CHAPTER II.

The Royal Standard--the Three Lions of England--the Lion Rampant of

Scotland--Scottish sensitiveness as to precedence--the Scottish

Tressure--the Harp of Ireland--Early Irish Flags--Brian Boru--the Royal

Standards from Richard I. to Victoria--Claim to the Fleurs-de-Lys of

France--Quartering Hanover--the Union Flag--St. George for England--War

Cry--Observance of St. George's Day--the Cross of St. George--Early

Naval Flags--the London Trained Bands--the Cross of St. Andrew--the

"Blue Blanket"--Flags of the Covenanters--Relics of St. Andrew--Union

of England and Scotland--the First Union Flag--Importance of accuracy

in representations of it--the Union Jack--Flags of the Commonwealth and

Protectorate--Union of Great Britain and Ireland--the Cross of St.

Patrick--Labours of St. Patrick in Ireland--Proclamation of George III.

as to Flags, etc.--the Second Union Flag--Heraldic Difficulties in its

Construction--Suggestions by Critics--Regulations as to Fortress

Flags--the White Ensign of the Royal Navy--Saluting the Flag--the Navy

the Safeguard of Britain--the Blue Ensign--the Royal Naval Reserve--the

Red Ensign of the Mercantile Marine--Value of Flag-lore.

Foremost amongst the flags of the British Empire the Royal Standard takes

its position as the symbol of the tie that unites all into one great State.

Its glowing blazonry of blue and scarlet and gold is brought before us in

Fig. 44. The three golden lions on the scarlet ground are the device of

England, the golden harp on the azure field is the device of Ireland, while

the ruddy lion rampant on the field of gold[18] stands for Scotland. It may

perhaps appear to some of our readers that the standard of the Empire

should not be confined to such narrow limits; that the great Dominion of

Canada, India, Australia, the ever-growing South Africa, might justly claim

a place. Precedent, too, might be urged, since in previous reigns, Nassau,

Hanover, and other States have found a resting-place in its folds, and

there is much to be said in favour of a wider representation of the greater

component parts of our world-wide Empire; but two great practical

difficulties arise: the first is that the grand simplicity of the flag

would be lost if eight or ten different devices were substituted for the

three; and secondly, it would very possibly give rise to a good deal of

jealousy and ill-feeling, since it would be impossible to introduce all. As

it at present stands, it represents the central home of the Empire, the

little historic seed-plot from whence all else has sprung, and to which all

turn their eyes as the {30} centre of the national life. All equally agree

to venerate the dear mother land, but it is perhaps a little too much to

expect that the people of Jamaica or Hong Kong would feel the same

veneration for the beaver and maple-leaves of Canada, the golden Sun of

India, or the Southern Cross of Australasia. As it must clearly be all or

none, it seems that only one solution of the problem, the present one, is

possible. In the same way the Union flag (Fig. 90) is literally but the

symbol of England, Scotland, and Ireland, but far and away outside its

primary significance, it floats on every sea the emblem of that Greater

Britain in which all its sons have equal pride, and where all share equal

honour as brethren of one family.

The earliest Royal Standard bore but the three lions of England, and we

shall see presently that in different reigns various modifications of its

blazonry arose, either the result of conquest or of dynastic possessions.

Thus Figs. 43 and 44, though they bear a superficial likeness, tell a very

different story; the first of these, that of George III., laying claim in

its fourth quartering to lordship over Hanover and other German States, and

in its second quarter to the entirely shadowy and obsolete claim over

France, as typified by the golden fleurs-de-lys on the field of azure.

How the three lions of England arose is by no means clear. Two lions were

assigned as the arms of William the Conqueror, but there is no real

evidence that he bore them. Heraldry had not then become a definite

science, and when it did a custom sprang up of assigning to those who lived

and died before its birth certain arms, the kindly theory being that such

persons, had they been then living, would undoubtedly have borne arms, and

that it was hard, therefore, that the mere accident of being born a hundred

years too soon should debar them from possessing such recognition of their

rank. Even so late as Henry II. the bearing is still traditional, and it is

said that on his marriage with Alianore, eldest daughter of William, Duke

of Aquitaine and Guienne, he incorporated with his own two lions the single

lion that (it is asserted) was the device of his father-in-law. All this,

however, is theory and surmise, and we do not really find ourselves on the

solid ground of fact until we come to the reign of Richard Coeur-de-Lion.

