A third of the world’s flags have religious symbols on them

Many people in the United States believe in the separation of church and state. That's reflected in our flag, which has only secular symbols on it. But many other countries have flags with religious symbols on them. Indeed, according to the Pew Research Center, nearly a third of the 196 countries in the world, have flags with a religious element.

Almost half (48 percent) of the 64 flags in this category contain Christian symbols — usually a cross. A third (33 percent) contain Islamic symbols — typically a star and crescent. Christianity and Islam are the world's two leading religions.

Buddhism and Hinduism are represented on five flags, according to Pew. There are also flags bearing symbols representative of Incan, Aztec, and Shinto spirituality. Israel is the only country with Jewish symbols on its flag: both the Star of David and a tallit or Jewish prayer shawl.

The US flag does not contain religious symbols, but, as Pew notes, several US state flags do, including New Mexico, Alabama, and Florida.

Update: This article has been updated to show that several US state flags contain religious symbols.

Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?

Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple of big issues with relying on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on:

First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.

Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. And we can’t do that if we have a paywall.

So even though advertising is still our biggest source of revenue, we also seek grants and reader support. (And no matter how our work is funded, we have strict guidelines on editorial independence.)

If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today? Any amount helps.

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via