My reading for this week was the Isaiah chapters from 2 Nephi. There's a wealth of themes I could explore from these chapters. But for today's post, I've decided to focus on the symbol of the ensign. The ensign is a war banner. In 15:26, the Lord raises a war banner to summon foreign armies to punish Judah for their sins. In 21:12, he raises a banner in order to gather Israel and Judah so that they wage war together on their enemies. And then in 23:2, a banner is raised as God's declaration of war against Babylon.
As you can probably guess, my feelings about the ensign as a war banner range from ambivalent to repelled. I'm much more enthusiastic about the "ensign of peace" that the Saints are commanded to raise in D&C 105:39. Also, I'm drawn to the ensign in 2 Ne. 21:12 as a symbol for the gathering of exiles. Anyway, thinking about the raising of ensigns suddenly brought to mind the flag of the kingdom of God that the Saints used during the 19th century. And as soon as I'd made that connection, I decided to use it as the basis of my weekly reflection.
Most of my spiritual reflection revolves around the written word—scripture study and journaling. But I also like to use music and drawing as ways to reflect on, and bear witness to, my convictions and values. So I Photoshopped a version of the flag of the kingdom of God—a few different versions, actually—thinking as I did so about the meanings I could invest in this flag as a symbol of my personal commitment to building the kingdom and my understanding of what that commitment entails.
There are actually two different designs for the flag that we know were used. (Mike Quinn wrote about this in BYU Studies back in 1973.) One had blue and white stripes—we don't know how many, but twelve's a likely number—and a blue field containing a circle of twelve stars with a larger star in the center. This is the flag that was raised on Ensign Peak, in Salt Lake. In fact, a variation on that flag flies today, alongside the U.S. and Utah flags, at the little park at the base of Ensign Peak.
The second design Mike discovered had a plain white background instead of stripes. Again there was a blue field and a circle of twelve stars, but with three stars at the center instead of just one. Something like this:
As you can probably guess, my feelings about the ensign as a war banner range from ambivalent to repelled. I'm much more enthusiastic about the "ensign of peace" that the Saints are commanded to raise in D&C 105:39. Also, I'm drawn to the ensign in 2 Ne. 21:12 as a symbol for the gathering of exiles. Anyway, thinking about the raising of ensigns suddenly brought to mind the flag of the kingdom of God that the Saints used during the 19th century. And as soon as I'd made that connection, I decided to use it as the basis of my weekly reflection.
Most of my spiritual reflection revolves around the written word—scripture study and journaling. But I also like to use music and drawing as ways to reflect on, and bear witness to, my convictions and values. So I Photoshopped a version of the flag of the kingdom of God—a few different versions, actually—thinking as I did so about the meanings I could invest in this flag as a symbol of my personal commitment to building the kingdom and my understanding of what that commitment entails.
There are actually two different designs for the flag that we know were used. (Mike Quinn wrote about this in BYU Studies back in 1973.) One had blue and white stripes—we don't know how many, but twelve's a likely number—and a blue field containing a circle of twelve stars with a larger star in the center. This is the flag that was raised on Ensign Peak, in Salt Lake. In fact, a variation on that flag flies today, alongside the U.S. and Utah flags, at the little park at the base of Ensign Peak.
The second design Mike discovered had a plain white background instead of stripes. Again there was a blue field and a circle of twelve stars, but with three stars at the center instead of just one. Something like this:
I prefer this design because, without the stripes, it looks less like the U.S. flag, thus resisting a tendency to equate America with the kingdom of God. Instead of the dark blue of the U.S. flag, I chose a lighter blue like that used in the flag of the United Nations. I also like the fact that the circle of stars can call to mind the flag of the European Union, which likewise has twelve stars in a circle. I'm trying to invoke the idea of unity and cooperation among nations and peoples as an objective of the kingdom of God.
Originally, the three stars in the middle were said to represent the First Presidency, and the twelve stars the Quorum of the Twelve. I think of the three stars as representing the Godhead, or perhaps the cardinal virtues: faith, hope, and charity. I like the way that having three stars instead of one helps to decentralize the center; I like the postmodern-ness of that. It puts relationships instead of singularity at the center. The twelve stars I take to represent the twelve tribes of Israel, emblematic of the Saints' call to be people of covenant; or the twelve apostles, emblematic of our own apostolic calling to do the works of Jesus.
The white background represents for me the ensign of peace from D&C 105:39. It could also represent the white field already to harvest, or it can represent the call to holiness and consecration (thinking of white temple clothes). The smaller blue field against the white background can represent the leaven that works to transform the loaf.
As I was working through the meanings I've sketched above, I began to feel self-conscious about the potentially racist connotations of using white to symbolize purity. So I tried replacing the white background with a yellow one. I thought the yellow could symbolize the glory of the Lord revealed to all flesh, or the light of Christ spreading itself in and through all things. Yellow reminds me of the Restoration, because of the golden plates or the angel's trump. And for those of you who remember the Primary colors song, yellow stands for service.
Originally, the three stars in the middle were said to represent the First Presidency, and the twelve stars the Quorum of the Twelve. I think of the three stars as representing the Godhead, or perhaps the cardinal virtues: faith, hope, and charity. I like the way that having three stars instead of one helps to decentralize the center; I like the postmodern-ness of that. It puts relationships instead of singularity at the center. The twelve stars I take to represent the twelve tribes of Israel, emblematic of the Saints' call to be people of covenant; or the twelve apostles, emblematic of our own apostolic calling to do the works of Jesus.
The white background represents for me the ensign of peace from D&C 105:39. It could also represent the white field already to harvest, or it can represent the call to holiness and consecration (thinking of white temple clothes). The smaller blue field against the white background can represent the leaven that works to transform the loaf.
As I was working through the meanings I've sketched above, I began to feel self-conscious about the potentially racist connotations of using white to symbolize purity. So I tried replacing the white background with a yellow one. I thought the yellow could symbolize the glory of the Lord revealed to all flesh, or the light of Christ spreading itself in and through all things. Yellow reminds me of the Restoration, because of the golden plates or the angel's trump. And for those of you who remember the Primary colors song, yellow stands for service.
As long as I was experimenting with different color schemes, I decided to try out a green background. Green is a color used by some peasant movements. So this flag represents for me social justice, or concern for the environment, as aspects of building God's kingdom.
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