Upon his second Great Seal we have the three lions just as they are

represented in Figs. 22, 43, 44, and as they have been borne for centuries

by successive sovereigns on their arms, standards, and coinage, and as our

readers may see them this day on the Royal Standard and on much of the

money they may take out of their pockets. The date of this Great Seal of

King Richard is 1195 A.D., so we have, at all events, a period of over

seven hundred years, waiving a break during the Commonwealth, in which the

three golden lions on their scarlet field have typified the might of

England. {31}

The rampant lion within the tressure, the device of Scotland--seen in the

second quarter of our Royal Standard, Fig. 44--is first seen on the Great

Seal of King Alexander II., about A.D. 1230, and the same device, without

any modification of colour or form[19] was borne by all the Sovereigns of

Scotland, and on the accession of James to the throne of the United

Kingdom, in the year 1603, the ruddy lion ramping on the field of gold

became an integral part of the Standard.

The Scotch took considerable umbrage at their lion being placed in the

second place, while the lions of England were placed first, as they

asserted that Scotland was a more ancient kingdom than England, and that in

any case, on the death of Queen Elizabeth of England, the Scottish monarch

virtually annexed the Southern Kingdom to his own, and kindly undertook to

get the Southerners out of a dynastic difficulty by looking after the

interests of England as well as ruling Scotland. This feeling of jealousy

was so bitter and so potent that for many years after the Union, on all

seals peculiar to Scottish business and on the flags displayed north of the

Tweed, the arms of Scotland were placed in the first quarter. It was also

made a subject of complaint that in the Union Flag the cross of St. George

is placed over that of St. Andrew (see Figs. 90, 91, 92), and that the lion

of England acted as the dexter support of the royal shield instead of

giving place to the Scottish Unicorn. One can only be thankful that Irish

patriots have been too sensible or too indifferent to insist upon yet

another modification, requiring that whensoever and wheresoever the Royal

Standard be hoisted in the Emerald Isle the Irish harp should be placed in

the first quarter. While it is clearly impossible to place the device of

each nationality first, it is very desirable and, in fact, essential, that

the National Arms and the Royal Standard should be identical in arrangement

in all parts of the kingdom. The notion of unity would be very inadequately

carried out if we had a London version for Buckingham Palace, an Edinburgh

version for Holyrood, and presently found the Isle of Saints and "gallant

little Wales" insisting on two other variants, and the Isle of Man in

insurrection because it was not allowed precedence of all four.

Even so lately as the year 1853, on the issue of the florin, the old

jealousy blazed up again. A statement was drawn up and presented to Lord

Lyon, King of Arms, setting forth anew the old grievances of the lions in

the Standard and the crosses in the Flag of the Union, and adding that "the

new two-shilling {32} piece, called a florin, which has lately been issued,

bears upon the reverse four crowned shields, the first or uppermost being

the three lions passant of England; the second, or right hand proper, the

harp of Ireland; the third, or left hand proper, the lion rampant of

Scotland; the fourth, or lower, the three lions of England repeated. Your

petitioners beg to direct your Lordship's attention to the position

occupied by the arms of Scotland upon this coin, which are placed in the

third shield instead of the second, a preference being given to the arms of

Ireland over those of this kingdom." It is curious that this document

tacitly drops claim to the first place. Probably most of our

readers--Scotch, Irish, or English--feel but little sense of grievance in

the matter, and are quite willing, if the coin be an insult, to pocket it.

