History of the British Flag - Historic Jamestowne Part of Colonial National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service) History of the British Flag History of the British Flag English National Flag In 1603, the year of Queen Elizabeth I's death, England and Scotland existed as completely separate nations, each with their own monarch and parliament. Elizabeth, being a spinster and therefore childless, expressed a deathbed wish that her cousin, King James VI of Scotland, be named as her successor to the English throne. Thus, the Scottish monarch was projected into the unique position of ruling two nations simultaneously. He ruled Scotland as King James VI and England as King James I. Scottish National Flag The English national flag at this period consisted of a simple red cross fully imposed upon a plain white field, this being the emblem of St. George, England's patron saint. The Scottish national flag consisted of a diagonal, or X-shaped, white cross, fully imposed upon a medium blue field. This was the emblem of St. Andrew, Scotland's patron saint.

In the spring of 1606, to symbolize the monarchical unification of the two nations under himself, James created a banner to this end, by fully superimposing the English red cross (with a narrow white border to represent its normal white field) upon the Scottish flag. This became known as the Union Flag, and it was the forerunner of the present flag of Great Britain. Union Flag 1606-1801 In the decree of issuance of the new flag, James stipulated that all ships of both English and Scottish registry were to fly this flag from atop their mainmasts. The Cross of St. George was to be flown from the foremasts of the English ships, while the Cross of St. Andrew was to be flown form the foremasts of the Scottish ships. As the Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery were of English registry and did not embark upon their historic voyage until December of 1606, it logically follows that on this voyage their flags conformed to the royal decree of the preceding spring. Irish National Flag The Union Flag, created by James in 1606, continued in use as a purely symbolic banner until 1707.

Then, during the reign of Queen Anne, the parliaments of England and Scotland were united to form the new nation of Great Britain, and Anne officially adopted the 101 year old banner as the national flag of the newly created nation. In 1801, when Ireland became a part of Great Britain, the Union Flag was redesigned to include the Cross of St. Patrick (red, diagonal), the patron saint of Ireland. It is in this form that the British flag exists today. CANADA: UNION JACK TO MAPLE LEAF THE ROYAL UNION FLAG SINCE 1801 HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY FLAG As in the territory of the future United States, the British Union Flag , popularly known as the Union Jack, was colonial Canada's national flag. From 1606 to 1801, the Union Jack combined the crosses of SS. George and Andrew, symbolizing the union of England and Scotland in the Kingdom of Great Britain. In 1801, when Ireland was added to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the diagonal Cross of St. Patrick was added to create the current Union Jack.

This remained Canada's official national flag until 1965, when the Maple Leaf Flag was adopted. It was however, retained as an official Canadian flag (the Royal Union Flag) and it is flown together with the Maple Leaf Flag on designated days and certain occasions, e.g. the Queen's Birthday and Commonwealth Day. Except on the occasion of a royal visit, the Maple Leaf Flag takes precedence over the Royal Union Flag. Of the Union Jack's numerous variants, the Red Ensign was also frequently seen in colonial Canada. Popularly known as the Meteor Flag, it was an ensign of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1864 and the British civil ensign thereafter. Along with the British Blue Ensign, this flag was adapted for numerous colonies of the British Empire, usually by adding a badge in the fly. In Canada, the Hudson's Bay Company used a Red Ensign with the its initials in the lower fly.

PROVINCE OF ONTARIO SINCE 1965 In 1868, a year after the creation of the Canadian confederation, a Great Seal for Canada, combining the arms of the provinces of Ontario, Qu�bec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, was established by royal warrant. Soon thereafter, this device was applied to the British Red Ensign to create a distinctive Canadian flag. Though for many years it enjoyed no official recognition, this flag quickly became popular and in 1892 it was belatedly confirmed as Canada's civil ensign. Though intended purely for use at sea, the Canadian Red Ensign was widely flown on land as well and soon came to be regarded as Canada's de facto national flag. In the 1920s the Canadian government authorized it to be flown by the Canadian High Commission in London and the Canadian Embassy in Washington, DC. During World War II, the government directed the Canadian Army overseas to use it as a flag of nationality when appropriate. In 1945, a Canadian order in council authorized the Canadian Red Ensign to be flown on government buildings inside and outside Canada pending the adoption of a definitive Canadian national flag.

There were three official versions of the Canadian Red Ensign. In 1922 Canada's new coat of arms replaced the great seal, and in 1957 the maple leaves in the base of the shield were changed from green to red, white and red being Canada's livery colors. The Canadian Red Ensign's long career came to an end in 1965, with the adoption of the current national flag. In Manitoba and Ontario, however, sentiment in favor of the Union Jack remained strong, and in 1965-66 they both adopted provincial flags based on the Red Ensign. 1946 JOINT PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE PROPOSALS HOLLINGSWORTH'S 1955 PROPOSAL In the years following confederation, and particularly after World War I, there were numerous proposals for a distinctive Canadian flag. Most of them were based on the Union Jack and many incorporated the maple leaf, which had come to be accepted as a symbol of Canada after its appearance in the coat of arms of Ontario, but none ultimately found favor.

The inclusion of Francophone Qu�bec in the confederation was the primary complicating factor, but even among English-speaking Canadians there were divisions of opinion between those who cherished the British connection and those who wished to emphasize a purely Canadian national identity. One interesting design proposed in 1930 drew inspiration from the Australian flag, which depicts the Southern Cross constellation. The Canadian proposal, like the much later state flag of Alaska, displayed the Big Dipper, plus a "confederation star." In 1946 a parliamentary joint committee formed for the purpose of selecting a new flag for Canada recommended a Red Ensign with a golden yellow, white-bordered maple leaf in place of the Canadian arms. But Francophone Canadians were opposed to any new flag that retained the Union Jack and the prime minister, Mackenzie King, shelved the committee's proposal. Francophone Canadians were generally in favor of a national flag whose symbolism was neutral: Canadian rather than British or French. Ad�lard Godbout, a former premier of Qu�bec suggested in 1947 that a flag diagonally divided from upper hoist to lower fly, red over white, charged with green maple leaf, would make an acceptable Canadian flag.

