Flag of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania

On November 5, 2015, Freedom From Religion Foundation, a Madison, Wisconsin-based atheist advocacy organization, demanded that Lehigh County redesign the seal and the flag, citing a violation of their freedom of religion and First Amendment rights and previous court rulings the organization had received elsewhere, including court-ordered removal of a Ichthys on Republic, Missouri's seal and the removal of a cross on the seals of Zion, Illinois, La Mesa, California, and Edmond, Oklahoma.[2] The organization stated, "We urge the County to immediately discontinue using this seal and to develop a new seal that is both constitutional and representative of all citizens."[2]

Lehigh County's council responded with a unanimous vote asserting that the seal would not be changed. A letter sent to the foundation from the County stated that the seal was strictly secular and represented the historical settling of Lehigh County by Christian groups.[2][3] In August 2016, the foundation sued the county, and the County retained Becket Law for their defense.[4][5][6] The County reiterated the secular nature of the cross, stating that, "The cross, one of more than a dozen elements, was included to honor the original settlers of Lehigh County, who were Christian."[4]

In September 2017, Edward G. Smith, a federal judge with the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, ruled that the addition of a cross on the county's seal was unconstitutional and that the County needed to modify it.[7][4] In his ruling, Smith stated that, while he did not believe the cross itself was unconstitutional, an earlier precedent in the 1971 case of Lemon v. Kurtzman mandated it.[8]

In response to the federal court ruling, in a 6-3 County council vote, the County again asserted that it would not cease using the County seal and appealed the ruling to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia.[9][10][11] In August 2019, citing American Legion v. American Humanist Association, a ruling earlier that year, the appeals court determined that the presence of a cross in the County seal did not violate the constitution since it commemorated the history of Lehigh County.[12][13][14][15]

The Freedom from Religion Foundation did not appeal the ruling by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, the case was closed, and the cross remains on the Lehigh County flag.[16]