England is represented by the flag of St. George

In 1194 A.D., Richard I of England introduced the Cross of St. George, a red cross on a white ground, as the National Flag of England.

At this point in the story on the United Kingdom, England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland were separate countries. However, this was soon to change.... In 1536, under Henry VIII, an Act of Union was passed making Wales, in effect a province of England.
St Andrew - Scotland
The National Flag of Scotland Scotland is represented by the flag of St. Andrew (a diagonal white cross form (called a saltire) on a blue field) ------------------------------------------------ After Queen Elizabeth I of England died in 1603, King James VI of Scotland inherited the English throne and became King James I of England. It was a Union of the Crowns, but not yet of the nations. Each country still kept their own parliaments. Early in his reign James attempted to combine England and Scotland in a united kingdom of 'Great Britain'. This was the policy he presented to his first Parliament, called on 22 March 1604. The union was resisted. James defied them. On 20 October 1604 he proclaimed a new title for himself as 'King of Great Britain'. But what flag should be used? A problem arose, which flag should be hoisted on the king's ships. English sailors resented the Scottish colours and the Scots scorned the cross of St. George . In 1606 the problem was solved........

A compromise was the answer and it led to the creation of the first Union Flag.

On 12 April 1606, the National Flags of Scotland and England were united for use at sea, thus making the first Union 'Jack'. Ashore however, the old flags of England and Scotland continued to be used by their respective countries.

A royal decree declared that the ships of the Kingdom of Great Britain " shall bear on their maintops the red cross, commonly called St. George's cross, and the white cross, commonly called St. Andrew's cross. "

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The first Union Flag (1606)

When the red cross of England was put onto the flag of Scotland, a white border was added around the red cross for reasons of heraldry. (The rules of heraldry demanded that two colours must never touch each other.)

On 28th July, 1707, during the reign of Queen Anne, this flag was by royal proclamation made the National flag of Great Britain, for use ashore and afloat.

The Act of Union of 1707, joined England and Scotland together, creating a single kingdom with a single Parliament called 'United Kingdom of Great Britain'. England Wales and Scotland were now united together under one monarch and one parliament.

The Royal Navy christened the British flag " The Union".

Interesting Fact: When the 'Union Flag' was first introduced, in 1606, it was known simply as 'the British flag' or 'the flag of Britain'.

Nearly one hundred years later, another country was added to the Union flag....

Why doesn't the Welsh dragon appear on the Union Flag?

The Welsh dragon does not appear on the flag because when the first Union Flag was created in 1606, Wales was already united with England from the 13th century. This meant that Wales a Principality instead of a Kingdom and as such could not be included.In 1536, under Henry VIII, the Act of Union joined England and Wales officially.

The Making of the Union Flag The Future of the UK's Flag
At the moment, the countries representing the UK, are still united under one flag. How long this will be so, no one knows. Even now, each of the countries which form the United Kingdom, is fighting for its own independence. For the first time since 1707, the Scots now have their own Parliament in Edinburgh, and the Welsh their own national assembly in Cardiff. As a result, the Scottish saltire and the red dragon of Wales are much more in evidence. Is the Union Flag (Union Jack) on its way out? In 1997, British Airways decided to scrub the Union Flag off the tails of its airliners and replace it with pictures of jackals from Africa and other ethnic designs. Its chief executive, Bob Ayling, said that the airline was no longer a British company with global operations, but a global company that happened to be headquartered in Britain: “We are proud to have been born and raised in Britain,” he explained. “But we want to show Britain as modern, not imperial...We still have our Beefeaters, but we now lead the world in restaurants and in fashion.” In 2003, a campaign was launched to try and modernise the red, white and blue flag by adding a touch of black to reflect multicultural Britain in the 21st Century. The proposed new flag (see right) was the work of Nigel Turner, an enthusiastic fan of the UK's transformation into a multiracial society over the past 50 years. The campaign was NOT successful. 2007 More teenagers see themselves as English, Scottish or Welsh rather than British A YouGov poll carried out by the Daily Telegraph in 2007 found that fewer than one third of today's teenagers instinctively think of themselves as Britishrather than English, Scottish or Welsh. But, pressed to say whether they also think of themselves as British, the great majority say yes. Only 10 per cent of the teenage sample, many of them Scots, reject a British identity altogether. Most people want the United Kingdom broken up An ICM poll published by the Daily Mail in 2007 suggested that majorities of voters in both Scotland and England now want the countries to split. Will the Union flag be replaced by four separate flags or will all the flags and the Union Jack, be replaced by something else? Only time will tell.

Correct Way		Wrong way

The UK flag is NOT entirely symmetrical! You can rotate the flag and it still will be the right way up but you can't invert it (not refective symmetry).

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