This was in fact the flag of the of the League of the Canadian Flag, an organization devoted to the adoption of a distinctive flag for the nation. Godbout's proposal pointed the way forward, incorporating the elements of the future Canadian flag: the colors red and white, and the maple leaf. But the Red Ensign remained popular with many English-speaking Canadians. When Liberal MP A. H. Hollingworth introduced a bill for the adoption of a new flag in 1955, he thought it essential that the Union Jack be retained. The white field of his proposed flag was intended to appeal to Francophone Canadians, white being the color of royalist France. But neither these flags nor the many other designs proposed in the 1950s found favor, and the Canadian Red Ensign soldiered on. THE GREAT CANADIAN FLAG DEBATE ROYAL MILITARY COLLEGE OF CANADA Group B Finalist 1964 PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE DESIGNS Group C Finalist The long-running flag debate came to a head in 1964 when the new Liberal Prime Minister, Lester Pearson, placed the issue before Parliament.

Pearson, who had campaigned on the promise of a new flag for Canada, favored a design with the three red maple leaves from the Canadian arms on a field of white between two vertical blue stripes. This flag had the advantages of being distinctively Canadian, of incorporating the colors of the Union Jack, of including blue for Francophone Canada and of suggesting the national motto: "From Sea to Sea." But the Pearson Pennant, as it came to be called, had the disadvantage of being too closely associated with Pearson and the Liberals. John Diefenbaker, leader of the Progressive Conservatives and former prime minister, not only opposed the Pearson Pennant but argued strongly that the Red Ensign should be retained. The result was an extended and acrimonious parliamentary debate. Finally a committee of fifteen MPs was formed to consider the large number of proposals. The flag eventually selected was designed by George F.G. Stanley and inspired by the flag of the Royal Military College of Canada. The committee considered two variants: one with a red maple leaf on a white field between two vertical red stripes and one with the Union Jack and the Banner of France added. Both variants had 1:2 proportions, with each red stripe taking up a quarter of the flag's total area.

Stanley's original, simple design (Group B Finalist) was approved unanimously by the committee on 29 October 1964, and adopted by a majority vote in the House of Commons on 15 December 1964. The Senate's approval came two days later. CANADIAN CUSTOMS ENSIGN As finally adopted, the new flag was slightly modified to depict an eleven-point maple leaf. In this form it was submitted to Queen Elizabeth II for her royal assent, which was duly given on 28 January 1965. The Maple Leaf Flag was officially hoisted for the first time on 15 February 1965. The ceremony took place on Parliament Hill, Ottawa, in the presence of the Governor General of Canada, the Prime Minister, the members of the Cabinet, and members of Parliament. At the stroke of noon, the Canadian Red Ensign was lowered and the Maple Leaf Flag was raised. The crowd then sang "O Canada" followed by "God Save the Queen." Since 1965, a number of Maple Leaf Flag variants have been adopted, mostly by the armed forces .

An exception is the ensign of Canadian Customs, which is similar to the British customs ensign, with the Maple Leaf Flag replacing the Union Jack. BACK to HISTORICAL FLAGS Index Page British Flags - The Flag Institute British Flags You are here: Home > British Flags British Flags In March 1603 Elizabeth I of England died without an heir, leaving the succession to the Crown open. Elizabeth’s Ministers chose to ignore Henry VIII’s will which would have made his younger sister Princess Mary’s great-grandson, Edward Seymour – Lord Beauchamp, King, and instead invited James VI of Scotland to accept the Crown of England. The two countries remained independent under a single Monarch, James VI and I, who called his new realm the Kingdom of Great Britain (after the name of the main island of the British Isles on which lie England, Scotland and Wales).

In 1606, following some altercations over flags between English and Scottish ships, James VI and I issued the following proclamation: A Proclamation declaring what Flags South and North Britains shall bear at Sea Whereas some difference has arisen between our Subjects of South and North Britain, Travelling by Sea, about the bearing of their flags, for avoiding of all such contentions hereafter, We have with the advice of our Council ordered That from henceforth all our subjects of the Isle and Kingdom of Great Britain and the Members thereof shall bear in their maintop the Red Cross, commonly called St George’s Cross, and the White Cross, commonly called St Andrew’s Cross, joined together, according to a form made by our Heralds and sent by Us to our Admiral to be published to our said Subjects. And in their foretop Our Subjects of South Britain shall wear the Red Cross only as they were wont, and our Subjects of North Britain in their Foretop the White Cross only as they were accustomed. Wherefore We will and command all our Subjects to be conformable and obedient to this Our Order, and that from henceforth they do not use to bear their flags in any other Sort, as they will answer the contrary at their Peril.

Given at our Palace of Westminster the 12th. day of April in the 4th. year of our Reign of Great Britain France and Ireland Anno Domini 1606. The exact design that accompanied this has been lost. Several designs are known to have been considered including quartering the flags of England and Scotland (as the Royal Standard is quartered) and putting the two side-by-side, but the chosen design was: Some Scots vessels used an unofficial version where the St. Andrews’s cross went over the St. George’s cross. The width of the white line (or fimbration) around the St.George’s cross has also been a matter of debate. Actual flags from the period suggest that the fimbration was quite wide. The shade of blue started as a sky blue, but gradually became darker over the centuries. The modern Scottish Saltire retains a lighter blue background than the Union Flag (Pantone® 300 for the Saltire versus Pantone 280 for the Union).