The border surrounding the lion is heraldically known as the tressure. The

date and the cause of its introduction are lost in antiquity. The mythical

story is that it was added by Achaius, King of Scotland, in the year 792,

in token of alliance with Charlemagne, but in all probability these princes

scarcely knew of the existence of each other. The French and the Scotch

have often been in alliance, and there can be little doubt but that the

fleurs-de-lys that adorn the tressure point to some such early association

of the two peoples; an ancient writer, Nisbet, takes the same view, as he

affirms that "the Tressure fleurie encompasses the lyon of Scotland to show

that he should defend the Flower-de-luses, and these to continue a defence

to the lyon." The first authentic illustration of the tressure in the arms

of Scotland dates from the year 1260. In the reign of James III., in the

year 1471 it was "ordaint that in tyme to cum thar suld be na double tresor

about his armys, but that he suld ber armys of the lyoun, without ony mur."

If this ever took effect it must have been for a very short time. We have

seen no example of it.

Ireland joined England and Scotland in political union on January 1st,

1801, but its device--the harp--was placed on the standard centuries before

by right of conquest. The first known suggestion for a real union on equal

terms was made in the year 1642 in a pamphlet entitled "The Generall Junto,

or the Councell of Union; chosen equally out of England, Scotland, and

Ireland for the better compacting of these nations into one monarchy. By H.

P." This H. P. was one Henry Parker. Fifty copies only of this tract were

issued, and those entirely for private circulation. "To persuade to union

and commend the benefit of it"--says the author--"will be unnecessary.

_Divide et impera_ (divide and rule) is a fit saying for one who aims at

the dissipation and perdition of his country. Honest counsellors have ever

given contrary advice. England and Ireland are inseparably knit; no

severance is possible {33} but such as shall be violent and injurious.

Ireland is an integral member of the Kingdom of England: both kingdoms are

coinvested and connexed, not more undivided than Wales or Cornwall."

The conquest of Ireland was entered upon in the year 1172, in the reign of

Henry II., but was scarcely completed until the surrender of Limerick in

1691. Until 1542 it was styled not the Kingdom but the Lordship of Ireland.

An early standard of Ireland has three golden crowns on a blue field, and

arranged over each other as we see the English lions placed; and a

commission appointed in the reign of Edward IV., to enquire what really

were the arms of Ireland, reported in favour of the three crowns. The early

Irish coinage bears these three crowns upon it, as on the coins of Henry V.

and his successors. Henry VIII. substituted the harp on the coins, but

neither crowns nor harps nor any other device for Ireland appear in the

Royal Standard until the year 1603, after which date the harp has remained

in continuous use till the present day.

In the Harleian MS., No. 304 in the British Museum, we find the statement

that "the armes of Irland is Gules iij old harpes gold, stringed argent"

(as in Fig. 87), and on the silver coinage for Ireland of Queen Elizabeth

the shield bears these three harps. At her funeral Ireland was represented

by a blue flag having a crowned harp of gold upon it, and James I. adopted

this, but without the crown, as a quartering in his standard: its first

appearance on the Royal Standard of England.

Why Henry VIII. substituted the harp for the three crowns is not really

known. Some would have us believe that the king was apprehensive that the

three crowns might be taken as symbolising the triple crown of the Pope;

while others suggest that Henry, being presented by the Pope with the

supposed harp of Brian Boru, was induced to change the arms of Ireland by

placing on her coins the representation of this relic of her most

celebrated native king. The Earl of Northampton, writing in the reign of

James I., suggests yet a third explanation. "The best reason," saith he,

"that I can observe for the bearing thereof is, it resembles that country

in being such an instrument that it requires more cost to keep it in tune

than it is worth."[20] {34}

The Royal Standard should only be hoisted when the Sovereign or some member

of the royal family is actually within the palace or castle, or at the

saluting point, or on board the vessel where we see it flying, though this

rule is by no means observed in practice. The only exception really

permitted to this is that on certain royal anniversaries it is hoisted at

some few fortresses at home and abroad that are specified in the Queen's

Regulations.

The Royal Standard of England was, we have seen, in its earliest form a

scarlet flag, having three golden lions upon it, and it was so borne by

Richard I., John, Henry III., Edward I., and Edward II. Edward III. also

bore it for the first thirteen years of his reign, so that this simple but

beautiful flag was the royal banner for over one hundred and fifty years.

