A History Of The Union Jack Flag of England (Explained!)

What we now know as the history of the Union Jack flag is a 3-layered cake consisting of the (1) English Cross of Saint George, (2) the blue and white Scottish Saltire Cross of Saint Andrew, and (3) the red and white Irish Cross of Saint Patrick.

The UNION JACK flag came into its current and final form in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland’s ‘union’ with the Kingdom of Great Britain. This historic addition changed the name of the nation to its present United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. See overlay image below.

A Short History of England

In order to understand the history of the Union Jack flag, one must learn a bit about the history of England. The current idea of “Great Britain” has its origins in the ancient Anglo-Saxon English crowns and their conquest of the outlying territories of Wales and Scotland. Although the Anglo-Saxons did battle against the Welsh, it was the Plantagenets that ultimately subdued the Welsh, Scots, and Irish.

Ironically though, the Welsh would later gain regnal control during the Tudor Dynasty and the Scots during (and somewhat before) the Stewart Dynasty. It must be said that the kings and queens of Scotland had been intermarrying with English royalty since before the conquest in 1066.

In essence the Union Jack is a leggo-like interpretation of history woven into the fabric of this iconic flag. This is where vexillology meets history.

The history of the Union Jack started out with England alone and subsequently added each conquest (union) into its design: Scotland in 1707 and Ireland in 1801, and then Northern Ireland in 1922. Let’s look at them one-by-one. “Union” may be a more apt and politically correct term as the flag is certainly not called the Conquest Jack.

The English Flag of St. George

The interior core of the Union Jack is the English flag, represented by the Cross of St. George the patron saint of England. This flag of England is still a symbol of national and cultural heritage.

After years of war against its western and northern neighbors England never entirely subdued the wild Scots.

Rather, through acts of usurpation and attrition via the Tudors, the Scottish king James I eventually took over the English throne after the death of Queen Elizabeth. James I was a claimant to the throne as the son of the legendary Mary Queen of Scots. It is for Queen Elizabeth that the state of Virginia is named (she was the “Virgin Queen”) and for James I that the first permanent English settlement in the Americas is named: Jamestown.

The Scottish Flag of Saint Andrews

The blue background and white saltire of the Union Jack is the Scottish flag, represented by the Saltire cross of Saint Andrews the patron saint of Scotland. A saltire is a heralidic element represented as a diagonal cross or X-shaped symbol.

When the English flag was combined with the Scottish Saltire flag of St. Andrews, it created the following version of the Union Jack which was the official flag of Great Britain from 1707 until 1801.

Both of the original English and Scottish flags are still flown in their individual forms as a matter of national and cultural pride! The transitory flag below was discontinued when the Kingdom of Ireland was added to the mix in 1801. It’s easy to see how the Union Jack that we all recognize is built upon these 2 flags.

The Irish Flag of St. Patrick

The red saltire of the Union Jack is the Irish flag, represented by the Saltire Cross of St. Patrick the patron saint of Ireland.

The flag above represented the islands of Ireland yet is no longer a viable cultural flag as the islands are now split into The Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland (which belongs to the United Kingdom). Essentially all of Ireland is Irish, it’s just their political associations that divide the islands themselves as the Republic of Ireland seceded in 1922.

This red cross saltire flag is the flag of St. Patrick, the patron saint of the Irish. Saint Patrick is hugely misunderstood as he was not Irish (he was English) and he never drank as he was a monk => learn more about the lore of St. Paddy’s Day!

Interestingly, this red and white saltire cross is also found in the state flag of Alabama, with a logo in the state flag of Florida, and also the state flag of the island of Jersey – think English Channel and not Jersey Shore. I’m sure there are a few more unmentioned as well. Overlay the Irish St. Patrick’s flag onto the previous 2 flags of England and Scotland and you get the modern UNION JACK flag. #unionjack

Let’s end with parsing out a few terms, just something to have fun with.

I remember being quite taken aback by an English friend when I was making a statement about my English roots. He said: “mate, ‘British’ is a nationality and ‘English’ is both a nationality AND an ethnicity.” That phrase has always stuck with me. I don’t think I was making a claim for English nationality, but maybe he interpreted it that way.

Let’s delve a little further…

Terms of the British Isles Explained

BRITAIN. This term is a bit cryptic as it can refer to: the geographic term GREAT BRITAIN; the political term UNITED KINGDOM; or just plain ENGLAND. BRITAIN is the catch-all term for when you are too lazy or indisposed to actually say “Great Britain” or “United Kingdom.”

GREAT BRITAIN. This is a geographic term referring to the singular island which includes ENGLAND, WALES, and SCOTLAND. This definition also includes its outliers such as the Isle of Wight and the Orkneys, technically Great Britain should be an island chain.

UNITED KINGDOM. This is a political term referring to THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND. This political amalgam includes ENGLAND, WALES, SCOTLAND, and NORTHERN IRELAND – basically both the subsets “Great Britain” and “Northern Ireland,” as its name implies. The “UK,” is an even shorter version of the already shorter version of the longer, formal variant defined above, which not even the BBC uses.

BRITISH ISLES. This is a geographic term referring to the entire set of islands which include GREAT BRITAIN and IRELAND. Another way of looking at this is politically. The BRITISH ISLES include the political compliment of the UNITED KINGDOM and the REPUBLIC OF IRELAND.

IRELAND. This is a geographic term referring to the island of Ireland. The island of Ireland includes both the REPUBLIC OF IRELAND as well as NORTHERN IRELAND, which belongs to the UNITED KINGDOM. This is also a political term, depending if you’re a ‘Unionist’ or a ‘Nationalist.’

Hey, did you know, you can watch this post on YouTube!