_THE ENGLISH JACK RESTORED._
AS A SINGLE JACK 1648-1660
IN THE CORNER OF THE ENSIGN RED 1648-1707
The new two-crossed flag of King James had, in 1606, been authorized
to be used by the ships of all his subjects, by the merchantmen as
well as on the men-of-war. This order caused many heart-burnings among
the admirals of the Royal Navy, and especially to the Admiral of the
Narrow Seas, whose particular right it was to fly His Majesty's ensign
on these much-frequented waters, and whose principal prerogative it
was to see that the ships of other nations observed the courtesies
and accorded the privileges due to the British flag in its claim to
the Sovereignty of the Seas. Under this new arrangement other ships,
as well as the ships of the Royal Navy, were carrying the King's Jack
at the main, and the officers of the navy felt that their official
prominence was thereby much diminished, for, as they said, how were
foreigners to distinguish a merchantman from a man-of-war? Sir John
Penington, Narrow Seas Admiral, in 1633, sent in his remonstrances, and
pressed for the
"altering the Coullers, whereby His Majestie's own ships may be known
from the subjectes."
It will be remembered that the ships of foreign nations were required,
when meeting any of the Royal ships of the King of England, to dip
their colours and topsails. This change the Admiral, therefore,
considered,
"to bee very materiale and much for His Majestie's honour; and,
beside, will free dispute with strangers; for when they omitt doing
theyr respects to His Majestie's shippes till they be shott att, they
alledge they did not know it to be ye King's shippe."
The Royal Navy kept up a constant agitation for the repeal of the
order, until at length, in 1634, being the thirty-eighth year of the
flag from its first establishment by James I., their claim was acceded
to by Charles I., and a proclamation was duly issued:
"BY THE KING:
"_A Proclamation appointing the flags as well for our Navie Royall as
for the ships of our subjects of South and North Britaine._
"We taking into our Royal Consideration it is Meete for the honour
of Oure Shipps in our Navie Royall and of such other shipps as are
or shall be employed in Our immediate service that the same bee, by
their flags distinguished from the shipps of any other of Our Subjects
doe herebye straitly prohibite and forbid that none of our Subjects
of any of our Nations and Kingdoms shall from henceforth presume to
carry the Union Flagge in the maintoppe or other part of any of their
shipps that is the St. George's Crosse and the St. Andrew's Crosse
joyned together upon pain of Our High displeasure; but that the same
Union Flagge be still reserved as an ornament proper for _Our Owne
Shipps_ and shipps in our immediate service and pay and none other.
And likewise Our further will and pleasure is that all the other
shipps of Our subjects of England or South Britaine bearing flags,
shall from henceforth Carry the _Red Crosse_ commonly called _St.
George his Crosse_ as of olde time hath been used; and also that
all the other shipps of Our Subjects of Scotland or North Britaine
shall from Henceforth carry the _White Crosse_ commonly called _St.
Andrew's Crosse_. Whereby the several shippes may be distinguished,
and wee thereby better discerne the number and goodness of the same;
Wherefore wee will and straitly command all Our Subjects foorthwith to
be conformable and obedient to this Our Order, as they will answer the
contrary at their perill.
"Given at our Court at Greenwich this 5th day of May in the tenth
yeare of Oure Reigne of England, Scotland, France and Ireland,
Defender of the Faith, etc. God Save the King."
Imprinted at London by Robert Barker, printer to the King's Most
Excellent Majestie, and by the Assignee's of John Bill, 1634.
This proclamation of Charles I. made a very great change in the
position of the "Union Flagge" of James, by restricting its use to
one class of ships. That it had never been intended at that time to
serve as a "national" flag is again clearly evidenced by the renewed
declaration that it was the special signal of the Sovereign, to be
used exclusively on the ships of the Royal Navy. Further, the merchant
vessels owned by "subjects of any of our Nations and Kingdoms," which
had thus lost the "additional" Jack, were ordered to continue to use,
as of "olde time hath been used," their distinctive national flags.
