Faith Communities and The Flag

Written By Christie Love

Every June 14th since 1916, when then President Woodrow Wilson issued a presidential proclamation and called on citizens to publicly display the flag, has been known officially as Flag Day. For many years, this practice was engaged in by individuals, organizations, and faith community is a great deal of pride and patriotism. However, with the disturbing increase in bolder, more public expressions of Christian Nationalism in the last decade, there are difficult questions that faith communities must wrestle with around the use of, discussion of, and the public display of the flag.

 

A 2022 article from the Harvard Political Review observed, “The flag is a symbol, and symbols change. The flag — which is meant to represent an entire people — should not simply be the symbol of one party. It should embody the ideas that this country was founded and built on, the ideas that we all share. But recently, most media tends to associate this American symbol with extremists, as can be seen with pictures of the Jan. 6 riots that feature different permutations of the flag with Trump’s name. Some rioters even tore down an American flag and replaced it with a Trump flag. This tendency to partner the flag with un-American values is not simply a media problem.” (1)

 

The Flipped Table Collective believes that this topic is also something that faith leaders and faith communities must wrestle with. Therefore, this Table Topics post will outline five critical questions that faith communities should discuss and consider, not only on Flag Day but at all times that they debate whether and how to display the American flag at their place of worship.

Question 1: What does the American flag currently represent to not only leaders and members of your faith community but also to community members who are not engaged in your faith community?

In 2022, Pew Research Center explored the rise of Faith and Flag voters. These individuals are defined as “highly religious, politically engaged and both socially and economically conservative. They favor a robust role for religion in public life and a smaller role for government in society, and they hold that a strong American military is essential in international affairs. They overwhelmingly identify with the GOP and remain strong supporters of former President Donald Trump.” (2)

The image below is from that publication and shows the political patterns of the Faith and Flag voters. Many in our country now associate people of faith with these political views because the loud views of this group of Christian

Question 2: What theological implications does the use of the flag in images, art, and graphics have and how do we address those in our faith community?

Artist depictions, graphic designs, and even AI-generated content imagery that use the image of the American flag and foundational images associated with Christianity are becoming increasingly commonplace online, in advertisements, on billboards, and in stores. If these images do not align with your views, teachings, and practices- are you talking about their impact on people’s perceptions of faith and faith spaces?

If you were to display an American flag inside or outside your faith community building, how would a passerby distinguish your theology about the flag and what it represents from what is being implied in these images?

Question 3: How do we as a faith community acknowledge the tensions that the flag represents: honesty about the role of religion in much of America’s harmful aspects of history, the mingling of nationalism and Christianity, our nation’s involvement in war/violence/colonization, honoring living and deceased Veterans who served our country, and gratitude for freedoms of religious expression that our nation offers?

A 2024 Pew Research Study illustrated the tension in America between views of how faith and politics should be intertwined. The study found that “U.S. adults are divided over the amount of influence the Bible should have on the country’s laws. About half of adults (49%) say the Bible should have “a great deal” (23%) or “some” influence (26%), while 51% say it should have “not much” or “none at all.” (3)

For many people, religion has troubling ties with many historical events and perspectives including; racism, patriarchy, involvement in past war conflicts, colonization, lack of support in humanitarian crises in places like Gaza, support of current policing practices, opposition to immigration, and active participation in efforts to undermine healthcare for women and queer individuals. It is difficult to find ways to navigate the tensions that these representations have with the desire to honor those who have fought for the nation and the hope for religious freedom that our country was founded upon. While this is a difficult tension, it is critical that we not try to remove the flag from the contexts and representations it has had throughout history and continues to play in our present culture for all people. This requires us to consider what the flag means, not only to ourselves but also what it represents to our neighbors as well.

Question 4: Have you considered if the American flag is a trauma trigger for anyone in your faith community or your community of context?

As we discuss in this week’s episode of our Flipped Table Theology podcast, there are multiple sources for religious trauma- not just churches. One of those that many people do not consider is the role that wider Christian culture can have in inflicting harm on someone.

People of color, Indigenous people, Refugees, Veterans, Queer people, and many others can all have complicated emotional and trauma associations with the symbol of the American Flag. It is important to note that working to become a trauma-informed faith community and leader means considering how someone may react to something and doing what we can to minimize negative experiences for them by being sensitive in our actions.

Is it possible that flying a flag could be a source of harm for someone in or around your faith community?

Question 5: As people of faith, who/what is our highest allegiance to?

In many school districts, staff and students recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag each day. Those who choose not to do so have experienced ridicule, punishment, and isolation. In many conservative/religious areas of the country, the same practice is often still used in public meetings, local government proceedings, sporting events, and other public gatherings. Those adults who have cited religious reasons not to say the Pledge of Allegiance have faced political and personal consequences.

In some traditional faith spaces, services include the practice of the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag, the Christian flag, and even to the Bible.

One interesting aspect of discussion around the use, discussion, and display of the flag is the issue of allegiance and what that means. Faith communities should audit their spaces and ask themselves if everything displayed in their space is consistent with what they feel their allegiance should be to. How does the American flag fit in that framework? Can our patriotism and our symbols of our nation become idolatrous and undermine the unity that we are called to through our shared faith?

Resources to Explore as you Wrestle with these Questions:

The Flag Code from the American Legion

Read Flag: An American Biography by Marc Leepson

Watch the J.E.S.U.S.A documentary on Amazon Prime.

Christie Love
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