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Assyrian Church of the East

The oldest extant split in Christendom is that between the Church of the East and the rest of Christianity, dating to the Council of Ephesus, 431 AD. Also, at one point in the early medieval period the Church of the East was the largest Christian body in the world. Thus, to those interested in church vexillology it may be of special interest whether the Church has a flag of its own.

Today the Church still has as adherents the Assyrians of Iraq and Iran and the western diaspora, and a small minority among the "St. Thomas Christians" of southern India. Since the 1960s the Church of the East has been split into two factions over questions regarding succession to the Patriarchate and whether to replace the Julian calendar with the Gregorian- the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East and the Ancient Church of the East.

At the website of a parish of the former group- St. Mary's Assyrian Church in Tarzania, California (US)- there is a photo gallery showing that the parish displays 3 flags in their church. These are the Stars & Stripes, the flag of Assyria, and one unknown to me. This is white with a yellow sun in the center, a white area voided within the sun, and a yellow cross within the voided area. There also appears to be writing above the sun. The flag is fringed in gold.

Examples of some the photos
<http://www.stmaryassyrianchurch.com/Mar%20Sargis/ms004.jpg>
<http://www.stmaryassyrianchurch.com/MAprim.Syria/MA26.jpg>
<http://www.stmaryassyrianchurch.com/MAprim.Syria/MA14.jpg>
<http://www.stmaryassyrianchurch.com/Aug7/m1.jpg>
<http://www.stmaryassyrianchurch.com/MarAprim/MA17.jpg>

Ned Smith, 27 November 2004

It looks to me as though the 'white voided area within the sun' is more probably a representation of an open book - presumably the Bible.
André Coutanche, 28 November 2004

An Assyrian Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Teheran, Iran, displays the Christian Flag and the flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran [at least I think that's what it is]. See http://www.alaptav.com/christian_photos/album15/DSC00115 and http://www.alaptav.com/christian_photos/album15/DSC00101.
Ned Smith, 29 November 2004

I've now found another photo indicating its use beyond that particular parish and diocese, so it seems to be a flag of the whole church, at least in the US, if not worldwide. It was being used in an Assyrian New Years Day parade in Chicago (which incidentally is the current home of the church's patriarch). Various groups had units marching in the parade. The photo of the church's unit shows them carrying that flag, the Assyrian national flag, and the US flag. See image at http://www.aina.org/images/parade5.gif.
Ned Smith, 27 September 2005