Tag: flags

One of my favourite hymns is “When I survey the wondrous cross”, a poignant reflection on the love of Jesus which led him to the cross and which urges us to follow his example of wholehearted love for others.  The cross was originally a symbol of oppression and injustice, an instrument of torture and state-sponsored execution by the Roman Empire. The events of Good Friday and Easter meant that this symbol was subverted. Because of Jesus, the cross now is a symbol of hope and love, and stands as the ultimate reminder of the generous heart of God who loved us so much that his Son, Jesus, spread his arms wide on the cross to embrace us all, inviting us to open our hearts to embrace and accept his love in return.  The flag of St George, England’s national flag, reminds us of this: red for the blood of Christ, shed for the sake of God’s love for all humanity as he died on the cross, and white for the glory of heaven and eternal life which that shedding of blood revealed.

Which brings me to a more recent subversion of the cross as a symbol. Whatever the genuinely patriotic intentions of some of the individuals who participated in the recent flag flying campaign, the result (arguably the intention of those who devised the campaign) was to intimidate minority groups.  Online comments, and those of commentators from the far-right of politics show only too well how this display of flags, far from being a patriotic celebration of our nation and national community, is being used as a tool of racism, the cross of Christ weaponised to incite division, and as a cover for outright nationalistic hatred of anyone outside a very narrow definition of Englishness.

Our national flags should be a source of pride – indeed, they are flown from our churches on occasions of national significance and paraded on Remembrance Sunday as symbols of national unity.  I do not believe that the recent campaign serves this purpose.  While some who promote the campaign say they only wish to promote patriotism through their actions, the reality is that the way in which our national flags, especially the flag of St George, are being used to vandalise monuments such as the White Horse of Kilburn, or roundabouts, or being flown (often half mast!) from lampposts, bridges and elsewhere does the very opposite of promoting national cohesion. The intention is to tell some people that they do not belong, that they are not welcome.  The fact that the Cross of Christ is the key symbol of our national flags means that, as a Christian, their use matters to me.  Any use of the Cross of Christ as a tool of oppression, exclusion, or of making people feel unwelcome is a blasphemy.  It takes the meaning of the cross back to its Roman origins: to use it as a tool of fear and division, the very opposite of the Cross of Christ which stands, red on white on the flag of England. Yes, I am uncomfortably aware that the flag of St George was used by the Crusaders in medieval times, and that their actions did much to damage the mission of the Church through the atrocities which were committed in the name of Christ under the banner of this very same cross. And yes, that was endorsed by the Church at the time. So we must learn from past mistakes, repent, and not let the cross become synonymous with hate, division, violence, exclusion and injustice again. Turning from past mistakes is the very definition of repentance and is part of the Christian path of redemption which the Cross points us towards.

I am proud that, in our diverse nation, our flag bears the cross of Christ, a symbol of Christ’s love in the face of evil, and his defeat of sin and death.  We will continue to proudly welcome our nation’s flags into our churches on Remembrance Sunday and fly them on national occasions as symbols of our Christian heritage as a nation, a heritage which should inspire us to acts of love, justice, peace, hope, welcome, forgiveness and inclusion. As you look at our flags, wherever they are flown or displayed, I hope these values are what you choose to see and be inspired by, because they are the values we should aspire to as a nation, values revealed through Christ and his cross.