In 1634, after some disputes concerning saluting ships in the Channel, Charles I partially repealed his father’s proclamation: A Proclamation appointing the Flags, as well for our Navy Royal as for the Ships of our Subjects of South and North Britain We taking into Our Royal consideration that it is meet for the Honour of Our own Ships in Our Navy Royal and of such other Ships as are or shall be employed in Our immediate Service, that the same be by their Flags distinguished from the ships of any other of Our Subjects, do hereby strictly prohibit and forbid that none of Our Subjects, of any of Our Nations and Kingdoms, shall from henceforth presume to carry the Union Flag in the Main top, or other part of any of their Ships (that is) S. Georges Cross and S. Andrews Cross joined together upon pain of Our high displeasure, but that the same Union Flag be still reserved as an ornament proper for Our own Ships and Ships in Our immediate Service and Pay, and none other. And likewise Our further will and pleasure is, that all the other Ships of Our Subjects of England or South Britain bearing flags shall from henceforth carry the Red-Cross, commonly called S.

George his Cross, as of old time hath been used; And also that all other ships of Our Subjects of Scotland or North Britain shall henceforth carry the White Cross commonly called S. Andrews Cross, Whereby the several Shipping may thereby be distinguished and We thereby the better discern the number and goodness of the same. Wherefore We will and straitly command all Our Subjects forthwith to be conformable and obedient to this Our Order, as they will answer the contrary at their perils. Given at Our Court at Greenwich this fifth day of May in the tenth year of our Reign of England Scotland France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith &c. To this day civilian vessels are not permitted to use the Union Jack. They have their own Jack (a white bordered Union Jack) and the courtesy flag is an appropriately coloured ensign (red for civil vessels, blue for government vessels, and white for naval vessels). The execution of Charles I on the 30th January 1649, brought an end to the union of England and Scotland. The Union Flag no longer made sense so the English Parliament ordered the Admiralty to chose a new design.

This was to be the first of several design used until the restoration of Charles II in May 1660 restored the pre-1649 flags. The Act of Union in 1707 In 1707, Queen Anne completed the task that James had started – a complete union of England and Scotland. The first article of the Treaty of Union stated that the flag would be the crosses of St. George and St. Andrew conjoined in such a manner as the Queen saw fit. Queen Anne decided to keep the existing design. The Act of Union in 1801 Up until 1801 Ireland had been a separate kingdom. In 1800 an Act of Union was passed to create the new United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to come into effect on the 1st January 1801. The College of Arms designed a new flag with the Cross of St. Patrick counter-changed with the Cross of St. Andrew. The inclusion of St. Patrick’s cross is of interest as St. Patrick was not martyred and therefore did not have a cross.

The red saltire on white was the emblem of the powerful Irish Fitzgerald family and was a convenient symbol for Ireland: Over the years the shape of the flag has gradually changed to its current naval proportions of one to two. This was caused by a steady decrease in the width of the cloth used to make the flags. The specifications were in the form of so many widths high by so many yards long. This meant that as the width of cloth reduced the flag apparently became longer and longer: The independence in 1921 of the southern part of Ireland as the Irish Free State (now the Republic of Ireland) did not result in any change to the Union Flag, although this was discussed at the time. A Restoration of Shape In 2008 the Flag Institute started a campaign to have the 3:5 version of the flag used for all official (and unofficial) purposes. This was not a new idea. It was in 1687 that Samuel Pepys, when Secretary of the Admiralty, declared that flags (and he was referring to flags at sea) should be in proportion 11:18. It is no accident that this is very close indeed to the Golden Ratio (1:1.618034).

This was restated in 1938 by Garter King of Arms when he declared that flags on land should be in proportion 3:5 (3:5 is very close to 11:18). The Flag Institute wished only to re-style the flag in its original proportions. During the year discussions took place with (inter alia) the College of Arms, the Lord Lyon King of Arms, the Department for Culture Media and Sport and the All Party Parliamentary Flags & Heraldry Committee†. The reversion of the national flag to the proportions 3:5 also has the obvious benefit of making the it the same shape as the flags of the constituent nations and counties of the United Kingdom. The British Army always retained the 3:5 version. A Union Flag Bill was sponsored by Andrew Rosindell MP and presented to parliament. † The All Party Parliamentary Flags & Heraldry Committee (APPFHC), under the chairmanship of Andrew Rosindell MP, was inaugurated on 5 February 2008. The Group contains MPs and Peers from all parties whose common theme is an interest in our nation’s flags and emblems.

Graham Bartram FFI, Chief Vexillologist of The Flag Institute Why you should not use a flag as a symbol of language Flag as a symbol of language – stupidity or insult? The problem Very often flags are used as symbols of languages, on the Web and elsewhere. For instance, a Web page might contain an "English flag" which acts as a link to an English version of a document (which itself is in another language). It is usually bad practice to use images as anchors of links , but this document concentrates on the theme why flags are particularly unsuitable anchors. In a perfect world, there would be no need for explicit links to versions of a document in different languages. Even in this imperfect world, the Web might evolve so that a server and a user agent smoothly select a version according to language preferences which the user has given when configuring the browser. (There are methods for such negotation in the HTTP protocol , but they are rarely used in practice so far. See . This should not be confused with the misguided "forced redirection" e.g. by Google, which uses undisclosed heuristics to send the user to a page in a particular language.) Why flags are used as symbols of languages?

Probably the most common motivation for using a flag as a language symbol is that it is expected to catch the eye better than text does. I'm not arguing against that expectation, and I'm not preaching against eye-catching images in general; see my article How to use images in communication in general and on the Web in particular . I'm not even going to discuss the question whether it makes sense to draw every reader's attention to a flag. (Why should I care about a link to a German version in a document written in a language which I know quite well, especially if I don't know German?) But I will present arguments which speak against flags as language symbols much stronger than any arguments about eye-catching or esthetics can speak in favor of it. The basic argument: what a flag really stands for Fundamentally, a flag is a symbol of a country. It could also be a symbol of an administrative area or a society or organization or movement, but such flags are not used as symbols of languages, with rare exceptions like Esperanto . Naturally one could use a flag a symbol for the country e.g. in a list of links to information related to various countries. Whether it is wise to do so depends on the context.