Edward III., on his claim in the year 1340 to be King of France as well as

of England, quartered the golden fleurs-de-lys of that kingdom with the

lions of England.[21] This remained the Royal Standard throughout the rest

of his long reign. Throughout the reign of Richard II. (1377 to 1399) the

royal banner was divided in half by an upright line, all on the outer half

being like that of Edward III., while the half next the staff was the

golden cross and martlets on the blue ground, assigned to Edward the

Confessor, his patron saint, as shown in Fig. 19. On the accession of Henry

IV. to the throne, the cross and martlets disappeared, and he reverted to

the simple quartering of France and England.

Originally the fleurs-de-lys were scattered freely over the field, _semée_

or sown, as it is termed heraldically, so that besides several in the

centre that showed their complete form, others at the margin were more or

less imperfect. On turning to Fig. 188, an early French flag, we see this

disposition of them very clearly. Charles V. of France in the year 1365

reduced the number to three, as in Fig. 184, whereupon Henry IV. of England

followed suit; his Royal Standard is shown in Fig. 22. This remained the

Royal Standard throughout the reigns of Henry V., Henry VI., Edward IV.,

Edward V., Richard III., Henry VII., Henry VIII., Edward VI., Mary and

Elizabeth--a period of two hundred years.

On the accession of the House of Stuart, the flag was rearranged. Its first

and fourth quarters were themselves quartered again, these small

quarterings being the French fleur-de-lys and the English lions; while the

second quarter was the lion of Scotland, and the third the Irish harp; the

first appearance of either of these latter kingdoms in the Royal Standard.

This form remained in use throughout the reigns of James I., Charles I.,

Charles II., and James II. The last semblance of dominion in France had

long {35} since passed away, but it will be seen that alike on coinage,

arms, and Standard the fiction was preserved, and Londoners may see at

Whitehall the statue still standing of James II., bearing on its pedestal

the inscription--"_Jacobus secundus Dei Gratia Angliæ, Scotiæ, Franciæ et

Hiberniæ Rex_."

During the Protectorate, both the Union Flag and the Standard underwent

several modifications, but the form that the personal Standard of Cromwell

finally assumed may be seen in Fig. 83, where the Cross of St. George for

England, St. Andrew for Scotland, and the harp for Ireland, symbolise the

three kingdoms, while over all, on a shield, are placed the personal arms

of the Protector--a silver lion rampant on a sable field.

William III., on his landing in England, displayed a standard which varied

in many respects from those of his royal predecessors, since it contained

not only the arms themselves, but these were represented as displayed on an

escutcheon, surmounted by the crown, and supported on either side by the

lion and unicorn. Above all this was the inscription "For the Protestant

Religion and the Liberties of England,"[22] while beneath it was "je

maintiendray." The arms on the shield are too complex for adequate

description without the aid of a diagram; suffice it to say that in

addition to the insignia of England, Scotland, Ireland, and France, were

eight others dealing with the devices of smaller Continental possessions

appertaining to the new monarch. When matters had settled down and his

throne was assured, the aggressive inscription, etc., disappeared, and the

Royal Standard of William and his Consort Mary, the daughter of King James,

reverted to the form used by the Stuart Sovereigns, plus in the centre a

small escutcheon bearing the arms of Nassau, these being a golden lion

rampant, surrounded by golden billets, upon a shield of azure.

The Royal Standard of Queen Anne bore the devices of England, Scotland,

Ireland, and France. On the accession of George I. the arms of Hanover were

added, and from 1714 to 1801 the flag was as shown in Fig. 43. The flag of

Anne was very similar to this, only instead of Hanover in the fourth

quarter, the arms of England and Scotland, as we see them in the first

quarter, were simply repeated in the fourth.

