Why do we need a new flag?
Why do Christians display a national flag? A flag is a visual symbol we devise to represent something greater than ourselves, something to which we belong and wish to demonstrate our allegiance. Although Christians agree that our allegiance to God comes before allegiance to nation, until now there’s been no flag to represent a Higher Authority than the nation.
What about the Christian flag?
When I first began to perceive the need for a flag that represents the kingdom of God I naturally turned to the Christian flag. But I soon noticed that it is usually displayed with the national flag and is always subservient to it. “Shouldn’t it be the other way around?” I thought. When I would see the two of them in a sanctuary I couldn’t help but think of the Ark of the Covenant and Dagon in the Philistine city of Ashdod (1 Sam 5). This arrangement struck me as blasphemous idolatry and I think that if Jesus were to cleanse our temples today he would cleanse them of the national flag. Eventually I realized that I was taking the Christian flag too seriously. This flag was derived from the US flag. The red stripes were removed and the stars were replaced by a red cross. Its resemblance to the US flag has limited its international acceptance and relegated it to a subservient status when displayed with a national flag. Whatever the original intent of the Christian flag, it is now nothing more than a banner that says, “We are Christians” or “This is a Christian church.” As such, it is merely an impotent conveyer of information rather than a symbol of authority. Flown beneath the national flag the meaning is clear, “We are Christians who owe our allegiance to this particular kingdom of the world.” Of course, this is subversion of our proper allegiance but rather than trying to change the world’s perception and use of the Christian flag it made more sense to create an all-new flag with a new name: the Kingdom of God flag. The intent is not to replace the Christian flag but to render it obsolete.
So what, exactly, does this flag represent?
Whereas a national flag represents a geographically-bounded, polytheistic society with an agenda of economic prosperity and self-preservation at any cost, the Kingdom of God flag represents the worldwide body of Christ with an agenda of reconciling the world to God by transforming lives through self-sacrificial service. It is a supranational flag in that it symbolizes God’s ultimate sovereignty over all nations. The white of the cross represents Christ’s purity. The red symbolizes his blood shed for the world, while the shape of the red field suggests his outstretched arms ready to embrace us with his love. The bluish violet field denotes his royalty, while the crown conveys that this is a kingdom, with Christ as the King of Kings. The trefoils on the headband represent the Holy Trinity, as does the banding on the orb at top.
Our True Citizenship
When we submit to our Lord and become his disciples we become citizens of the kingdom of God, with heaven as our home. National interests are replaced by kingdom interests.
“Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.” (1 Peter 2:11)
“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” (John 15:18-19)
Jesus prayed for his disciples: “I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.” (John 17:14-16)
“Jesus said, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.’” (John 18:36)
“Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” (Phil 3:20-21)
“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If you love the world, love for the Father is not in you. For everything in the world - the cravings of sinful people, the lust of their eyes and their boasting about what they have and do - comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.” (1 John 2:15-17)(collectively, patriotism)
“All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country — a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.” (Heb 11:13-16)
“For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.” (Heb 13:14)
Think of yourself as a missionary in a foreign land. And if you reflect on the fact that your existence will continue beyond trillions of millennia, the importance of a transitory kingdom of the world diminishes significantly.
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” (1 Peter 2:9)
The “one nation under God” is the kingdom of God, and it is In God We Trust, not the weapons of the world (2 Cor 10:3-4).
God bless His kingdom!
The kingdom inaugurated by Jesus imparts and manifests God’s will; its citizens are the light of the world – the city on a hill. No kingdom of the world can usurp that role or be assumed to be aligned with the will of God, and pledging one’s allegiance to a kingdom of the world creates a conflict of interest equivalent to serving both God and mammon. Why would Christians want to pledge their brotherhood to atheists and pagans of their own nation while ignoring their brothers and sisters in Christ living in other nations? We are called to pray for our leaders, but why do Christians ask God to bless up to our national borders and no further?* The map of the kingdom of God knows no national boundaries.
What attracts us so to our national flag? It’s not about God. If Christianity here died out completely, the flag would remain the same. No, it’s all about us and our collective ego. It is a reflection of our basic human drive for status, the assertion of our superiority, ultimately the sin of pride. Think of the nation as one big sports team. We want it to win to demonstrate our collective superiority to the other nations of the world and, by extension, our superiority as individuals on this winning team. We want to give ourselves and our ancestors the glory that belongs to God, because we believe we've earned it. God says: “I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols.” (Isaiah 42:8)
In addition to expressing our pride in ourselves the national flag provides a means of expressing our gratitude for the freedoms and prosperity we enjoy. But Christians should ask themselves, “To what or whom, exactly, does my gratitude belong? What has ‘my country’ given me that God cannot? Who is the source of my security, the focus of my identity?” They should consider the possibility that, as an expression of collective self-worship, patriotism is idolatry. Such national narcissism dilutes our allegiance to the kingdom of God and blinds us to the reality that our country has an agenda that diverges from the teachings of Christ. It lulls us into a false security that we can trust in something other than God - something we can see - yet have His stamp of approval on it. We are not called to love a country or endorse its actions but we are called to love God, our neighbors and our enemies (Mark 12:30-31, Luke 6:27-28). We exist to love. And that is sufficient. Patriotism is the world’s counterfeit for this higher calling, one that suggests: “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy” (Mat 5:43-44). As such, it readily accepts opportunities to go to war. God desires nothing from us that requires patriotism.
The kingdom of God is the most real and enduring nation in the history of man. This humble proposal to represent it is intended to give all honor and allegiance to our holy King. The intent is not to replace the national flag — except among Christians.
Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve. . .as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
Flag Etiquette
As mentioned above, the Kingdom of God flag is supranational. It is best flown alone; but if displayed with other flags, it shall occupy the position of honor. It has no pledge of allegiance and is not to be idolized. There is no requirement to adopt the worldview expressed on this website.
 “I pledge allegiance to Jesus Christ, |
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*I would like to suggest that American Christians, in the spirit of self-sacrificial love, should ask God to forego His usual blessing upon America and instead confer it upon the people of North Korea to free them from the greatest political oppression in the world.
**By June Alliman Yoder and J. Nelson Kraybill.