Typically people know names of countries better than their flags, so usually a flag isn't such a great symbol communicatively. What we discuss here is the use of flags for languages, and such usage is plain wrong. There is no one-to-one mapping between countries and languages. Even in the rare cases where the native speakers of a language and the citizens of a country are almost identical groups, there is no reason to bind the country and the language strictly together. Why should, for example, a Brasilian select the flag of Portugal to select his native language? It's quite possible that a Brasilian does not even know the flag of Portugal. Suppose that you were born in Finland and your forefathers lived there for centuries and that your native language is Swedish. Why should you need to select the national flag of Sweden (a country that you maybe never even visited) in order to read some material in your native language? Such use of flags could be taken as an insult, since loyalty to a flag is loyalty to the country that it symbolizes.

And in practical terms, the flag of Sweden on a Web page of an organization in Finland would most logically refer to related pages in Sweden; and such links would often be very useful, since the countries have so many cultural ties. As an important special case, consider the flag which is probably the most commonly used as a symbol of language. The British Union Flag (often called Union Jack) is often used to denote the English language, and sometimes even called "the English flag". First, it needs to be noted that it is not the flag of England but of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. There is a flag of England , but few people outside the United Kingdom know it, except perhaps as a football team symbol. More importantly, the majority of people who know English - or even the majority of people who speak English as their native language - do not live in the United Kingdom. People who put the Union Flag into their documents to symbolize English rarely think about this, and neither do they think whether their document is actually in British English instead of e.g. American (US) English. In many countries, the Union Flag refers to previous colonial masters.

Thus, a flag used as a language symbol may have unwanted connotations (in addition to being misleading as regards to its denotation). Even if the associated feelings are positive, there is no reason to raise them, when the communicative purpose is just to refer to some information written in the English language. The blog presents good examples of problems like the use of the flag of the Arabic League to symbolize the Arabic language and the effect of changes of flags. The CEN Workshop Agreement European Culturally Specific ICT Requirements says: The use of national flags to denote language, although convenient to implement, is another potential source of major irritation to the users, particularly for native speakers of the language outside the thus indicated country. Source (in PDF format): CWA 14094 , clause 5.9 On international and multilingual pages, flags in menus cause great confusion: they would logically denote countries (leading to country-specific information, in some language) and they often do, but probably more often they refer to languages (typically leading to the same information in different languages). Secondary arguments An image, even a small one, takes more time to transfer over network than the alternatives discussed below.

This means that the flag images might appear on the screen only after the text of the document is there. Such behavior looks odd, since it is contrary to the idea of providing fast and comfortable access to versions of a document in different languages. Very often images of flags are of poor quality as regards to proportions, colors, and form. A flag image of reasonable quality might require a large image file, making the above-mentioned performance problem more serious. Images of flags might even be deliberately distorted to achieve a "cool" effect, such as presenting a rectangular flag as a round button. A flag of any country should be treated with respect; insulting a flag insults the country and its people. An image serves a communicative purpose only if the user can see the image. There are several reasons why this might fail. In Web documents, an image can (and should) be accompanied with an alternative textual presentation of the same information, the so-called ALT attribute of an IMG element. For languages, this is easy, but then you can in fact ask what you need the image for in the first place. So what symbols should we use for languages?

English Deutsch franï¿½ais There is a perfect symbol for any language which you can use on the Web: the name of the language in the language itself, such as English (or British English or US English, if needed). Be careful with the grammatically correct use of upper and lower case here! If a reader doesn't know the name of language X in X, he probably does not know X enough for the link to be of use to him. If you need something shorter (you don't actually need on the Web, but you might need when designing e.g. id cards for employees), you can use the codes defined in the international standard ISO 639, either the two-letter codes of ISO 639-1, such as en for English, or the three-letter codes of ISO 639-2, like eng for English. Both types of codes are listed on the ISO 639-2 Registration Authority pages. The three-letter codes might be regarded as more informative and more understandable to the speakers of the languages. They are also more suitable if you expect that less common languages, which may have no two-letter code, will be included into the language repertoire.

However, two-letter codes are so often used on Web pages and elsewhere that many people are familiar with them. [en] Depending on circumstances and preferences, the names or abbreviations can be presented in varying styles. In HTML such items, being text, can be embedded into suitable elements which may affect the size, font, color and other properties of text presentation. However, it is unwise to try to control the presentation too much. For example, some Web pages of the European Union (EU), such as an old version of the basic search page , languages were symbolized correctly by using ISO 639 codes but so that the letters are presented as colored images. This raised the irritating question whether the use of different colors for different languages carries a message – intentionally or unintentionally. The current main page of the EU has a balanced presentation of the different languages. In many cases, there is no need to use any symbol for a language. If you have a link with anchor text in English (like Flag as a symbol of language – stupidity or insult? ), isn't it pretty obvious that it refers to a document written in English?

And if you have the home page of a company or an association in several languages, isn't it pretty natural to list its names in those languages, making each name a link to a version of the document in that language? Several examples and arguments in this document have been taken from a news article (in Finnish) by Jarkko Hietaniemi . Originally created in 1997 (see version of 1997-07-12 ). Date of last update: 2016-10-31. This page belongs to the free information site Historical Flags of Our Ancestors - British Flags A Tudor Ensign using the Tudor livery colors English naval ensigns did not begin to be standardized until shortly before the Civil War. Therefore, Tudor ensigns varied from ship to ship. Each was hand made and thus tended to be made in different materials and styles with no two exactly alike. They usually had horizontal stripes, in various colors, some with a canton, some without a canton, some with an overall Saint George's Cross, some with the Saint George's Cross in the canton, and some with no cross at all, just the stripes.