The Hanoverian quarter, Fig. 43, was made up as follows:--The two lions on

the red field are the device of Brunswick; the blue lion rampant,

surrounded by the red hearts, is the device of Lunenburg; the galloping

white horse is for Saxony; and over all is the golden crown of Charlemagne

as an indication of the claim set up of being the successor of that potent

Sovereign. The horse {36} of Saxony is said to have been borne sable by the

early kings, previous to the conversion to Christianity of Witekind, A.D.

785. Verstigan, however, tells us that the ensign of Hengist at the time of

the invasion of England by the Saxons was a leaping white horse on a red

ground. The white horse is still the county badge for Kent. The flag, as we

see it in Fig. 43, was that of George I. and George II., and remained in

use until the forty-second year of the reign of George III.

On January 2nd, 1801, the Fleurs-de-lys of France were at length removed,

and the flag had its four quarters as follows:--First and fourth England,

second Scotland, and third Ireland; the arms of Hanover being placed on a

shield in the centre of the flag. This remained the Royal Standard during

the rest of the reign of George III., and throughout the reigns of George

IV. and William IV. On the accession of Victoria the operation of the

Salique law severed the connexion of Hanover with England, and the present

Royal Standard is as shown in Fig. 44, being in its arrangement similar to

that of George IV. and William IV., except that the small central shield,

bearing the arms of Hanover, is now removed.[23]

We turn now to the National Flag. As the feudal constitution of the

fighting force passed away, the use of private banners disappeared, and

men, instead of coming to the field as the retainers of some great nobleman

and fighting under his leadership and beneath his flag, were welded into a

national army under the direct command of the king and such leaders as he

might appoint. The days when a great noble could change the fortunes of the

day by withdrawing his vassals or transferring himself and them, on the eve

of the fight, to the opposing party, were over, and men fought no longer in

the interests of Warwick or of Percy, but in the cause of England and

beneath the banner of St. George, the national Patron Saint.

"Thou, amongst those saints whom thou dost see,

Shall be a saint, and thine own nation's frend

And patron: thou Saint George shalt called bee,

Saint George of Mery England, the sign of victoree."[24]

{37}

At the siege of Antioch, according to Robertus Monachus, a Benedictine of

Rheims who flourished about the year 1120, and wrote a history of the

Crusade, "Our Souldiers being wearied with the long continuance of the

Battaile, and seeing that the number of enemies decreased not, began to

faint; when suddenly an infinite number of Heavenly Souldiers all in white

descended from the Mountains, the Standard-bearer and leaders of them being

Saint George, Saint Maurice, and Saint Demetrius, which when the Bishop of

Le Puy first beheld he cryed aloud unto his troopes, 'There are they (saith

he) the succours which in the name of God I promised to you.' The issue of

the miracle was this, that presently the enemies did turne their backs and

lost the field: these being slaine, 100,000 horse, beside foot innumerable,

and in their trenches such infinite store of victuals and munition found

that served not only to refresh the wearied Christians, but to confound the

enemy." This great victory at Antioch led to the recovery of Jerusalem. At

the Crusades England, Arragon, and Portugal all assumed St. George as their

patron saint.

Throughout the Middle Ages the war-cry of the English was the name of this

patron saint. "The blyssed and holy Martyr Saynt George is patron of this

realme of Englande, and the crye of men of warre," we read in the "Golden

Legend," and readers of Shakespeare will readily recall illustrations. Thus

in "King Richard II." we read:--

"Sound drums and trumpets, boldly and cheerfully,

God and St. George! Richard and victory."

or again in "King Henry V." where the king at the siege of Harfleur cries,

"The game's afoot,

Follow your spirit, and upon this charge

Cry, God for Harry, England, and St. George!"

while in "King Henry VI." we find the line,

"Then strike up, drums--God and St. George for us!"[25]

At the battle of Poitiers, September 19th, 1356, upon the advance of the

English, the Constable of France threw himself, Lingard tells us, across

their path with the battle shout, "Mountjoy, St. Denis," which was at once

answered by "St. George, St. George," and in the onrush of the English the

Duke and the greater part of his {38} followers were swept away, and in a

few minutes slain. In an interesting old poem on the siege of Rouen in

1418, written by an eye-witness, we read that on the surrender of the city,

"Whanne the gate was openyd there

And thay weren ready in to fare,

Trumpis blew ther bemys of bras,

Pipis and clarionys forsoothe ther was.

