditions,[2][1] including Anglican,[3][4] Baptist,[5] Congregationalist,[6][7] Lutheran,[8] Mennonite,[9] Methodist,[2][10] Moravian,[11] Presbyterian,[12] and Reformed, among others.[13]
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.[14] The blue represents the waters of baptism as well as the faithfulness of Jesus.[15] The white represents Jesus' purity.[16] The dimensions of the flag and canton have no official specifications.[17]
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^ abCite error: The named reference KurianLamport2016 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Baptistry. Diocese of Fort Worth: Saint John’s Episcopal Church. Retrieved 23 September 2021. The Christian flag indicates that through baptism man shares in this divine victory over evil and eternal death.
^Kelland, Ariana; Howells, Laura (23 March 2016). "Controversial Christian flag removed as provincial, national flags flown at half-mast". CBC News. Retrieved 2 January 2020. Rev. Howard Hynes is the pastor at St. Stephen the Martyr Anglican Network Church, which organized the flag raisings.
^Grose, Howard Benjamin (1917). Missions: American Baptist International Magazine. American Baptist Convention. p. 49. Side by side in many of our churches hangs the Christian Flag with the Stars and Stripes—the Flag of White— which forever has stood for peace, having in the corner on the field of blue, the color of sincerity, faith and truth, the red Cross symbolic of Calvary.
^Flick, Stephen (24 September 2020). "Why We Fly the Christian Flag". Christian Heritage Fellowship. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
^Miller, Nathan (4 July 2020). "We Have 2 Flags in our Sanctuary". Greeley: First Congregational Church. Retrieved 23 September 2021. On the other side of the sanctuary is a Christian flag.
^"WELS Flag Presentation" (PDF). Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 November 2021. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
^Lind, Hope Kauffman (1 January 1990). Apart & Together: Mennonites in Oregon and Neighboring States, 1876-1976. Herald Press. p. 277. ISBN 9780836131062. Most congregations of Russian Mennonite heritage displayed both the national and the Christian flag in the church sanctuary.
^Trewhitt, Katharine L. (1984). History of Broad Street United Methodist Church, Cleveland, Tennessee, 1836-1984: The Story of Methodism in Bradley County and of the Group which Became Broad Street United Methodist Church. The Church. p. 129. Retrieved 8 July 2017. In 1968 the Methodist Men of Broad Street purchased flags to be used in the sanctuary of the Church. This involved one United States flag, one Christian flag, flag poles, stands, one eagle and one cross.
^Aalberts, Leon (2021). "Flags in the Sanctuary" (PDF). Williamstown: First Congregational Church. p. 5. Retrieved 23 September 2021. Since its adoption by the United States Federal Council of Churches in 1942, it has been used by many Christian traditions, including the Anglican, Baptist, Lutheran, Mennonite, Methodist, Moravian, Presbyterian, Quaker, and Reformed, among others.
^Achtemeier, Katherine (1 July 2016). "Flags in worship". The Presbyterian Outlook. Retrieved 23 September 2021. For as long as anyone could remember, the American flag had been displayed in the front of the sanctuary to the congregation's left — to their right, the Christian flag.
^Schuppert, Mildred W. (1982). A Digest and Index of the Minutes of the General Synod of the Reformed Church in America, 1906-1957. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 105. ISBN 9780802819437.
^"The Christian Flag". Bob Jones University. Archived from the original on 5 September 2005. Retrieved 18 October 2007. The white on the flag represents purity and peace. The blue stands for faithfulness, truth, and sincerity. Red, of course, is the color of sacrifice, in this case calling to mind the blood shed by Christ on Calvary, represented by the cross.
^The American Lutheran. Vol. 22–24. American Lutheran Publicity Bureau. 1939.
^A Theological Miscellany. Thomas Nelson. 24 March 2005. ISBN 9781418552817. The flag is white (for purity and peace), with a blue field (faithfulness, truth, and sincerity) and a red cross (the sacrifice of Christ).
^"A History Lesson". The Lamplighter. 69 (2). Saint Peter's United Church of Christ: 3. 2020.
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