The City of Diamond Fire Department in Missouri has quickly removed a Christian flag from outside its fire station after the Freedom From Religion Foundation raised constitutional concerns.
The department confirmed that the flag has been taken down following FFRF’s recent complaint and later stated publicly that it has done so “in compliance with constitutional law.”
FFRF wrote to Fire Chief Rebecca Dunn a few days ago after receiving a report that the department was flying a Christian flag outside its fire station alongside the American flag and the department’s own flag. Since the department selects and controls which flags are displayed on public property, FFRF explained that the display constituted impermissible government speech by conveying official favoritism toward Christianity over all other religions and nonreligion.
“The Fire Department knows that citizens interact with and rely on firefighters during some of the most urgent and vulnerable times of their lives,” FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence wrote. “Minority religious and nonreligious citizens should not be made to feel like outsiders in their own community because the Fire Department flies a Christian flag outside of its building.”
FFRF noted that the Christian flag has increasingly become associated with the Christian nationalist movement, including its prominent display during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Government entities must avoid displaying symbols that communicate religious or ideological favoritism.
FFRF appreciates the prompt remedy of this major constitutional violation by the City of Diamond Fire Department, thus ensuring that members of the community know the department serves residents of every faith — and of none.
“Fire departments exist to protect every member of the community equally,” FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor says. “Flying a Christian flag from a government facility sends the chilling and unacceptable message that Christians are favored insiders while everyone else is an outsider. We appreciate that the department recognized its constitutional obligation to remain neutral on matters of religion and acted quickly to make certain that all residents know they are equally welcome.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to defending the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters relating to nontheism. With about 41,000 members, including more than 400 members in Missouri, FFRF is the largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics and humanists) in North America. For more information, visit ffrf.org.
