{"id":1452,"date":"2014-11-30T21:39:15","date_gmt":"2014-11-30T19:39:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.christchurchswindon.co.uk\/blog\/?p=1452"},"modified":"2015-03-08T17:58:00","modified_gmt":"2015-03-08T15:58:00","slug":"flying-the-flags-at-christ-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christchurchswindon.co.uk\/blog\/2014\/11\/flying-the-flags-at-christ-church\/","title":{"rendered":"Flying the flags at Christ Church"},"content":{"rendered":"

The variety of flags flown lately at Christ Church has attracted much interest – and a few complaints about the propriety of its displaying flags other than Diocesan or Union.\u00a0 The use of other flags to affirm particular groups or individuals on significant occasions does no harm, but a surprising amount of good:\u00a0 most poignantly when the \u201cStars and Stripes\u201d was raised on the tenth anniversary of \u201c9\/11\u201d.\u00a0 We thought no more of it until a heartfelt note was found later on a scrap of paper in the church:\u00a0 \u201cThank you so much for flying my flag.\u00a0 The love and solidarity of this church means so much on this day to all Americans far from home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Planning regulations relating to the flying of flags – liberalised in 2012 – are set out in the Department for Communities and Local Government\u2019s Plain English guide to flying flags<\/em> of which we are cognisant.\u00a0 And there are no specific restrictions on the flags that may be flown from churches.\u00a0 Any appropriate flag may be used, subject to the wishes of the incumbent and PCC.\u00a0 Westminster Abbey (albeit a Royal Peculiar) flies all sorts.<\/p>\n

Flags flown recently at Christ Church include those of:<\/p>\n

Australia:\u00a0 to welcome back (by popular demand) Revd Ray Low on a visit from Boston MA.<\/p>\n

India:\u00a0 on\u00a0Republic Day, Independence Day and Mahatma Gandhi\u2019s birthday, in appreciation of all the Indian community brings to our church.<\/p>\n

Italy:\u00a0 for a wedding (of two local ice cream sellers); likewise Australia and New Zealand.<\/p>\n

Kenya (before) and India (afterwards) for another wedding:\u00a0 not both at the same time as requested by the vicar (that\u2019s not allowed!)<\/p>\n

Saint Helena:\u00a0 for the wedding of two expatriates from this British overseas territory, many of whom live around Swindon because of its proximity to RAF Brize Norton.\u00a0 It was a particular pleasure to raise their flag (a very attractive one) for the first time on such a joyful occasion:\u00a0 it was acquired following a number of memorial services, in anticipation of more.<\/p>\n

Scotland:\u00a0 within minutes of Andy Murray\u2019s victory in the 2013 Wimbledon men\u2019s singles final (and a photograph of it was e-mailed shortly afterwards by Simon to his aunt in Edinburgh!).\u00a0 This year it was flown for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.<\/p>\n

Uganda:\u00a0 for the duration of \u201cLe Tour de Lee\u201d, Bishop Rayfield\u2019s \u201cJOGLE\u201d cycle ride to raise money for the Diocesan link with Uganda (he went the hard way – most \u201cend-to-enders\u201d do \u201cLEJOG\u201d) – and of the subsequent visit to Swindon by the Bishop of Luwero who was both surprised and delighted.<\/p>\n

Wales:\u00a0 in joyful celebration of Margaret Williams\u2019s forty years of outstanding licensed lay ministry.<\/p>\n

Zambia:\u00a0 for a reception in the Community Centre for visitors from Livingstone, hosted by Swindon Town FC\u2019s Football in the Community Trust, and attended by the country\u2019s High Commissioner.<\/p>\n

Zimbabwe:\u00a0 for a charity fund-raising evening in the Community Centre. \u00a0 And a \u201cmulti-nation\u201d flag of composite design (49 countries, including 23 of the 32 competing ones), flown throughout the football World Cup as an antidote to nationalism.\u00a0 Also used on United Nations Day. \u00a0 Jamaica is on order for a wedding next year, and we watch and wait for STFC\u2019s elevation to the Championship!<\/p>\n

We\u2019re grateful to the Friends of Christ Church who recently paid for a new Diocesan flag to replace the existing one in poor condition:\u00a0 discoloured and dirty from many years of heavy use, darned and patched.\u00a0 The new one was flown for the first time on the church\u2019s \u201cbirthday\u201d, the 163rd anniversary of its dedication on 7th November 1851.\u00a0 (See photo – but it was hard to take a good one:\u00a0 a watched flag never unfurls!)<\/em><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The new Diocesan flag given by the Friends of Christ Church. Modelled anonymously by James Harris (not the Archdeacon\u2019s assistant)!<\/p><\/div>\n

Obtaining it, though, was easier said than done.\u00a0 An enquiry to the Archdeacon\u2019s assistant (confusingly, James Harris) about where to buy a new one elicited the helpful suggestion of asking Ailsa Palmer at Christ Church, Swindon:\u00a0 \u201cThey\u2019ve got one.\u00a0 I saw it the other day.\u201d\u00a0 It was subsequently procured from J W Plant of Leeds – sewn in full compliance with MoD specifications at surprisingly reasonable cost.<\/p>\n

Thanks are also due to Daniel Pitt and Mike Palmer for restoring the flagpole to its full height.\u00a0 Moved to allow site access for the construction of the Community Centre, it had been reinstated in a new socket, designed to be fixed to a concrete \u201craft\u201d at surface level, but wrongly installed by the contractors a metre below ground.\u00a0 Their efforts are also appreciated by Lyn and Margaret Adams, who donated the pole as a memorial to family members and are pleased it\u2019s so well used.<\/p>\n

Reinstallation was completed the morning after the Scottish independence referendum, when the Union flag was promptly raised in relief and celebration.\u00a0 The Queen might or might not have \u201cpurred\u201d on the telephone when the Prime Minister informed her of the outcome, but long may she reign over us and them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Lest anyone is concerned, the additional flags have been obtained at no cost to the church – including one flown for Christian Aid Week, fabricated from scratch using two pieces of fabric, one red, one white.\u00a0 Its \u201cmirror image\u201d design, of red-on-white on one side, and white-on-red on the reverse, was so convincing that the CAW coordinator thought his official banner had been relocated from the churchyard railings!<\/p>\n

BRIAN HARRIS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The variety of flags flown lately at Christ Church has attracted much interest – and a few complaints about the propriety of its displaying flags other than Diocesan or Union.\u00a0 The use of other flags to affirm particular groups or individuals on significant occasions does no harm, but a surprising amount of good:\u00a0 most poignantly when the \u201cStars and Stripes\u201d was raised on the tenth anniversary of \u201c9\/11\u201d.\u00a0 We thought no more of it until a heartfelt note was found later […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-magazine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christchurchswindon.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christchurchswindon.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christchurchswindon.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christchurchswindon.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christchurchswindon.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1452"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.christchurchswindon.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1452\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1455,"href":"https:\/\/www.christchurchswindon.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1452\/revisions\/1455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christchurchswindon.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christchurchswindon.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christchurchswindon.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}