# Tell me about the Christian flag **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 19, 2019, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-the-christian-flag/837299 "2019-07-19T11:16:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2019, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-the-christian-flag/837299/41 "2019-07-22T02:04:59Z")
A guy in my township flies one on his front lawn. I don’t know what denomination he is, but our area is quite heavily Calvinist (Christian/Dutch Reformed, or Orthodox Presbyterian). ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2019, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-the-christian-flag/837299/42 "2019-07-22T02:20:38Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > I’ve heard of the flag and would recognize it, but I don’t know that I’ve ever seen it in a secular context. If I did, I’d assume its owner was trying _very_ hard to make a point about something. I have seen it at some county fairs and I believe now and then at state fairs; it always struck me as much a rural thing as a Christian thing. Most major denominations, I believe, have their own flag in church (with the National Flag of course) more than this one. But as I’ve mostly been around mainstream Protestant and Catholic churches my experience could well be wrong. PS – rural county fairs also seem to still be big about organized prayers and references to God FWIW. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2019, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-the-christian-flag/837299/43 "2019-07-22T13:05:31Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > 😕 > > ETA: Please understand that I do not intend to impugn **Dung Beetle** ’s intellect. From reading her posts through the years, I am convinced that whatever DISadvantages her Christian school saddled her with, she has transcended them. Kind of you to say! :o ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-the-christian-flag/837299/44 "2019-07-24T13:40:16Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > I always thought that flag was a Lutheran thing. Never saw it in any other church. > > (The Wikipedia article mentions it was widely used in Lutheran churches during WWII as a “We’re not like them.” thing. So maybe it continued to be used by Lutherans more than others.) I assume that “them” is the ELCA of the Missouri Synod, depending on which who is saying it. > [@DPRK](#): > > A deliberate competitor to [this flag](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_the_Vatican_City)? Or them, though with the ELCA it’s a clarification, “No, really! The head of our church is in Park Ridge, Illinois!” ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-the-christian-flag/837299/45 "2019-07-24T13:48:41Z")
I never knew there WAS a Christian flag before reading this thread, and one of my hobbies is attending religious services. Although, to be honest, that’s such a bland design that I might have just taken it for one of the crosses in the room, and not as a special thing unto itself if I ever saw it. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-the-christian-flag/837299/46 "2019-07-24T14:01:30Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > I assume that “them” is the ELCA of the Missouri Synod, depending on which who is saying it. Hint: WWII. Nazis ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-the-christian-flag/837299/47 "2019-07-24T14:18:54Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I’ve never heard of this flag, but I just want to say that’s some incredibly shity vexillography. For a flag designed from scratch, it is just bad design - _why_ a canton? Usually it’s for another complete flag or a single meaningful symbol. Why a _square_ canton, out of all proportion? Why red on blue, which is crappy contrast? I’m not saying it’s “county flags of Liberia” bad, but it’s pretty crap. I find the canton hard to see, but it may be the specific red and blue in the wiki article; I think they’re both too dark. Other red and blue combinations aren’t anywhere near as bad (see: multiple Spanish football uniforms). ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-the-christian-flag/837299/48 "2019-07-24T20:14:55Z")
Never heard of it. I’d be horrified if I were at an event where it was presented alongside the US flag. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-the-christian-flag/837299/49 "2019-07-25T05:57:04Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > I find the canton hard to see, but it may be the specific red and blue in the wiki article; I think they’re both too dark. Other red and blue combinations aren’t anywhere near as bad (see: multiple Spanish football uniforms). Many variations I see have a darker blue and a brighter red. I also note the flag pin version seems to universally use the gold fringe version of the flag with an additional gold fringe around the red cross. [Example 1](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61dKvj1jPOL._UX395_.jpg), [ex 2](https://www.pinmart.com/assets/1/6/DimRegular/1849_1k.jpg?14047), [ex 3](https://www.imprintitems.com/images/products/pins/christian.jpg) And it was difficult to find ones without the American flag like in the first example. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-the-christian-flag/837299/50 "2019-07-25T06:17:53Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > I find the canton hard to see, but it may be the specific red and blue in the wiki article; I think they’re both too dark. Other red and blue combinations aren’t anywhere near as bad (see: multiple Spanish football uniforms). I dunno, some of them look to be just as dark. Barça, for instance, has just as dark stripes on their home strip. Thing is, you can get away with that for stripes, or other basic field divisions. Where colour on colour falls down is with _charges_ (like a cross or a star or other symbol) - they get indistinguishable from any distance. Look at the Wiki page, at the flag flying outside, or the one next to the pulpit. That red blob could be anything. That’s why the guideline for heraldry is colour on metal , metal on colour, not like on like. Contrast is key. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-the-christian-flag/837299/51 "2019-07-25T06:22:15Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Many variations I see have a darker blue and a brighter red. I also note the flag pin version seems to universally use the gold fringe version of the flag with an additional gold fringe around the red cross. [Example 1](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61dKvj1jPOL._UX395_.jpg), [ex 2](https://www.pinmart.com/assets/1/6/DimRegular/1849_1k.jpg?14047), [ex 3](https://www.imprintitems.com/images/products/pins/christian.jpg) Fimbriation that isn’t in the actual flag description is cheating… ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-the-christian-flag/837299/52 "2019-07-25T06:22:32Z")
