What's in a flag?

Flags are very powerful symbols.  The evidence is overwhelming.  Look at the pride with which an Army Regiment regards its Colours; look at today's television pictures of the flag waving in Gaza at the rally for Khaled Mashaal, leader of the terrorist group, Hamas; look at the pictures that are regularly shown of Islamist extremists burning the flag of the USoA; think of the flags that are flown at international sporting events.

It is then, little wonder that the Loyalist/Unionist population of Northern Ireland are "up in arms" at the decision by Belfast City Council to end the long-standing tradition  of daily flying the Union Flag over Belfast City Hall, and doing so only on a number of specified dates.

It does seem strange that any public building within the UK should be, in any way, prohibited from flying the Union Flag at any time!  However, this is just another result of Blair's so-called "Peace Plan".  Of course, he is now well out of that, and concentrating on his efforts to become the first President of the "new" EU!

Flags are also used to communicate a message.  It may be the use of a variety of flags on a naval vessel, that spell out a clear message to the initiated; it may be the use of semaphore flags achieving the same result; it may be the white flag that communicates the willingness to surrender.

The disciple of Jesus has some important flags to fly!  I can't recall the name of the minister who first used the words as a brief comment.  However, they were taken up and became the chorus that many would have sung forty or fifty years ago:

Love is the flag flying high
on the castle of my heart,
on the castle of my heart,
on the castle of my heart.
Love is the flag flying high
on the castle of my heart,
For the King is in residence there.

Joy is the flag flying high
on the castle of my heart,
on the castle of my heart,
on the castle of my heart.
Joy is the flag flying high
on the castle of my heart,
For the King is in residence there.

Peace is the flag flying high
on the castle of my heart,
on the castle of my heart,
on the castle of my heart.
Peace is the flag flying high
on the castle of my heart,
For the King is in residence there.

If every disciple of Jesus was to have those three flags flying, what a potent symbol that would be - and what a message it would communicate to a strife-torn world!