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the lush green land between the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, two sailing ships that do seem a little, um, outdated (but would we really want two cruise liners?).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 5. Angola

 Continuing reflecting on the flags of people who have come to our church in London

Some flags are boring, some are cheerful, some are weird, but the flag of Angola seems to me to be, well, scary.

It owes its general form to those who fought in its civil war, and to the supporting Soviet Union.  But as Angola reinvents itself as a tourist destination I can't help thinking it is missing a trick or two with the flag.  It looks like some grim European industrialised nation instead of an expansive sunlit African coastal country.  The black stands for Africa, the red (as usual) for blood shed in the fight and the peculiar reinvention of the hammer and sickle representing agriculture and industry.  The latter might have worked for the USSR but Angola is notably poor at both agriculture and industry which makes it a little ironic.

And my mind turns to church and the way we are quite inclined to dress up the good news in ways that are well-intentioned but not very inviting.  

Maybe we and Angola could learn together.

Happy Birthday, Marie Therese

Happy Birthday.  This the traditional greeting.  Marie Therese, the future Queen of France (admittedly for less than an hour) was born on this day in 1778 to her mother Marie Antoinette and father Louis XVI.  And on the face of it, she was born into great happiness at the Palace of Versailles. 

It was not, however, a happy birth day.  In point of fact, it was a matter of miraculous wonder that she lived to day two.   For hours she struggled to live after a most traumatic birth - a birth so dreadful that from then on the king refused to allow people to be present when his children were born.

And as French politics turned out, it was also a matter of wonder that she lived a life that ended in a natural death, something that most of her family were denied. She was sentenced to death in the French Revolution, but this was moderated to permanent exile.

In this season when we  remember a King born and placed in a manger it is worth remembering that birth into a palace is no guarantee of a happy life - as others have found.

Our Church Flags: 4. Brazil

Some flags are easy to draw.  This is emphatically not true of the Brazilian flag - I pity the elementary school child trying to reproduce it:

The representation of the night sky has stars for each state - not so unusual - but the number of states (27) and their representation as actual southern hemisphere constellations produce a flag that makes the United States or Australian/New Zealand starry flags a doddle to draw by comparison.

On the flag the night sky replaces the Imperial insignia that was on the flag when the Empire of Brazil was a colony of Portugal.  It represents the declaration of a new start one night!

So at Christmas it reminds us of the Christmas night sky from which the angels brought the message of a new Ruler who would bless humankind with true peace.