Jersey City Reverses Course, Approves Christian Flag Raising at City Hall

June 18, 2026

A Christian flag will once again be raised at Jersey City Hall after city officials agreed to allow the display as part of the annual Children of Faith Parade and celebration.

Christianity Daily reports that the decision resolves a dispute that began when organizers of the parade were denied permission to fly the flag last year.

According to Liberty Counsel, Jersey City informed parade organizers in May that the Christian flag may be raised on Sept. 8, restoring a practice that organizers say had been observed continuously since 1979 before city officials halted it in 2025.

Liberty Counsel had argued that the city’s refusal to permit the flag display violated constitutional protections for free speech and religious expression and conflicted with established First Amendment precedent.

According to Christianity Daily, the controversy began in August 2025 when city officials rejected the permit request submitted by Children of Faith Parade organizers, claiming that previous approvals for the Christian flag had resulted from an “administrative error.”

Liberty Counsel became involved earlier this year, sending a formal letter in January to Jersey City Acting Corporation Counsel Brittany M. Murray, contending that the city was applying its policies inconsistently.

The letter pointed to other flag-raising events that had received approval, including displays associated with the Jersey City LGBTQ+ Pride Festival and Pakistani flags flown by Muslim organizations.

The legal argument supporting the Christian flag display drew heavily from a landmark 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling involving a similar dispute in Boston in the case of Harold Shurtleff, et al. v. Boston, MA, et al.

Photo: top, Credit: Screenshot/YouTube/Jersey City TV