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What is that? April 29, 2023

If you know, let us know. Send your responses to [email protected] or phone 631-275-1859.

Marian Brownlie was the only reader who correctly identified last week’s photo (see below).

(Credit: Ambrose Clancy)

“It is the Episcopal Church flag flying on the flagpole on the front lawn of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church at 26 St. Mary’s Road.”

Exactly, Marian.

The flag has roots in England, Scotland and Long Island.

According to Church records, the Episcopal flag denotes that Christian denomination, an offshoot of the Church of England, and founded in the U.S. in 1785. It has a white background and the red Cross of St. George, the patron saint of England.

Nine white “crosslets” on the blue field represent the original dioceses of the Episcopal Church in America: Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Delaware and South Carolina.

They are arranged in the form of a St. Andrew’s Cross to commemorate the fact that Samuel Seabury, the first American bishop, was consecrated in 1784 in Aberdeen, Scotland, where St. Andrew is the patron saint.

Father Charles McCarron, pastor of St. Mary’s, pointed out the Long Island connection to the flag. It was designed by William Baldwin of Setauket, and adopted by the church’s hierarchy as an official flag for the Episcopal Church in October 1940.