Union Jack
The Union Jack,[note 1][2][3] 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.[4] 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.[5][6][note 2]
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 12 April 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) on a blue background known as the Saltire or St Andrew's Cross, 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.[8] 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.
Notably, the home country of Wales is not represented separately in the Union Flag, as the flag was designed after the invasion of Wales in 1282. Hence Wales as a home country has no representation on the flag. The Flag of Wales incorporates the red dragon.
The terms Union Jack and Union Flag are both used historically for describing the national flag of the United Kingdom. Whether the term Union Jack applies only when used as a jack flag on a ship is a matter of debate.[9]
According to the Parliament of the United Kingdom:[10][11] "Until the early 17th century England and Scotland were two entirely independent kingdoms. This changed dramatically in 1603 on the death of Elizabeth I of England. Because the Queen died unmarried and childless, the English crown passed to the next available heir, her cousin James VI, King of Scotland. England and Scotland now shared the same monarch under what was known as a union of the crowns."
In 1606, James VI gave orders for a British flag to be created which bore the combined crosses of St George and of St Andrew. The result was the Union Jack.
According to the Flag Institute, a membership-run vexillological charity,[12] "the national flag of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories is the Union Flag, which may also be called the Union Jack."[13] The institute also notes:
it is often stated that the Union Flag should only be described as the Union Jack when flown in the bows of a warship, but this is a relatively recent idea. From early in its life the Admiralty itself frequently referred to the flag as the Union Jack, whatever its use, and in 1902 an Admiralty circular announced that Their Lordships had decided that either name could be used officially. In 1908, a government minister stated, in response to a parliamentary question, that "the Union Jack should be regarded as the National flag".[9][14]
Notwithstanding Their Lordships' circular of 1902, by 1913 the Admiralty described the "Union Flag" and added in a footnote that 'A Jack is a Flag to be flown only on the "Jack" Staff'.[15]
However, the authoritative A Complete Guide to Heraldry published in 1909 by Arthur Charles Fox-Davies uses the term "Union Jack".[16]
The term "Union Flag" is used in King Charles I's 1634 proclamation:
... 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) St Georges cross and St Andrew's 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."[17]
— Proclamation appointing the Flag, as well for Our Navy Royal as for the Ships of Our Subjects of South and North Britain – 5 May 1634
and in King George III's proclamation of 1 January 1801 concerning the arms and flag of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland:
And that the Union Flag shall be Azure, the Crosses Saltires of St. Andrew and St. Patrick Quarterly per Saltire, counterchanged Argent and Gules; the latter fimbriated of the Second, surmounted by the Cross of St. George of the Third, fimbriated as the Saltire : ...[18]
— A Proclamation Declaring His Majesty's Pleasure concerning the Royal Style and Titles appertaining to the Imperial Crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and its Dependencies, and also the Ensigns, Armorial Flags, and Banners thereof"
When the first flag representing Britain was introduced on the proclamation of King James I in 1606,[19] it became known simply as the "British flag" or the "flag of Britain". The royal proclamation gave no distinctive name to the new flag. The word "jack" was in use before 1600 to describe the maritime bow flag.[9] By 1627 a small Union Jack was commonly flown in this position. One theory goes that for some years it would have been called just the "Jack", or "Jack flag", or the "King's Jack", but by 1674, while formally referred to as "His Majesty's Jack", it was commonly called the "Union Jack", and this was officially acknowledged.[8]
Amongst the proclamations issued by King George III at the time of the Union of 1801 was a proclamation concerning flags at sea, which repeatedly referred to "Ensigns, Flags, Jacks, and Pendants" and forbade merchant vessels from wearing "Our Jack, commonly called the Union Jack" nor any pendants or colours used by the King's ships.[20] Reinforcing the distinction the King's proclamation of the same day concerning the arms and flag of the United Kingdom (not colours at sea) called the new flag "the Union Flag".[21]
