There is only one instance in which an American flag has been displayed in The Mother Church. This was on a Sunday in June 1908. The Christian Science Board of Directors had written to Mary Baker Eddy on June 9,1 that they had received a letter from the Massachusetts Department, Daughters of Veterans, suggesting that churches in Massachusetts display the American flag on the following Sunday, Flag Day, and also that “The Star Spangled Banner” be sung.2 The Directors told Eddy that they felt the singing of “The Star Spangled Banner” should be omitted, but that they could display the flag. Eddy approved this, and added that the First Reader should make a “just short comment,” apparently in explanation as to why the flag was on display that Sunday.3 We have located no other comments from Eddy about displaying the flag, either in The Mother Church or in branch churches.