Muscovy Company Flag Muscovy Trading Company 1555-c1917 This flag of the Muscovy Trading Company, sometimes called the "Russian Company" or simply "Muscovy Company," is one of the oldest and most unusual British Trading Company houseflags. Queen Elizabeth I granted the Muscovy Company a charter in 1555 to trade with Russia, especially for furs and whaling, and allowed the English Company to use the St. George�s Cross and the English arms on their flag. The Muscovy Company had this monopoly on trade between England and Muscovy until 1698, and it survived as a trading company until the Russian Revolution of 1917. Several well-known English explorers were associated with the company including Henry Hudson and William Baffin. Since 1917, a Russian offshoot of the company has operated as a charity within Russia. The flag is very heraldic in origin and shows the French pattern of the royal standards, with the leopards/lions of England quartered with three fleur de lis of France, the whole is superimposed by the red centred cross of St.George fimbriated white.

Rarely would a design featuring a Royal English Standard be defaced in this manner to cover the Royal Lions of England. This very obscure flag had probably gone out of use by the end of the 1600s, even though the Muscovy Trading Company lasted until the Russian Revolution of 1917. EEIC Ensign 1801 Type #1 English East India Company 1600-1874 The English East India Company (EEIC) was originally chartered in London for trading in the East Indies. It was also referred to as either the Honorable East India Company or the British East India Company. It was first granted a Royal Charter by Queen Elizabeth in 1600. Shares of the company were owned by wealthy merchants and British noblemen. The Company ruled large areas of India with its own private armies between 1757-1858. The company traded mainly in cotton from the West Indies, and from the East - silk, indigo dye, salt, saltpeter, tea and opium. The company was dissolved in 1874 and its military and governmental functions taken over by the British Crown.

The companies failure to control India and need for funding may have led in part to the American Revolution. (See British East India Company Flags c1678-1800 on the &quotFlags of the American Revolution Era" page to learn more of this.) EEIC Jack - Type #3 mid-1860s The flag of the EEIC began very much in the traditional Tudor Naval Ensign format with a red Saint George's Cross on white in the canton, and with red and white alternating strips in the field. These flags came with nine, ten, eleven and even thirteen stripes; with various cantons of varying size, since each was hand-made by the crews of the EEIC ships, and no clear instructions given by the company. (See examples of the earlier Tutor influenced EEIC flags on the "Early North American Colonies" page.) When the House of Stuart gained the throne in 1603 the Cross of Saint George was replaced with the Union of the King's Colours and the EEIC flags reflected this change.

In 1801, the cantons where once again changed to reflect the new Union design (Type #1 and #2), with the Union Jack in the ensign's canton updated with the Cross of St Patrick. Other interesting flags reported in limited use in India and China in the 1860s were the two EEIC Jacks (Types #2 and #3) used prior to 1874 by armed EEIC vessels. Irish Red Saltire flag The Cross of Saint Patrick (Ireland) 1601 The earliest known use of the "Red Saltire" flag was at the Battle of Kinsale in 1601, fought against the English who carried the Cross of Saint George. It is interesting to note that the two "warring crosses" were destined to be united on the Union Jack 200 years later in 1801. English Naval Ensign The First Union Jack 1603-1606 James VI, became King of Scots in 1567, then in 1603 inherited the English and Irish thrones as James I of England, which he ruled until his death in 1625.

This was an early version of the Union Jack in the years 1603 to 1606 just after James I became King of both England and Scotland. It probably saw little use before being replaced by the new British Union Flag in 1606. However, there are reports it was temporarily used again in 1623, and also in 1659-1660, probably in short intervals between the fall of the Protectorate and the Restoration. This was the first known English flag to combine together both the Cross of Saint Andrew of Scotland with the Cross of Saint George of England. Royal Standard 1603, 1660, 1702 The Royal Standard of England 1603-1649, 1660-1689, 1702-1707 This version of the Royal Standard is sometimes called The "Union of the Crowns" Royal Standard because it united both the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland under one royal family. James VI, King of Scots, inherited the English and Irish thrones in 1603, and became James I.

In honor of this they quartered the Royal Arms of England with those of Scotland on the Royal Coat of Arms, and for the first time, the Royal Coat of Arms of Ireland is added to represent the Kingdom of Ireland. It was used during three different periods of time as indicated above. Because of the loss of the throne during the Civil Wars this Royal Standard was replaced in 1649, first by the Commonwealth Flag, and then by the Flag of the Protectorate. In 1660, Charles II restored the Royal Standard once he was recognized as the new king. It was changed once again during William and Mary's reign, but restored a third time in 1702. English People Type #1 English People Type #3 Flags of the English People c1600-c1700 These flags have appeared in a number of continental publications during the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, but only in foreign publications, and never in any British publications. Therefore, it has been suggested that these flags were only decorative banners or "processional" parade route flags, perhaps put-up for such national events as the coronation of William and Mary in 1689.

English People Type #5 (used on ship White Bear c1564) Whatever the original source of the information used for these various "Flags of the English People," they have been copied from one publication to the next, modified, and re-interpreted by various authors and publishers, based on previous claims. The Dictionary of Vexillology, found on the "Flags of the World" website explains that a flag which is accepted as factual because of repeated usage, but has no real evidence of actual use or existance, is called Suppositious Flag. It could certainly be argued that such is the case of these so-called Flags of the English People. Red Squadron 1620-1707 White Squadron 1630-1702 Royal Navy Red-Blue-White Squadron Ensigns 1620-1707 The Royal Navy was organized into three squadrons, which flew either red, white or blue ensigns with a Saint George's cross canton. The oldest was the Red Ensign that had been a general flag from about 1620, even before the squadron system was introduced in 1630.