For the continued preservation of the peace, it was again required
that each ship should display only the flag of the nation to which it
belonged, namely, the St. George's crosse, or old English Jack, on
English merchant ships, and St. Andrew's crosse, or Scotch Jack, on the
Scotch merchant ships.
The position of the three flags at this time was thus clearly
distinguished:
A.D. 1634.
_The Royal Navy_ The two-crossed Jack.
_English Merchantmen_ The St. George crosse.
_Scotch Merchantmen_ The St. Andrew crosse.
This first change in the position in the using of this first
two-crossed Jack is shown in a drawing given of the "King's ships."
The battleship _Sovereign of the Seas_, which was built in 1637, was
the glory of the fleet of Charles I., and proved herself, during her
sixty years of active service, one of the best men-of-war of the time,
and "so formidable to her enemies that none of the most daring among
them would willingly lie by her side."[43]
[43] Phineas Pett: "Journal," 1696.
[Illustration: 17. THE "SOVEREIGN OF THE SEAS," 1637.
(From a painting by Vandervelt.)]
The drawing (17) here shown of this ship is copied from a contemporary
painting by Vandervelt. At the stern is the Royal Standard of Charles
I.; on the two masts ensigns with royal ciphers; and the two-crossed
"Union Flagge," which from 1634 was to be the "ornament proper for our
owne shipps," is flying on the "Jack staff" at the bow. It was the
"King's Flag" calling for the obeisance of foreign vessels.
But another change was yet to come, and after fourteen more years had
passed away another Jack was flying at the bow, and the Royal Standard
of the King had disappeared from the stern of the gallant vessels.
Premonitory symptoms of this impending change had been given even so
early as January, 1645, when the headings of the official lists of the
ships of the navy had been altered by order of Parliament, so that the
ships were officially entered as "The Parliament's Ships," instead of
being described, as previously, "His Majesty's Ships."[44]
[44] Hallam.
In February, 1648, the Revolutionary Parliament of England abolished
the office of King, and by this and the subsequent execution of King
Charles they cancelled the allegiance of Scotland and dissolved the
connection between the kingdoms. A change was made in the Jacks which
were to be worn on the men-of-war. The Parliament did not consider the
Stuart kingdom of Scotland to be a portion of their State, and ordered
that its recognition should be removed from the flags then used on
their ships. An order of the Council was therefore passed, February
23rd, 1648, signed by John Bradshaw, "in ye name of ye Counsell of
State," which was communicated in a letter to the Commissioners of the
Navy, directing the change and ordering that "_the ships that are in
the service of the State shall beare the Red Crosse only in a white
flagg, quite through the flagg_." Up to that time carvings of the royal
arms had been carried on the stern of all royal ships, so the order
further directed that these also should be altered, and that "_upon the
Sterne of the Shippes there shall be the Red Crosse in one Escotcheon
and the Harpe in one other, being the Armes of England and Ireland,
both Escotcheons joined according to the pattern herewith sent unto
you_."
[Illustration: 18. COMMONWEALTH TWENTY-SHILLING PIECE.]
The form of these escutcheons is well shown in the twenty-shilling
piece (18) issued during the Commonwealth, and also on a Parliamentary
flag (19) then in use which had on the fly the same two emblems.
One of these flags is still preserved in the house of the Admiralty
Superintendent at Chatham, the colour of the ground of the flag being
red.[45]
[45] W. Laird Clowes: "History of the English Navy."
Thus the two-crossed Union Jack of James ceased to be used and
disappeared from the navy, as it already had from the merchantmen, and
the single red cross Jack of England was restored to its position as
the only Jack carried on the men-of-war of the State, or on any English
ship sailing the seas.
The merchant vessels of the two nationalities continued to use their
English and Scottish national Jacks as before, but the Scottish ships
were especially warned that they must not carry either the King's arms
or the red cross of St. George, and in case any of these Scottish ships
should be met so doing, the State's colonel-admirals were ordered to
"_admonish them not to do it in future_."
