Flags in church
To whom it may concern, What is the proper custom for displaying flags in the church? I noticed that in the church to which I belong that the flag of the United States was on the congregation's right and I thought it looked a bit strange. I looked it up and the U.S. flag code (4 U.S. Code § 7, subsection k) states this: "...When displayed from a staff in a church or public auditorium, the flag of the United States of America should hold the position of superior prominence, in advance of the audience, and in the position of honor at the clergyman’s or speaker’s right as he faces the audience. Any other flag so displayed should be placed on the left of the clergyman or speaker or to the right of the audience." According to the U.S. flag code, I was correct in thinking that the flag of the United States was being displayed on the incorrect side of the sanctuary. However, I thought about it some more because the code states "the position of superior prominence" and "the position of honor," as the other flag displayed in our sanctuary is the Christian Flag (according to Wikipedia it is described as having a white field, with a red Latin cross inside a blue canton). This leads to my question: which flag should be placed in the position of superior prominence and honor, the flag of the United States or the Christian Flag? I am guessing that the answer is the flag of the United States because it is the law and we are to submit to the governing authorities (Romans 13); however, I would like your thoughts on the matter. Thank you!
To put your question in perspective, the “Congressional Research Service Report for Congress on The United States Flag: Federal Law Relating to Display and Associated Questions” states: “On the national level the Federal Flag Code provides uniform guidelines for the display of and respect shown to the flag…The Code is designed ‘for the use of such civilian groups or organizations as may not be required to conform with regulations promulgated by one or more executive departments’ of the federal government. Thus, the Flag Code does not prescribe any penalties for non-compliance nor does it include enforcement provisions; rather the Code functions simply as a guide to be voluntarily followed by civilians and civilian groups.”
Additional “perspective setting” is the understanding that we are dealing with an adiaphoron here—something that God has neither commanded nor forbidden. Christians thus have freedom to display or not display a flag in their churches.
If a church is going to display flags (an American and a church flag) in the chancel, they would probably cause the least confusion by following the Flag Code guidelines. If a church is not going to display flags, they would have reason for doing so. In that regard, let me pass along information from Christian Worship: Manual, the companion book to Christian Worship: A Lutheran Hymnal. In the chapter titled “The Worship Space,” there is this food for thought: “Some churches like to include the national, Christian, and denominational flags in the chancel. While many Lutheran congregations have displayed flags of one sort or another, building committees ought to carefully analyze this tradition. Altar, pulpit, and font ‘all point to Christ,’ while national flags ‘speak not of Christ, but of the nation’ [Brugginck and Droppers, Christ and Architecture, pp. 250ff]. Especially in an age when so many Christian churches confuse the separate roles of church and state, it may be wise to place national flags in the narthex rather than in the chancel. The use of the Christian flag may promote an imprecise view of the church and false ecumenism besides. Denominational loyalty is important in a congregation, but recent history seems to indicate that it is better to teach loyalty to the Scriptures that cannot err than to denominations that can. The important work of the church body can surely be emphasized in better ways than with a flag” (pp. 85-86).
Again, because this is a matter on which Scripture is silent, congregations do well to explain clearly their rationale for whatever their particular practice in this area might be.