In 1674, the Red Ensign was also approved as the merchant ensign. In 1701, an overall St George's cross was added to the white ensign to distinguish it from the French flag, which was mainly white. The "1606 Union Flag" replaced the "Saint George's Cross" in the canton in 1707, only to be replaced by the "Union Jack" in 1801. To avoid confusion, Nelson used the White Ensign for both the White and Blue Squadrons at Trafalgar in 1805, and in 1864 an Admiralty Order in Council ordered the Royal Navy to discontinue using the Red and Blue Ensigns completely, and made the White Ensign the only official Royal Navy ensign.

( Click here to see text of the Admiralty Order in Council ) Phases of transition of the Royal Navy Squadron Ensign after 1701 The only Royal Navy Ensign after 1864 The "King�s Colours" The British Union Flag 1606-1649, 1660-1801 With King James inheritance of the English throne in 1603, the Cross of Saint George was placed over the Scottish Cross of Saint Andrew to form the British Union Flag. Although the traditional St. George's Cross flag continued to be used as an English flag for some years, all seagoing ships began using the new Union flag (better known today as the Union Jack). It is also important to note here that the St. George's Cross flag might have been, in effect, the English national flag, but was not called a national flag. As noted flag scholar, W. G.

Perrin, said in his British Flags (1922) "By the end of the sixteenth century...the flag of St George had taken the lead as the distinguishing characteristic of English ships, both men-of-war and merchantmen." This would change, however, with the introduction of the King's Colours. In 1634, the Union Jack made the official ensign of the Royal Navy, and its use by merchant ships was forbidden. It's use was restricted to only the King's government and officials However, after 1707, the Union flag also became a de facto British national flag. In 1801, the St. Patrick�s Cross of Ireland was added to the Union Jack. In British English, today the "King's Colours" are specifically colors presented to a regiment during the reign of a king. They were usually defaced with the regimental badge and the battle honors of the regiment.

Union Jack (Scottish Type #1) Union Jack(Scottish Type #2) The Union Flag, Scottish variants 1606-1649, 1660-1801 Shortly after the Union flag was adopted, objections to its design appeared in Scotland and complaints were submitted to the King, requesting a new design, which would not place the English cross over that of Scotland. While no accompanying images of an alternative proposal were saved, there is other contemporary evidence, written reports as well as images, that an unofficial flag was used with the cross of St Andrew placed over that of St George, at sea as well as on land. It was also one of the proposals for the flag of Great Britain which were presented to Queen Anne and her Privy Council in 1707, before the Acts of Union came into effect, to be rejected in favor of already used official flag. Another variant seems to have been in use, with the Scottish saltire in blue superimposed over the red English cross on white field.

It is shown on a ceiling boss from Linlithgow Palace, currently exhibited in the National Museum of Scotland, where it is depicted as being held by a unicorn, the supporter of the Scottish royal arms. The boss is dated c. 1617, not long after the original Union Jack was adopted, and clearly suggests that the Scottish variants of the flag, this one at least, might have had some official use, since this depiction of it comes from a royal palace. The Loyalist Flag and Jack The Loyalist Flag and Jack 1643-1660 In 1604, several proposals for the future Union Flag were submitted, combining English and Scottish charges in different ways. One of these displayed the crosses of England and Scotland "impaled" - side by side. It was recommended by Earl of Nottingham, who wrote that two flags were combined "like husband and wife" - that is, like the arms of a married couple after the wedding. Although the proposal did follow the rules of heraldry, it was rejected in favor of the flag of 1606, which applied the rules in a different way.

The rejected flag was not forgotten, though: in 1643, it appeared on the ships of forces loyal to the exiled King and remained in use until the Restoration in 1660. First Commonwealth Flag The Commonwealth Jack and Command Flag 1649-1658 This flag with the harp of Ireland and the red cross of England replaced the British Union Flag during during the Interregnum (1649 to 1660) when the royal coat of arms, along with monarchy, was removed from the English flag. After the English Civil War the Parliament had declared England to be a Commonwealth on May 19, 1649. The Union Jack was abolished in 1649 after the execution of Charles I, but would be revived as a flag solely for the King's ships in 1660 when the monarchy was restored. The Commonwealth of England had a republican government which ruled first England and Wales (1649-1653), then Ireland and Scotland (1653-1659).

The government during 1653 to 1659 is properly called "The Protectorate," and was ruled by the Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell, with dictatorial powers until his death. Second Commonwealth Flag The Union Flag and Jack 1649-1660 The use of the Union Jack was abolished in 1649 after the execution of Charles I. This flag replaced it until 1660 and acted as the Union flag and Naval Jack. On April 4, 1660, Charles II accepted of the crown of England, the Commonwealth ceased to be, and the traditional "King's Colours" British Union Flag (see above) was once again used by the King's ships. To clarify, it should be noted here that the Commonwealth, or Commonwealth of England, was the period of time between 1649 and 1653 when a republic was declared after the Second English Civil War and the execution of the English king. The Commonwealth was first ruled by the Rump Parliament, but after 1653 became essentially a dictatorship under Oliver Cromwell, who was declared Lord Protector of a united Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland.

This lasted until 1660 and the restoration of the monarchy and Charles II. Cromwell's Personal Standard The Flag of the Protectorate 1653-1659 This flag was used by Oliver Cromwell as his personal standard as Lord Protector. The top two quarters had a red cross on white background to represent England and a white saltire on a blue background to represent Scotland. The first quarter of the bottom two quarters was blue with a gold harp with silver strings to represent Ireland and in the final quarter another red cross on a white background representing Wales. A small shield in the middle of these quarters was black with a silver lion on it � the arms of Oliver Cromwell. After Cromwell's death in 1658, it became officially known as the "Standard for the General of His Highnesse fleet." His son Richard became the new Lord Protector, but only ruled about a year until 1659. Richard Cromwell failed to win the support of the New Model Army and was replaced by a new Rump Parliament which negotiated a return of the monarchy.