And as they entrid thay gaf a schowte

With ther voyce that was full stowte,

Seint George! Seint George! thay criden on height

And seide, Welcome oure kynges righte!"

We have before us, as we write, "The story of that most blessed Saint and

Souldier of Christ Jesus, St. George of Cappadocia," as detailed by Peter

Heylyn, and published in 1633, and the temptation to quote at length from

it is great, as it is full of most interesting matter, but into the history

of St. George space forbids us to go at any length. The author of the

"Seven Champions of Christendom" makes St. George to be born of English

parentage at Coventry, but for this there is no authority whatever, and all

other writers make Cappadocia his birthplace. The history of St. George is

more obscure than that of any name of equal eminence in the Calendar.

According to the "Acta Sanctorum" he was the son of noble parents, became

famous as a soldier, and, embracing Christianity, was tortured to death at

Nicomedia in the year 303.

"The hero won his well-earned place,

Amid the Saints, in death's dread hour;

And still the peasant seeks his grave,

And, next to God, reveres his power.

In many a Church his form is seen,

With sword, and shield, and helmet sheen;

Ye know him by his shield of pride,

And by the dragon at his side."

As Patron Saint, the dragon vanquisher is still seen on our crowns and

sovereigns, and reference to such a book as Ruding's history of our coinage

will show that it has for centuries been a popular device.

In 1245, on St. George's Day, Frederic of Austria instituted an order of

knighthood and placed it under the guardianship of the soldier-saint, and

its white banner, bearing the ruddy cross, floated in battle alongside that

of the Empire. In like manner on St. George's Day, in the year 1350, Edward

III. of England instituted the order of the Garter with great solemnity.

{39}

St. George's Day, April 23rd, has too long been suffered to pass almost

unregarded. The annual festivals of St. Andrew, St. Patrick, and St. David

are never overlooked by the members of the various nationalities, and it

seems distinctly a thing to be regretted that the Englishman should allow

the name day of his Patron Saint to pass unnoticed.[26] Whatever conduces

to the recognition of national life is valuable, and anything that reminds

Englishmen of their common ties and common duties--and reminds them, too,

of their glorious heritage in the past--should scarcely be allowed to fall

into disuse. Butler, in his "Lives of the Fathers and Martyrs," tell us

that at the great National Council, held at Oxford in 1222, it was

commanded that the Feast of St. George should be kept. In the year 1415, by

the Constitutions of Archbishop Chichely, St. George's Day was made one of

the greater feasts and ordered to be observed the same as Christmas Day. In

1545 a special collect, epistle, and gospel were prepared, and at the

Reformation, when many of the Saints' Days were swept away, this was

preserved with all honour, and it was not till the sixth year of the reign

of Edward VI., when another revision was made, that in "The Catalogue of

such Festivals as are to be Observed" St. George's day was omitted.

The Cross of St. George was worn as a badge,[27] over the armour, by every

English soldier in the fourteenth and subsequent centuries, even if the

custom did not prevail at a much earlier period. The following extract from

the ordinances made for the government of the army with which Richard II.

