It was designed in that year for the Congress by Canon Edward N. West of the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in New York.

[1] The Compass rose was modernized in 1988 and the new design was laid into the floor of Canterbury Cathedral during the Twelfth Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops.

It is written in the original New Testament Greek, the traditional language of scholarship within the Anglican Communion.

Surmounting the shield, at the North, is a mitre, the symbol of apostolic order essential to all Churches and Provinces constituting the Anglican Communion.

[1] The design was adapted with the colors of blue and gold and made into a flag by Canadian-born priest Father Andrew Notere.