First Regiment of the Royal Foot Guards of Ireland (speculative design) Royal Regiment of the Foot Guards of Ireland 1662 The Royal Regiment of the Foot Guards of Ireland, consisting of twelve companies, was formed in 1662 as one of the regiments of foot guards raised by King Charles II, shortly after the 1660 Restoration. Each company of the Foot Guards regiments had its own colors. When the system of company colors was abolished for the Army as a whole by the Royal Warrant of 1751, the Guards regiments were exempted. Uniquely, the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards also had a Royal Standard: described as crimson, charged with the crowned Royal Cypher, and with crowned royal badges in the corners. How this standard was used or looked is uncertain, but probably it was paraded only in the presence of the sovereign and never taken into battle. Since 1815, Regiments of Foot Guards have been known by such names as Grenadier Guards and Coldstreams.

According to Hayes-McCoy's interpretation the regimental colors of the Foot Guards of Ireland was "the royal colours of England, St George's cross, and the arms of the four kingdoms" as illustrated. It must be pointed out that this Hayes-McCoy's interpretation is rather suspect. All that can be said for sure is that the English Foot Guards all carried regimental colors which were defaced flags of St George. The older style, of Charles II's day, was red with a St. George the length of the hoist and a Royal badge in the fly. Royal Standard 1689 The Royal Standard of England 1689-1701 Between 1689-1702 William III and Mary II added a golden lion rampant on a blue shield to the center of this standard representing the royal house to which William belonged, but in 1702, Queen Anne returned it to the 1603 version.

(see above) Because this version of the Royal Standard was only used during William and Mary's reign, it is sometimes called "William and Mary's Standard." White Squadron Ensign February-May 1702 Royal Navy White Squadron Ensign 1702 This obscure short-lived Naval ensign was the brain-child of the Earl of Pembroke (the Lord High Admiral in 1702) who sent the Navy Board instructions for its use with the fleet then being fitted out at Chatham and Portsmouth to operate against the French. His instructions were that the ships of the Admiral of the White were to wear "Ensignes with the usual Cross in the Canton, with this distinction: that a third part of the said Ensignes for himself and the Flaggs and private Ships of his Squadron are to be White in the middle of the Flye...and this to be in the whole length of the Ensigne." This unusual ensign only saw brief use between February and May of 1702 before being replaced with the better known White Squadron Ensign 1702-1707 .

Royal Standard 1707 The Royal Standard of Great Britain 1707-1714 In 1707 the Acts of Union created the Kingdom of Great Britain (1707-1800). Queen Anne had the Royal Arms of England and Scotland "impaled" together and moved to the first and fourth quarters, France moved to the second quarter and Ireland to the third quarter. Because this version of the Royal Standard was only used until Queen Anne's death in 1714 it is sometimes called "Queen Anne's Standard." Queen Anne's Flag The British Red Ensign 1707 The British Red Ensign, also called the "Colonial Red Ensign" and the "Meteor" Flag, was adopted by Queen Anne (1702-1714) as the new flag for England and her colonies in 1707.

The term "meteor" seems to imply the color red and originally comes from a poem by the Scottish poet Thomas Campbell ("Ye Mariners of England") where he first mentions the "The meteor flag of England." This was the best known of the British Maritime flags, or ensigns, which were formed by placing the Union flag in the canton of another flag having either a field of white, blue or red. This red flag was widely used on ships during the Colonial period. This was the first national flag of the English colonies, and Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown under this flag. It was not intended that the Red Ensign should be used on land, and the extent to which it was used on land is difficult to determine. The Union Jack/Flag was a semi-royal flag that was probably flown only on the very most important military buildings, and it seems that the Red Ensign was used on land overseas by default. British Red Ensign (romanticized variant) Trumbull's Bunker Hill Flag 1775 On the nights of June 16-17, 1775, the American rebels fortified Breeds and Bunker Hills which overlooked Boston Harbor.

Although they had not officially declared their independence, a fight for control of the hills became necessary. When British Marines advanced up the slope the next day, according to American legend they carried a red ensign into battle. John Trumbull, whose paintings of Revolutionary War scenes were produced during the period, talked to eye-witnesses and his subsequent painting included a variant of the Red Ensign. In the painting " The Battle of Bunker Hill ," Trumbull depicts the British forces attacking the defenders at Bunker Hill as American General Warren lies dying. An unusual British Red Ensign is seen being carried by the attacking British Marines. The ensign features a red Saint George's Cross superimposed over a blue Saint Andrew's Cross on the plain white field in the canton. Speculation has suggested that this was a regimental flag, but no such British colors were known to be carried at the battle, and the Trumbull painting must be viewed as a romanticized view of the battle and a good example of artistic license.

Royal Standard 1714 The Royal Standard of Great Britain 1714-1801 George, the Elector of Hanover, inherited the throne following the death of Queen Anne under the provisions of the Act of Settlement 1701, becoming King George I. The fourth quarter of the arms was changed to reflect the new King's domains in Hanover (Brunswick-L�neburg-Westphalia, surmounted by Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire for the Holy Roman office of Archbannerbearer/Archtreasurer). - My thanks to David Prothero and Michael Faul for their invaluable help on this page - British Flags - U.S. Flag Store British Flags British Flags British Flags Did you know that the British flag actually incorporates all three countries of the United Kingdom? The flags of England, Scotland and Ireland use the crosses of their patron saints. All three of them are used in the British flag. No, Wales was not forgotten. It's considered a principality and a part of England. British Royal Standard Flags When you want to find high-quality British flags - as well as flags from the other countries of the United Kingdom - head to the United States Flag Store.

