The Christian Flag: Its muddy history and ongoing relevance to us all
“Just as the true character of men and women lies in such things as their belief systems and the way they treat other humans, rather than in their physical appearance or the way they dress, so any flag is best understood and judged not by heraldic or other esthetic standards, but by the roles which it plays in molding human lives for better or ill.” — Ron Hassner (2000)
Published January 26…
By one conservative estimate, a quarter of a million Christian churches display the so-called “Christian flag” today. For some Christians, it’s an ecumenical symbol of religious unity that “has come to occupy a place of notoriety and distinction among Christians around the world” (Stephen Flick). But to some independent Southern Baptists, it represents a “one-world ecumenical universalism…that is contrary to Biblical Christianity, American Constitutionalism and plain common sense” (Greg Wilson). And to a few progressive Christians, its sometimes a source of “strife and idolatry” (Micki Pulleyking) or the brunt of jokes about marauding crusaders (Martin E. Marty). And that’s just the opinions among Christians!
While almost everyone seems to agree that the flag was created by a Congregationalist (Reformed) Sunday school superintendent in 1897, few appear to know (or share) the full story behind his “nondescript banner” popularized in the 1940s — much less its competition, the “Conquest Flag,” which was adopted by the Sunday school world in 1902.
Why did a well-known real-estate dealer in Coney Island create his flag in 1897, and why did American Christians ditch their “Conquest flag” for his “Stainless Banner” design during the Second World War? What does the story of the Christian flag have to do with the American Civil War, the “Scopes Monkey Trial” in 1925, and the current culture wars in the United States?
