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The UMC Logo (Cross and Flame)
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| The Cross and Flame is a registered trademark
and the use is supervised by the General Council on Finance
and Administration of The United Methodist Church.
Permission to use the Cross and Flame must be obtained
from the General Council on Finance and Administration
of The United Methodist Church -
Legal Department, 1200 Davis Street, Evanston, IL 60201. |
About the United Methodist Logo
Known informally as the cross and flame logo but formally as the United Methodist Church's insignia, it has been in use nearly two decades. It is seen in cities, towns and rural areas at every point of the compass.
History
Creation of the United Methodist insignia began in 1968. The Uniting Conference directed the Division of Interpretation of the former Program Council to "design and supervise the use of an official insignia."
Assigned to create such a mark was Edward J. Mikula, the division's art director. Working with him -- in research on symbolic aspects -- was Edwin H. Maynard, then editorial director. Both men were determined that, whatever the insignia's form, some expression of warmth would be conveyed -- a warmth such as John Wesley had experienced on a long-ago spring evening in Aldersgate Street.
Following some two dozen conceptualizations, a traditional symbol -- the cross -- was linked with a single but dual flame. The insignia thereby relates our church to God by way of the second and third persons of the Trinity: the Christ (cross) and the Holy Spirit (flame).
Apart from Wesleyan Trinitarian theology and warmth, the flame has two other connotations. The flame suggests Pentecost when witnesses saw "tongues as of fire." And the duality of the flame was meant to represent the merger in 1968 of two denominations: The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church.
The insignia was formally adopted, and in 1971 was registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office as a service mark and collective membership mark. That registration -- officially No. 917,433 -- is current today.
The 1996 General Conference assigned custody of the emblem to the General Council on Finance and Administration. Mary Logan, council for the agency is the staff contact for questions related to proper use of the cross and flame.
Its Integrity
Because the cross and flame is an official insignia, any reproduction must be faithful to the original design. For that reason, reproduction proofs are available.
It is not hard to recognize an unauthorized or poor reproduction of the mark. Three areas in particular are scrutinized by the persons who supervise the insignia's use. The base of the flame should be lower than that of the cross. The tip of the left portion of the flame must align with the left arm of the cross. And -- this is more difficult to detect -- the space between the flame and the upright of the cross is wider at the top of the design that it is at the bottom.
Observing these and other criteria enables the user to make a faithful copy.
Its Use
General Conference has authorized use of the mark under the following circumstances:
"The insignia may be used by any official agency of the Church, including local churches, to identify the work, program, and materials of The United Methodist Church. Any commercial use of the design must be explicitly authorized by an appropriate officer of this agency." (Discipline, Par. 1906.16)
To Obtain Consent to Use
Direct inquiries to:
The General Council on Finance and Administration
1200 Davis Street
Evanston IL 60201
Printing Standards
Avoid using odd two-color combinations. United Methodist Communications recommends that if more than one color is used, the flame be a specified shade of red known to printers as "PMS Warm Red."
If the cross and flame are printed in a solid single color, there should be a thin line of space all around the arm of the cross that lies against the flame.