They have an amazing selection of different sized flags from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. Yes, you'll find the Union Jack too. Choose from three different fabrics. United Kingdom flags that are made from super-knit polyester are attractive and affordable. Nylon flags are an excellent choice for people and businesses that plan on flying the British flag on a daily basis. They are more durable, handle all-weather conditions and are also suitable for indoors or outdoors. Whether you need a British flag to fly outside your home or business or a 4 x 6 inch stick flag, you will find it at the United States Flag Store. They're all about flags near and far. We also have great value flagpoles . Please check our other web site for interesting British site offering a wide selection of items imported from the UK. English Teapots | British Food | Tea Shop By British Flag origin. Jokes Recipes Inspiration Miscellaneous Pictures Quotes Where did the British Flag come from? I bring this history to you for two reasons. (plus it makes a good SM minute.) We know where our flag comes from but do you know how the British Flag came about? They are our best allies in the world and we should know about it.

Plus we will tie this into Scouting at the end. England had their flag before the 1600s as the red cross of St. George's Cross. Saint George (c. 275/280–April 23, 303) was a soldier of the Roman Empire who later became a Christian martyr and much admired and worshiped in England. Then in 1606 King James I of Scotland inherited the throne of England and he combined the flag of Scotland which is the white X on a blue background that is St. Andrews Cross. and developed the flag of the Kingdom of Great Britain: (No Two royal colors should touch so he had white beside the red so the blue and red do not touch.) In 1801 the Kingdom of Ireland was united with the Kingdom of Great Britain to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The flag of Ireland was the red saltire cross attributed to St. Patrick. This was combined into the British flag resulting in the familiar Union Jack: Again the colors cannot touch so the white around the red. And they did not want the Scottish or Irish part to look like one was on top of the other so the off set the St.

Patrick's cross off center in the white area of the St. Andrews cross. Many countries worshiped St. George who never went to England. He was a Turkish soldier in the Roman Army who stood up against the persecution of Christians and declared himself a Christian. He was beheaded and later made a Saint. Baden Powell admired St. George and so he made the Boy Scout day of recognition in England as April 23th which was St. George's day in England. UK Flag - meaning/colors of Union Jack (UK Flag) Proportion (width:length): 1:2 UK Flag - Information The Flag of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is popularly called as the Union Jack. It is officially known as the Union Flag.

The flag is a blue field with the red cross of Saint George (patron saint of England) edged in white superimposed on the diagonal red cross of Saint Patrick (patron saint of Ireland), which is superimposed on the diagonal white cross of Saint Andrew (patron saint of Scotland) UK Flag - History, Facts & information for kids In 1603, the year of Queen Elizabeth I's death, England and Scotland existed as completely separate nations, each with their own monarch and parliament. Elizabeth, being a spinster and therefore childless, expressed a deathbed wish that her cousin, King James VI of Scotland, be named as her successor to the English throne. Thus, the Scottish monarch was projected into the unique position of ruling two nations simultaneously. He ruled Scotland as King James VI and England as King James I. The English national flag at this period consisted of a simple red cross fully imposed upon a plain white field, this being the emblem of St. George, England's patron saint. The Scottish national flag consisted of a diagonal, or X-shaped, white cross, fully imposed upon a medium blue field. This was the emblem of St. Andrew, Scotland's patron saint.

On 12 April 1606, to symbolize the monarchical unification of the two nations under himself, James created a banner to this end, by fully superimposing the English red cross (with a narrow white border to represent its normal white field) upon the Scottish flag. This became known as the Union Flag, and it was the forerunner of the present flag of Great Britain. In the decree of issuance of the new flag, James stipulated that all ships of both English and Scottish registry were to fly this flag from atop their mainmasts. The Cross of St. George was to be flown from the foremasts of the English ships, while the Cross of St. Andrew was to be flown form the foremasts of the Scottish ships. The Union Flag, created by James in 1606, continued in use as a purely symbolic banner until 1707. Then, during the reign of Queen Anne, the parliaments of England and Scotland were united to form the new nation of Great Britain, and Anne officially adopted the 101 year old banner as the national flag of the newly created nation.

After the Acts of Union 1707, the flag gained a regularised status as "the ensign armorial of the Kingdom of Great Britain", the newly created state. It was then adopted by land forces as well, although the blue field used on land-based versions was lighter When Ireland joined the Union in 1801, the Cross of St. Patrick was added to have a flag reflecting the new union of England, Scotland and Ireland. UK Flag - History, Facts & information for kids Union Flag has to fly full mast from 11 am to sunset on the day the new Sovereign is proclaimed UK Flag - History, Facts & information for kids The Union Flag is flown from Government buildings at half-mast from the announcement of the death of the Sovereign until the end of mourning period and on the day of the funeral of a member of the British Royal Family and on the day of the funeral of a foreign Head of State and on the day of the funeral of a former British Prime Minister.

Half-mast means the flag is flown two-thirds of the way up the flagpole with at least the height of the flag between the top of the flag and the top of the flagpole England Flag - History, Facts & information for kids The flag of England has St. George's Cross on a white field. St. George is the patron saint of England. Though the flag is not official, it is popular with English nationalists and it is a common fixture at sporting events where England participates as a team (Cricket, Soccer etc.) Scotland Flag - History, Facts & information for kids The Flag of Scotland (Bratach na h-Alba) is the national flag of Scotland. According to legend, Saint Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland, was crucified on an X-shaped cross (saltire) at Patras, Achaea. The saltire first appeared in the Kingdom of Scotland in 1180 during the reign of William I Welsh Flag - History, Facts & information for kids The flag of Wales (Baner Cymru or Y Ddraig Goch, meaning "The Red Dragon") consists of a red dragon passant on a green and white field.

The flag incorporates the Red Dragon of Cadwaladr, King of Gwynedd, along with the Tudor colours of green and white. It was used by Henry VII at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 after which it was carried in state to St Paul's Cathedral. More on UK

Question: What is the familiar name for the British flag?
Answer: Union Jack