Union Jack

The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the national flag of the United Kingdom. The flag also has official status in Canada, by parliamentary resolution, where it is known as the Royal Union Flag. Additionally, it is used as an official flag in some of the smaller British overseas territories. The Union Flag also appears in the canton (upper flagstaff-side quarter) of the flags of several nations and territories that are former British possessions or dominions, as well as the state flag of Hawaii. The claim that the term Union Jack properly refers only to naval usage has been disputed, following historical investigations by the Flag Institute in 2013.
The origins of the earlier flag of Great Britain date back to 1606. James VI of Scotland had inherited the English and Irish thrones in 1603 as James I, thereby uniting the crowns of England, Scotland, and Ireland in a personal union, although the three kingdoms remained separate states. On April 12, 1606, a new flag to represent this regal union between England and Scotland was specified in a royal decree, according to which the flag of England, a red cross on a white background, known as St George's Cross, and the flag of Scotland, a white saltire (X-shaped cross, or St Andrew's Cross) on a blue background, would be joined together, forming the flag of England and Scotland for maritime purposes.
The present design of the Union Flag dates from a Royal proclamation following the union of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801. The flag combines aspects of three older national flags: the red cross of St George for the Kingdom of England, the white saltire of St Andrew for Scotland and the red saltire of St Patrick to represent Ireland - although it actually has no connection with Saint Patrick.
Notably, the home nation of Wales is not represented separately in the Union Flag, as the concept of a standardized national flag was not fully developed at the time of the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542 integrating Wales into the Kingdom of England. Thus, at the time of the flag's design the cross of St George represented all of England and Wales.
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==References==
==Further reading==
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==External links==
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* Union Jack at the Royal Family website
* Union Flag protocol at the College of Arms website
* British flags during The Protectorate and the Commonwealth of England – see external link
* BBC page for 400th anniversary of flag
* Monochrome Union Flag not flown to avoid controversy
* How to draw the Union Jack
* Union Jack Flag Infographic
* History of the Union Jack video
* UK Flag Protocol
Category:British Empire
 
Category:Flags of Northern Ireland
Category:National symbols of the United Kingdom
Category:Unionism in the United Kingdom
Category:1801 establishments in the United Kingdom