The size and power of the Royal Navy internationally at the time could also explain why the flag was named the "Union Jack"; considering the navy was so widely utilised and renowned by the United Kingdom and colonies, it is possible that the term jack occurred because of its regular use on all British ships using the jackstaff (a flag pole attached to the bow of a ship). The term Union Jack possibly dates from Queen Anne's time (r. 1702–14), but its origin is uncertain. It may come from the 'jack-et' of the English or Scottish soldiers, or from the name of James I who originated the first union in 1603. Even if the term "Union Jack" does derive from the jack flag, after three centuries, it is now sanctioned by use and has appeared in official use, confirmed as the national flag by Parliament and remains the popular term.[22]
Winston Churchill was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and he referred to the flag of the United Kingdom as the Union Jack. In March 1899 Churchill wrote to his mother from India about her plans to produce a new trans-Atlantic magazine, to be called The Anglo-Saxon Review. The drawing at the end of this letter was deliberately mischievous, teasing her for going down-market, and in the accompanying letter he wrote, "Your title 'The Anglo Saxon' with its motto 'Blood is thicker than water' only needs the Union Jack & the Star Spangled Banner crossed on the cover to be suited to one of Harmsworth’s [a leading British newspaper owner] cheap Imperialist productions."[23][relevant? – discuss]
More recently, Reed's Nautical Almanac (1990 edition) unambiguously stated: "The Union Flag, frequently but incorrectly referred to as the Union Jack, ..." and later: "8. The Jack – A small flag worn on a jackstaff on the stem of Naval Vessels. The Royal Navy wears the Union Flag ... This is the only occasion when it correct to describe the flag as the Union Jack".[24] However, this assertion does not appear in any Reed's Nautical Almanac since 1993. In the 2016 Reed's Nautical Almanac, the only entry where this might appear, section 5.21, covering Flag Etiquette, does not include this statement. Within the Almanac, neither the Union Flag nor the Union Jack are included pictorially or mentioned by name.
For comparison with another anglophone country with a large navy: the Jack of the United States specifically refers to the flag flown from the jackstaff of a warship, auxiliary or other U.S. governmental entity.[25]
Other names
In the Chinese language, the flag has the nickname Rice-Character Flag (米字旗; Mandarin Pinyin: mǐzìqí, Cantonese Jyutping: mai5zi6kei4), since the pattern looks like the Chinese character for "rice" (米).[26]
The Butcher's Apron is a pejorative term for the flag, common among Irish republicans, citing the blood-streaked appearance of the flag and referring to atrocities committed in Ireland and other countries under British colonial rule.[27][28] In 2006, Sandra White, a Member of the Scottish Parliament, caused a furore when the term was used in a press release under her name. It was later blamed on the actions of a researcher, who resigned yet claimed that the comment had been approved by White.[29]
Design
The current flag's design has been in use since 1801. Its original blazon, as decreed by George III of the United Kingdom on 1 January 1801, reads:
"the Union flag shall be azure, the crosses-saltires of St. Andrew and St. Patrick quartered per saltire counter changed argent and gules; the latter fimbriated of the second [viz., argent]; surmounted by the cross of St. George of the third [viz., gules], fimbriated as the saltire [viz., argent]."[30]
Specification
The Union Jack is normally twice as long as it is tall, a ratio of 1:2. In the United Kingdom, land flags are normally a ratio of 3:5; the Union Jack can also be made in this shape, but 1:2 is for most purposes. In 2008, MP Andrew Rosindell proposed a Ten Minute Rule bill to standardise the design of the flag at 3:5, but the bill did not proceed past the first reading.[31]
Flags that have the Union Jack in the canton should always be 1:2 to preserve the square fly area.[clarification needed]
The three-component crosses that make up the Union Flag are sized as follows:
The red St George's Cross width is 1⁄5 of the flag's height with a 1⁄15 flag height fimbriation
The white diagonal St Andrew's Cross width is 6⁄30 of the flag's height, visible on either side of the St Patrick's Cross in diagonals of 3⁄30 and 1⁄30 of the flag's height, respectively.
The red diagonal St Patrick's Cross width is 1⁄15 of the flag's height. It is offset by 3⁄30 of the flag's height in an anti-clockwise direction. According to the official blazon of 1801, the white diagonal St Andrew's Cross is in fact counterchanged with the red diagonal of St Patrick's Cross. In this interpretation, the width of both saltires is 1⁄15 of the flag's height, with fimbriations of 1⁄30 of the flag's height on either side of the red saltire.
The crosses and fimbriations retain their thickness relative to the flag's height whether they are shown with a ratio of 3:5 or 1:2.
The Admiralty in 1864 settled all official flags at proportions of 1:2, but the relative widths of the crosses remained unspecified, with the above conventions becoming standardised in the 20th century.[32] In the 19th century, the Union flag was defined by the same blazon but could vary in its geometrical proportions
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