No, Britain's Westminster Abbey Didn't Fly Pakistan's Flag During Holy Week

The video dates back to March 2024 and shows Pakistan's flag on Westminster Abbey to mark Pakistan Day.

An old video is being shared to falsely claim that it shows a recent clip of Pakistan's flag flying on top of Britain's Westminster Abbey church during Holy week.

(Source: Facebook/Altered by The Quint)

A video showing Pakistan's national flag flying on top of Britain's Westminster Abbey church was shared on social media.

The claim: Those sharing the claim shared it with text reading, "Pakistani flag flies over Westminster Abbey during Holy week. London is under Islamist occupation!"

An archived version of this post can be seen here.

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

(Archives of more posts sharing this claim can be seen here, here, and here.)

Is it true?: No, the claim is false.

• The video dates back to 23 March 2024 and was taken on the occasion of Pakistan Day.

How did we find out the truth?: We ran a simple keyword search with the term 'pakistan flag westminster abbey'.

• The first result showed us the website of the Pakistan High Commission in London, which had shared a press release titled 'Westminster Abbey marks Pakistan Day with Special Service'.

The press release mentioned that the Westminster Abbey had flown Pakistan's flag.

(Source: Pakistan High Commission London/Screenshot)

The release carried a photograph showing similar visuals of Pakistan's flag flying on top of the church.

The press release shared a photo similar to the viral video.

(Source: Pakistan High Commission London/Screenshot)

• We also came across an X (formerly Twitter) post by the High Commission's verified account, which had shared similar visuals in a post.

The post, shared on 23 March 2024, shared the same information and carried the viral video.

• "Pakistan's flag hoisted on the rooftop of Westminster Abbey. As per tradition, the Westminster Abbey organized a Special Evensong to mark the Pakistan Day," it read.

Pakistan Day is observed on 23 March every year and it marks the day Pakistan formally adopted its first Constitution.

On Westminster Abbey's website, we came across a page called 'Flag Days', which mentioned that the church often flew different flags, namely those "of the Commonwealth Nations, the Flag of St Peter, the Abbey Flag, the Union Flag, the Flags of the National Saints, the Royal Air Force Flag, and the Royal Standard."

The church hoists several flags.

(Source: Westminster Abbey website/Screenshot)

This page elaborated that the national flag of a Commonwealth nation is flown when its High Commission is represent at Evensong"the High Commission of a Commonwealth member state is represented at Evensong.

It specified when different flags were flown.

(Source: Westminster Abbey website/Altered by The Quint)

More on the Holy week: Christians observe the Holy week during the final week of Lent, a month of solemn religious observance for the community.

• The week includes key events leading up to Easter, such as Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday.

• These events commemorate the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, as per Catholic News Agency.

• In 2025, the Holy week is set to begin on 13 April and has not started yet.

Conclusion: An old video of Pakistan's flag flying on top of Westminster Abbey is being shared to falsely claim that it happened during Holy week.

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