[Illustration: 19. COMMONWEALTH BOAT FLAG.]
The position of the Jacks was now:
A.D. 1648.
_The State Ships_ The St. George crosse.
_English Merchantmen_ The St. George crosse.
_Scottish Merchantmen_ The St. Andrew crosse.
This position the English St. George Jack continued to hold on the
ships of the State navy until 1660, when another change took place,
and, at the "Restoration" of Charles II., the two-crossed "Union
Flagge" returned, without any proclamation, to the places where it had
been displayed before the change made by the Commonwealth Parliament.
On the _Naseby_ (20) it will be noticed that the two-crossed Jack is
flying at the bow and on the mizzen, instead of the single red cross
flag ordered by Parliament. How this came about is told in the next
chapter.
Here, then, ended the period during which the English Jack, having been
restored as a single flag, had continued to be, from 1648 to 1660, the
only Jack authorized to be used on the men-of-war.
After the return of the King his subjects evidently began, in their
enthusiasm, to make such indiscriminate use of this "King's Jack"
instead of the single St. George Jack that they needed, a few years
afterwards, to be reminded of the special instructions respecting the
flag which had been given in the previous reign. In consequence of
this, in 1663, another proclamation was issued, under Charles II., from
which the following extract is made:
"_A proclamation for the regulating the colours to be worn on merchant
ships.--Charles R._
"Whereas by ancient usage no merchants' ships ought to bear the Jack,
which is for distinction appointed for His Majesty's ships:
"His Majesty strictly charges and commands all his subjects, that from
henceforth they do not presume to wear _His Majesty's Jack, commonly
called the Union Jack_, on any of their ships or vessels, without
particular warrant for their so doing from His Majesty, or the Lord
High Admiral of England. And His Majesty doth further command all
his loving subjects without such warrant they presume not to wear
on board their ships or vessels any Jacks made in imitation of His
Majesty's, or any other flags, Jacks or ensigns whatsoever, than those
usually heretofore worn on merchants' ships, viz., the flag and _Jack
white_, with a red cross, commonly called St. George's cross, passing
quite through the same, and the _Ensign red_ with the like cross in a
canton white at the upper corner thereof next to the staff."
The distinctive order of the flags was this time arranged to be:
A.D. 1663.
THE ROYAL NAVY--
"His Majesty's Jack," commonly called "The Union
Jack."
ALL MERCHANTMEN--
I. The "Jack White," or plain St. George Jack.
II. The "Ensign Red," or red flag, with the "Jack
White" in the upper corner.
From the time of this proclamation of Charles II. the Jack of King
James regained its officially authorized position, but only as a
single flag, and even then was ordered to be used only on the royal
men-of-war. The merchant ships, however, began again so frequently
to fly this Jack instead of their single-cross Jacks, that in the
reign of William III., and again in the reign of Queen Anne (prior to
the creation of her own two-crossed Jack), it was found necessary to
issue special proclamations reiterating the official restriction of
this two-crossed Jack of James to the ships of the Royal Navy, and
forbidding any other ships to use it.
Although the merchantmen were not always using the single St. George
Jack, which had been restored to them, and it had given way in the
Royal Navy to the two-crossed Jack, yet it had always continued to be
used in the Ensign Red referred to in the proclamation. The creation
of this Ensign Flag, in 1648, is told in the next chapter, and in this
form the restoration of the English Jack was extended for a further
period to 1707, and reserved for a special further honour in later
times.
In the British Navy of the present day the St. George Jack has become,
and is ordered to be, the distinctive flag of an Admiral. According
to the mast upon which it is raised his rank is indicated, and the
ship on which it is carried is termed the "Flag Ship." These flags are
displayed as follows:
ADMIRAL St. George at main.
VICE-ADMIRAL St. George at fore.
REAR-ADMIRAL St. George at mizzen.
Thus has the English Jack been once more restored, and being the signal
of command in the British Navy, it is a continuing memorial of the
prowess of the seamen of England, whose ships so early won the sea
command for the united empire.