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Roman Catholic Church

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Roman Catholic Church
Flag of the XXXIV International Eucharistic Congress
Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land
Virgin Mary flag

Roman Catholic Church

image by Dieter Linder, 7 June 1997

The flag of the Roman Catholics is well known to you. It is lengthwise divided by white and yellow. The centrally ruled Roman Catholic hoists this flag all over the world, the last time to be seen during the Pope's visit in Poland.
Dieter Linder, 7 June 1997

Flag of the XXXIV International Eucharistic Congress, Budapest 1938

Photos of the flag (here and here) and of the vertical hanging table flag from István Molnár (the bridge on the flags is the "Széchenyi Lánchíd" (Chain Bridge)).

The idea of meetings of [Catholic] people dedicated to the prayer to the Eucharist began in Western Europe in the seventies of the 19th century. The reason for this was not only to enliven and widen eucharistic prayer but also to oppose the increasing tendencies towards laicisation.
The last Congress before WWII was in Budapest, Hungary, the 34th in succession from 25th – 30th May 1938 and the first one after the war was in Barcelona, Spain from 27th May – 1st June 1952. In the capital of Hungary, the motto was "Eucharist the bond of Love". Over 100,000 people came from all over the world to this congress. (Source: http://www.pft.wroc.pl/kongres/en/historia/dzieje.htm)

The "Eucharist" or "Communion" or "The Lord's Supper", is the rite that Christians perform in fulfillment of Jesus' instruction, recorded in the New Testament, to do in memory of him what he did at his Last Supper. Christians generally recognize a special presence of Christ in this rite, though they differ about exactly how, where, and when Christ is present. The word "Eucharist" is [in the RCC] also applied to the bread and wine consecrated in the course of the rite.
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eucharist)
Martin Karner, 22 February 2006

Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land

The flag for the Roman Catholic Church's Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, flying outside the Custody's US headquarters, the Franciscan Monastery in Washington, DC. It is white with a red Jerusalem cross (a cross potent with a crusil in each angle). This design is attributed as the arms of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem (but in yellow on white), and is used for the Papal Order of the Holy Sepulchre. The Franciscan friars working for the Custody wear the Jerusalem cross embroidered in red on the left breast of their brown robes. The symbolism is variously attributed to the five crosses representing the five wounds of Christ or to the message of the Gospel (the large cross) being carried to the four corners of the earth.
Joe McMillan, 27 April 2000

Virgin Mary flag

image by Jarig Bakker, 1 February 2001

The Virgin Mary blue and white flag (without anything else) is used with the Vatican colours in Lourdes. I also saw it in Orléans during the festival of Joan of Arc.
Pascal Vagnat, 8 September 2005

The Marian flag - a bicolour of white over blue, the colours associated with Mary in the Polish usage. I remember when I was in Poland as a child in 1974, I acquired a Polish flag, a yellow/white flag and a white/blue flag.
Robert M J Czernkowski, 21 May 1999

Variant

image located by Patrick Devers

This flag is usually flown outside Catholic churches. It has the same dimensions as the Vatican flag except it is blue and white. In the white portion there is a capital M with a Cross over it and these are surrounded by 12 stars. The M, Cross and stars are the same shade of blue as the other half of the flag. The image here shows the symbol on a medal.
Patrick Devers, 3 September 2005