Our Church Flags 6. Costa Rica

 

The flag of Costa Rica has two forms.

Other than the Government, a citizen or entity can show only the striped flag and not the coat of arms.  And frankly, like many other red, white and blue flags there is not much to be said - yes, the red is martyrs' blood again.

What makes the Costa Rican flag interesting is its official form, complete with the Coat of Arms.  Not here the heraldic lions rampant or crowns or laurels of a European institution or family; instead a really nice picture that kind of says, "Come and visit us here!".

It has the sun, (the stars to represent 7 provinces), the lush green land between the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, two sailing ships that do seem a little, um, outdated (but would we really want two cruise liners?).  There are even some golden coffee beans down the sides.

We all want to go there.  

Although . . .

There are three great mountains too, representing three ranges.  Until just a few years ago the coat of arms was just that.  And then, for reasons my internet searches have not yet discovered, to each mountain was added a puff of smoke.  Now each of these mountains represents a volcano in each of the ranges, so presumably the smoke is there to emphasise this.  It does have quite a deterrent effect on the attraction of visiting though!

And maybe when we present the message of Christianity we are tempted to leave out the reality that is central to it: the cross, human sin, final judgment.  There is a wonderful faith to discover but it is not a tame faith.

Our Church Flags: 3. Barbados

On Barbados's national day it only seems right to add their flag from our church's multi-national congregation.

As it happens, today Barbados became a Republic.  The flag will survive this transition because it already represents the same sense of antagonism and freedom-seeking that spawned republicanism - the broken trident symbolising the end of colonial rule at the country's independence in 1966.

There is not much to be said about this flag (which simply won a competition at independence).  For me the broken trident reminds us of the way humankind turns paradises into problems - as in the Garden of Eden.  The beauty of Barbados, the yellow sand and the blue sea represented here, has a human imprint represented by the trident.  Slavery, colonialism that did not go well for the island, an angry independence which is still represented in today's transition over 50 years later brood over its natural beauty.

The human story is not the best story in the world without its Saviour and true Monarch.

Our Church Flags 2. Montserrat

London rarely fails to amaze.  Having a church member from Montserrat is a statistically unlikely event - but one day a few years back we had a visitor (unconnected) from Montserrat too!  To have two unrelated congregants from Montserrat is vanishingly improbable in any church in the world that doesn't have a direct Montserrat connection, because the island had a small population even before half of it was made uninhabitable by its volcano erupting some decades ago.  Today its population is less than 5000.

More amazing still is its flag:

Public Domain

There on the flag is the familiar sign of the territory's connection to the UK - the Union flag in the corner of the blue ensign.  But who is she?  Why is she white-skinned, and wearing green?  And holding a harp while embracing the cross?

She is white because she is Irish.  She is Erin.  That's why she holds a celtic harp.

This unlikely symbol for a Caribbean island is unlikely only because most of us have no idea that Montserrat was once populated largely by Irish immigrants.

Most special of all, I need no imaginative line of thought to squeeze Christian meaning from this flag.  The reason that Erin embraces the cross is officially explained as symbolising the islanders' love of Christ.

A Nation's Day

As I drove through a chill November fog this morning my thoughts headed north. For not only is it cold - it is also St Andrew's Day, the national day of Scotland (which, for the time being at least, is part of the same country as I am).  I shivered.

 

I decided to think warmer thoughts.  There is another country that celebrates its national day today, and its a LOT warmer.  

 

Barbados!

 

You'll be wanting the words of the National Anthem perhaps? Here's verse 2:

 

The Lord has been the people's guide
For past three hundred years.
With Him still on the people's side
We have no doubts or fears.
Upward and onward we shall go,
Inspired, exulting, free,
And greater will our nation grow
In strength and unity.