Barça’s uniform has long been considered an example of “hard to see” (I’m old enough to remember the grumblings about it being difficult to tell them apart from the black-clad refs on B/W TVs); I was thinking more along the lines of Mallorca, Osasuna, Villareal or La Roja when La Roja hasn’t done anything weird. No need to search: they’re all the same, tomato shirt and navy-or-a-bit-lighter pants. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-the-christian-flag/837299/53 "2019-07-25T10:02:37Z")
That’s not the same as having a _design_ in red on a blue background. That’s much more like what I said about simple field divisions. Note that the numbers etc are usually yellow or white. And I though Villarreal was quite famous for its colour, and it’s not red+blue. They’re known as the glow-in-the-dark team even here (_la Liga_ is quite popular here, but usually only the top clubs like Barça and the 2 Madrids). ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-the-christian-flag/837299/54 "2019-07-25T19:36:58Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I’ve seen the Christian flag a few times over the years, most dustily standing near the altars of Protestant churches in the Midwest. When I was a Boy Scout in the Eighties we once, during worship services, had a preacher build a sermon around an explanation of the flag’s symbolisn. > > Like **dalej42** , I’m an Episcopalian (the American offshoot of the Church of England), and I like our flag: [Episcopal Church (United States) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Episcopal_Church_(United_States)#Names). (I’ve also often seen examples, one of which I own, proportioned more like the US flag). My church has one paired with the US flag in a small side chapel dedicated to those from our parish who died during World War II. Both flags are used in the processional and recessional for the services closest to Independence Day, Veterans Day and Memorial Day. > > For those who were wondering: [Counties of Liberia - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counties_of_Liberia) > “The sun is ris, the sun is set, and we is still in Texas yet!” Only thing I don’t like about the Episcopalian flag is the white crosses forming the saltire on the canton. Makes it look too busy. And the saltire should run all the way to the edges of the blue. Otherwise, it’s a pretty good design - large enough to be identifiable at a distance, and evoking Anglicanism’s British roots, without looking too explicitly like the English flag. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-the-christian-flag/837299/55 "2019-07-25T21:39:56Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Or them, though with the ELCA it’s a clarification, “No, really! The head of our church is in Park Ridge, Illinois!” Technically it’s still in Chicago. West Higgins Road, which separates Chicago from Park Ridge is just north of ELCA HQ. > **[Chicago](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago#/map/0)** > > Chicago\[a\] is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388 in the 2020 census, it is the third-most populous city in the United States after New York City and Los Angeles. As the seat of Cook County, the second-most populous county in the U.S., Chicago is the center of the Chicago metropolitan area, which is often colloquially called "Chicagoland". > Located on the shore of Lake Michigan, Chicago was incorporated as a ... ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2019, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-the-christian-flag/837299/56 "2019-07-26T02:18:26Z")
> [@road\_lobo](#): > > It’s merchandise, not fine art. Christian rock, Christian rap, Christian flag. Christian rap is off the hook. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2019, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-the-christian-flag/837299/57 "2019-07-26T11:09:46Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I’ve seen that in many Catholic churches in the US. I’ve also seen synagogues and Jewish community centers which display both the US and Israeli flags. That’s the flag of Vatican City (or, more accurately, I suppose, of the Holy See), an actual nation governed by the Pope, who is its absolute monarch. It’s not the flag of the Catholic Church (although admittedly there are some blurry lines there). It’s not nearly as much of a big deal as it sounds – being monarch of a few square blocks in the middle of Rome isn’t that impressive. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2022, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-the-christian-flag/837299/58 "2022-04-15T14:14:41Z")
Bumped. The Christian flag is in the news in a SCOTUS case: > **[Justices debate speech and religion in spat over flag-flying at Boston city...](https://www.scotusblog.com/2022/01/justices-debate-speech-and-religion-in-spat-over-flag-flying-at-boston-city-hall/)** > > The Supreme Court heard oral argument on Tuesday in a free speech case arising from Boston’s practice of allowing outside groups to fly their flags on one of the three flagpoles in front of city hall. A group that was denied permission to fly a... ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2022, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-the-christian-flag/837299/59 "2022-05-02T18:31:02Z")
> **[Supreme Court says Boston was wrong to refuse Christian flag](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-says-boston-was-wrong-refuse-christian-flag-rcna25585)** > > In a unanimous decision, the court said the city created a public forum, open to all comers, when it allowed organizations to use a flagpole in front of City Hall. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2022, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-the-christian-flag/837299/60 "2022-05-02T20:09:29Z")
The Boston case was just a free speech issue. Unanimous SCOTUS decision against the city. Why did they even pursue it? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-the-christian-flag/837299.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-the-christian-flag/837299.md?page=4)