Court rules in favor of cross on seal

A federal court decision Thursday about a Pennsylvania county’s seal bodes well for religious symbols in public settings throughout the country. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Lehigh County can keep the Latin cross on its seal because it has historical and cultural significance beyond its meaning as a Christian symbol. The 3rd Circuit judges followed a new precedent set by the U.S. Supreme Court this summer in the case of the Bladensburg cross, a 40-foot World War I monument in Maryland that a group of atheists wanted taken down.

Why is the cross on the county seal? It represents the county’s early German settlers, who fled religious persecution in their home country. The seal, adopted in 1944, has more than a dozen other symbols of the area’s history, including grain silos, textile mills, the Liberty Bell, and a red heart.

Dig deeper: Read an analysis by WORLD Digital’s Rachel Lynn Aldrich of the Supreme Court’s Bladensburg cross decision.