On closer inspection of the UK's flag, it has 3 crosses meaning it is a christian society - is this right?

Question

When you look at most middle eastern countries flags, they carry the muslim crescent - a symbol to dedicate they are a devout muslim country. UK (and it's colonies like Australia and NZ) have crosses, meaning they are Christian societies.
Does this mean if UK and its colonies are true multicultural society's they will have to remove the crosses (or add the symbols of the other countries) - leaving a plain blue flag for Britain. Are they proud to say they are a christian country with christian values and will stick to them?
Would countries like turkey, lebanon and Israel (as a side) like to say they ain't racist by putting a cross on their flag? Or are they proud muslim/jewish countries?

I know lebanon has no cross on their flag, hence why i said they should put one on.

I'm trying to find the truth. BTW When in court a prosecutor don't ask the suspect whether he commited a crime, they ask whether they would do it again. - I am trying to see which countries people think are racist and why? I want to see how you can argue that it's racist to discriminate against muslims (such as lebanese) in britain, but not racist for muslims to discriminate against brits in a place like lebanon.
I ain't trying to pick a fight, but let people how silly they really are - I'm going for the googly eye "oooooh" effect.

Answer 1

Firstly, the crosses DO indicate a Christian past. The flag was designed at a time when the UK government was dominated by Christians.

Secondly, few Britons today would want to uphold Christianity and 'Christian' values, outwith the cultural backwaters of N Ireland and the Western Isles of Scotland. Perhaps the time will come when we replace the crosses with sometnig more "postmodern" like a circle.... if it were up to me I'd create a new/ancient symbol that combined the red dragon of the Celts and the white dragon of the Saxons within a wheel of harmony.

Thirdly, Turkey, Lebanon and the Zionist Entity are three very different fish. In Turkey, most of the people are Muslim but there is separation of mosque and state rather like in the USA and they are careful to avoid overt intrusion of Islam into anything governmental. Lebanon suffers from intense inter-generational rivalries between sects ~ Sunni Muslim, Shia Muslim, Druze, Maronite Christian, Catholic Christian and so on. So whatever flag they have will reflect political compromise and negotiation, or if one group becomes dominant. The racist state occupying Palestinian land to the south of Lebanon was created by the Jews for the Jews and its flag is of course therefore a solely Jewish symbol.

Answer 2

About Islamic countries: SOME Islamic countries use crescent as a symbol, which lead to a misconception about what god Muslims worship. Islam has no specific "symbol", color or anything. The crescent thing is only related to how people calculate lunar months, upon which fasting and pilgrimage times are based.
---BACK TO THE SUBJECT: I don't think that indicated Christianity, the US is mostly Christian, but has stripes and stars. It might be right, but that applied in times where almost 100% of British people were Christian (Say 150-200 years ago), and when there was a British Empire. But again, I believe it's not meant to draw a Cross on the UK flag.

BTW: Lebanon has NO cross in their flag:
http://img.infoplease.com/images/lebanon.gif

Answer 3

This is history. Christianity was an important force in the development of western Europe. This is a fact, but the presence of a cross does not make a Christian society. Western Europe has evolved from a quite bloody past of sectarian violence into a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, pluralistic, secular society. It is not perfect; there are still some vestiges in places like Ireland and the Balkans, but the general direction of society is toward a secular society.
This does not mean abandoning all traces of the past. There are costs to trying to eradicate the past - it does not go away. China is still repairing considerable damage as a result of the Cultural Revolution, and even today in Beijing many historic neighbourhoods are suffering from a "renovation" and "modernisation" that doesn't take the past into enough consideration.
It is the same for other societies. For instance, you say that the crescent indicates a "devout muslim country." This is not correct. Turkey's flag displays a crescent, but the Turkish administration is completely secular, notwithstanding the current government that has islamist leanings.

Answer 4

I think that perhaps you haven't checked. Lots of European countries have crosses, amongst the most lay-minded ones, too. Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, not to mention Switzerland, all have crosses and they certainly have never struck as being particularly devout. Italy, despite its long Papal-catholic history and tradition, doesn't have a cross and neither does Spain, nor the Vatican, unless a very small one on the shields. As a Britisher and an Italian (unliklier combinations have occured!) I think that each flag should be examined as a single instance of a particular country's history, and not seen just in the light of other specific or general rules. To show what I'm trying to say, i'll give you a last example: Saudi Arabia does not have a flag sporting the crescent, and it is certainly a very devout country.

Answer 5

Well I suppose it was a christian society anyway, even the Swedish flag and that of the other Nordic countries has a cross on it even though just 2% go to church , it's just plain silly that anyone should be offended by the cross on the flag.

