The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1889-07-10
THE ORIGIN Of SOsf flags.
Variors Standards and ErSigus
Of Great Britain.


A&Ss~ 1Sf the A&atS 81
tie Navy.
lco<soa Pest
In the kssrse ess Ssssnsagsrs On N0r-
day week. Lori George HsmIlten o.
tanned leave sa bring IN btu Ia amend
lie izs relating Ia ,.ae ns~ % aa-s il.
the Rrirzsh merchant service. r4oaa
tie YEAR lai il has heea the law sssr
fsssscassss vessels h~soa-iog 10 this
coanirs 10 ~ the red easisn. AZ The
present day however. il shey are COM
asaaded oy an oIt1Ser Ut the royal
naval reserve. AMI one hlrl al ta~
Crew l~sosag 10 tass force. they are
allowed sc display the tsce ~nsssu.
sAseh IS also HE dag under which, ~
admiralty variant. nauSs yacht clabs
sa-a. TIE royal yacht squadron pos-
sesses the highly psizea privilege CT
fiyIns the white enssgn. which. since
lisa. has been the only ensign IA ase
in the royal navy. For sosse cor
siderable period before the wear lasi
mentioned here vere adnstral~. vice
( sdaairAls zssa Eeas-at. gaiFs1s III i1se rva
the white ami flae hue. and naan-of
~ar I'll played the ensign indicated by
the color OF the adnairai in command,
and changed il, i. necessary, on pro-
cvesilng Ia another station or return
/ ing home.
+ siaee ISs. however. al this has been
altered, aud the white ensign has been
the recognized Gag of The royal navs
OF this soentsy. Just a. the red ensign
has from the h.sinni.sg Of the century
been Carried with the comparatively
reeentiy authorized excepsion aIrsa5s
referred 10, by the mercantile marine.
/ Formerly, :s.o. fiset was supvosess 10
consist OF three divisions. whieh bore
The names OF the red. the white sna
the blue squassfo2s and were Gisan-
guished from enc another by the en-
signs they bore. The first notice OF
such division is perhaps that which
occurs in a manuscript report hy
Pvpys. The weii-Suown aiary writ-r
aid secretary la the admiralty, in
which IL l. stated thai ia the exKp~stf
lion of the Duk. OF BHckif CHAN
against the lie &c khe in l6r7 TIE iSst
was thus organized The duke.
writes Peps~. NOV lying at Port.
mouth. divided his aeet lnto squad.
rons. Himseife, ADMIRAL and Gen
eraii in Chivfe. went IN We Triumph
bearing the standard OF ENGLAND IN
We maine topp amt Admiraii partica-
/ lar ut the bloody csluaTs Toe Earl
I 60 Lind>as WAS Vice Admiral To the
/ Fleete in the RAinnowe. bearing the
! Kings usual colors in bis Ter. topp.
/ AID i,lue dag in his maine topp. aud
sas admiral of the blew colors. The
Lard Harvey was r.ar admiral in We
repulse. BEARING the kings u>,ias
c. iofs in bis nsizea, and white flag
on the maine topr, and was admiral
. II We squadron OF white coluTs
1t l. noticeable that in this instance
the blue dag took precedence III the
white. Under the Common wealth the
blue Was reirgated To the third place.
and il continued In that position untii
The distinction OF squaurons by means
OF the eois,r of the ensign they bore
as abolished IN ls6i 1t i cirar,
/ however. that some such distinction
Sas necessary in the old DAYS when a
tseet consisted OF aB enormous NUM-
her Of yes-eis. all told. and il is per
haps not quite evident that il. or soms-
thing like II. would not have 10 be re-
vised neoesssstass sss, IN the event of
such a war as should compel as TO put
{ firth the whole of our naval strength.
Here, however. IL may be as we'll 10
observe that previous "a lSto the adj
mirai commanding in the center few
at fAsx tsaa al ut b..4
! Union, Familiarity, but esOneousiy.
known as the Union Jack.
There Is an immense smoant of lore
connected with national flags and the
manner in which they have cone 10
be adopted. Ii would be useless 10
attempt giving even an eptome OF il
here, but IL may be interesting. avoid
Ing h.raldic terms a. much as pos
slbie. 10 devote some little considera-
ton 10 the subject The portion Of a
flag. 10 may oe as well 10 explain.
nearest the staff or 10 the rote 10
which Is i attached. is known as the
hoist. Then comes the center. and
the outer part Is described a. the siv.
We have already spoken OF three En-
gilsh eEsigns used under different
circumstances and conditions. In
each case the union occupies the can
ten or upper part OF the hoist, bat
( whereas IN the red and blue enslgnS
the remainder of the tag Is OF the
color indicated by its name. the
white ensign has upon II the red cross
al ~. George extending over the n hole
held. This was for u long time the
distinguishing Gag of England. The
national dag az Scotland il
white satire or ~. Andrews cross.
upon blue technically, azure,
a satire argeni~and what il has been
customary 10 describe as the flag of
Ireland is red satire upon white
field.
Strictly speaking. however, ireland
never had national flag. Before the
invasion Of ii72 the petty king who
was elected 10 the chief place CON
iiuued 10 use his Own standard. For
some time subsequent "a ils2 the
standard of Ireland bore three golden
crowns on blue hsid. Henry VIII.
substituted harps for crowns. for fear,
il In said. that the latter might te
taken for the triple crOsn OF the
Pope: bat a. Mr.. Macseorge points
out. the harp did not appear in the
royal standard until Il was placed
there hy James /. In isssl on the
UNION III ka&t AfuMtfe "a te44-k4ttA a&t
Scotland, the frat union flag vas
formed BY tle combination Of the Ct.
Georges cross with the satire of
Scotland. and il appears that this Gag
was used for ships only. though IL
was not then worn in the ensign bnt
xaS nsed separately on The lack
staff on the bows spirit. as the Cnson
Jack, properly socslleds nos j.. To
clear this posnt np once atsd for all.
let us-sAy that il j. held by the best
authorities that. in spite OF the a~sge
Of the war office Ia tse contrary. the
tisg usually called the Union Jack
ought 10 he spoken of IA the Uaiou
TAG. sud l. onIs Ia lie described by its
ordinary title when small edition 81
il i used ss isck that j.. is fown
sroaa the ack.sfaEf situated formerly
On tie hossprit ard nna IN the ta1Ns