Answer 6

Well l can tell you that the British flag is made up of the ST Georges cross which represents England and the St Andrews cross which represents Scotland.

Answer 7

any symbol represents the historical basis and/or principles of that country's foundation..

it usually does not have an original racist meaning

Answer 8

Yes but what exactly is your point - - - are you arguing that Britain should be exclusively Christian and should send non Christians into exile? Cannot a Modern Nation, such as Israel, proudly wear a Historic Symbol such as The Star of Davis, and yet still allow non Jews to live freely within its borders. Are you suggesting that a nation that allows people of a variety of faiths to worship within their borders should put their symbols on the flag, wouldn't that get awfully cluttered? Guess the American Flag is best suited to this, instead of fifty stars there could be fifty or more symbols; a few examples, a sitting Budha, a Crscent, a Catholic Cross with Jesus twisting in AGony, a secular Cross, corporate symbols such as IBMand the Mercedes Benz logo? Peace.l



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Flag

The Union Flag before 1801
When James VI of Scotland inherited as James I of England in 1603, the crowns of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland were united in him, although each remained independent states.

On 12 April 1606, a new flag to represent this personal union between England and Scotland was specified in a royal decree, according to which the flag of England (a red cross with a white background, known as St George's Cross) and the flag of Scotland (a white saltire with a blue background, known as the Saltire or Saint Andrew's Cross) would be "joyned together according to the forme made by our heralds, and sent by Us to our Admerall to be published to our Subjects." The original sketches which accompanied this specification are lost. Until the Acts of Union 1707 it was practice for the flag in Scotland to have the Saltire over the St George's Cross and vice versa when flown in England [citation needed]. This royal flag was at first only for use at sea on civil and military ships of both Scotland and England. In 1634, its use was restricted to the monarch's ships. Land forces continued to use their respective national banners.

After the Acts of Union 1707, the flag gained a regularised status, as "the ensign armorial of the Kingdom of Great Britain", the newly created state. It was then adopted by land forces as well. Various shades of blue have been used in the Saltire over the years. The ground of the current Union Flag is a deep "navy" blue (Pantone 280), while the currently accepted Saltire uses a lighter "royal" blue (Pantone 300), following the Scottish Parliament's recommendation of 2003.

Wales had no explicit recognition in the flag because Wales had been annexed by Edward I of England in 1282, and since the Laws in Wales Acts 1535-1542 was legally part of the Kingdom of England. (The present-day Flag of Wales and St David's Cross emerged, or re-emerged, in the 20th century: the former based on a Royal badge and the latter on the arms of the Diocese of Saint David's.) The Kingdom of Ireland, which had existed as a personal union with England since 1541, was likewise unrepresented in the original Union Flag.

The pre-1801 Union Flag is also shown in the canton of the Grand Union Flag (also known as the Congress flag, The First Navy Ensign, The Cambridge Flag, and The Continental Colors), the first widely-used Flag of the United States.

The blazon for the old flag, to be compared with the current flag, is Azure, the Cross Saltire of St Andrew Argent surmounted by the Cross of St George Gules, fimbriated of the second.

[edit]
Since 1801
The current Union Flag dates from 1 January 1801 with the Act of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Ireland and the Kingdom of Great Britain to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The new design added the red saltire cross attributed to St Patrick for Ireland. This saltire is overlaid on the saltire of St Andrew, but still beneath the cross of St George. To make it clear Ireland was not superior to Scotland, the Irish cross was made thinner and half covered by the saltire of St Andrew. The arrangement has introduced a requirement to display the flag "the right way up"; see specifications for flag use, below. The red cross is thought to have come from the heraldic device of the Fitzgerald family who were sent by Henry II of England to aid Anglo-Norman rule in Ireland and has rarely been used as an emblem of Ireland by the Irish: a harp, a Celtic cross, a shamrock, or (since 1922) an Irish tricolour have been more common. However, the exact origin of the flag is unknown, with evidence of saltires being present on ancient Irish coins and maps. The St Patrick's saltire flag has been used in more recent times for St Patrick's Day in Northern Ireland, by various organisations wishing to avoid the sectarianism that may be implied by the use of either the tricolour or symbols of Unionism.

The current flag is blazoned Azure, the Crosses Saltire of St Andrew and St Patrick, quarterly per saltire, counterchanged Argent and Gules, the latter fimbriated of the second, surmounted by the Cross of St George of the third, fimbriated as the saltire.

Answer 9

i think so though what you see in this country to day makes you wonder what it is now

Answer 10

Not quite.

http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/page5017.asp