invaded Scotland in 1386, is a good illustration of this, wherein it is

ordered "that everi man of what estate, condicion, or nation thei be of, so

that he be of owre partie, here a signe of the armes of Saint George,

large, bothe before and behynde, upon parell that yf he be slayne or

wounded to deth, he that hath so doon to hym shall not be putte to deth for

defaulte of the cross that he lacketh. And that non enemy do bere the same

token or crosse of Saint George, notwithstandyng if he be prisoner, upon

payne of deth." It was the flag of battle, and we see it represented in the

old prints and illuminations that deal with military operations both on

land and sea. Ordinarily it is the Cross of St. George, pure and simple, as

shown in Fig. 91, while at {40} other times, as in Figs. 66, 67, 68, it

forms a portion only of the flag. The red cross on the white field was the

flag under which the great seamen of Elizabeth's reign traded, explored, or

fought; the flag that Drake bore round the world--that Frobisher unfolded

amidst the Arctic solitudes--that gallant Englishmen, the wide world over,

bore at the call of duty and died beneath, if need be, for the honour of

the old home land; and to this day the flag of the English Admiral is the

same simple and beautiful device, and the white ensign of the British Navy,

Fig. 95, is similar, except that it bears, in addition, the Union; while

the Union flag itself, Fig. 90, bears conspicuously the ruddy cross of the

warrior Saint.

Figs. 26, 27, 74 and 140 are all sea-pennants bearing the Cross of St.

George. The first of these is from a painting of H.M.S. _Tiger_, painted by

Van de Velde, while Fig. 27 is flying from one of the ships represented in

the picture by Volpe of the embarkation of Henry VIII. from Dover on his

way to the Field of the Cloth of Gold. Fig. 74 is from a picture of H.M.S.

_Lion_, engaging the French ship _Elisabethe_, on July 9th, 1745, the

latter being fitted out to escort the Young Pretender to Scotland. Though

the red, white, and blue stripes suggest the French tricolor, their

employment in the pennant has, of course, no reference to France. The

_Lion_ had at the foremast the plain red streamer seen at Fig. 25. Fig. 140

is the pennant flown at the present day by all Colonial armed vessels,

while the pennant of the Royal Navy is purely white, with the exception of

the Cross of St. George. In a picture by Van de Velde, the property of the

Queen, representing a sea fight on August 11th, 1673, between the English,

French, and Dutch, we see some of the vessels with streamers similar to

Fig. 140, thus ante-dating the Colonial flag by over two hundred years.

As we have at the present time the white ensign, Fig. 95, the special flag

of the Royal Navy; the blue ensign, Fig. 96, the distinguishing flag of the

Royal Naval Reserve; and the red ensign, Fig. 97, the flag of the Merchant

Service, each with the Union in the upper corner next the mast, so in

earlier days we find the white flag, Fig. 65, the red flag, Fig. 66, and

the blue, each having in the upper corner the Cross of St. George. Fig. 69

becomes, by the addition of the blue, a curious modification of Fig. 66. It

is from a sea piece of the sixteenth century. It was displayed at the poop

of a vessel, while Fig. 79 is the Jack on the bowsprit.

A hundred years ago or so, we may see that there was a considerable variety

in the flags borne by our men-o'-war. Such galleries as those at Hampton

Court or Greenwich afford many examples of this in the pictures there

displayed. In a picture of a battle off Dominica, on April 12th, 1782, we

find, one of the English {41} ships has two great square flags on the

foremast, the upper one being plain red, and the lower one half blue and

half white in horizontal stripes, while the main mast is surmounted by the

Cross of St. George, and below it a tricolor of red, white, and blue in

horizontal stripes. Other ships show equally curious variations, though we

need not stop to detail them, except that in one case both fore and mizen

masts are surmounted by plain red flags. In a picture of Rodney's Action

off Cape St. Vincent, on January 16th, 1780, we meet with all these flags

again. In the representation of an action between an English and French

fleet on May 3rd, 1747, off Cape Finisterre, we notice that the English

ships have a blue ensign at the poop, and one of them has a great plain

blue flag at the foremast, and a great plain red flag at the main-mast

head. In a picture of the taking of Portobello, November 21st, 1739, we

notice the same thing again. These plain surfaces of blue or red are very

curious. It will naturally occur to the reader that these are signal flags,

but anyone seeing the pictures would scarcely continue to hold that view,

as their large size precludes the idea. In the picture of H.M.S. _Tiger_

that we have already referred to, the flag with five red stripes that we

have represented in Fig. 70 is at the poop, while from the bow is hoisted a

flag of four stripes, and from the three mastheads are flags, having three

red stripes. These striped red and white flags may often be seen.

Perhaps the most extraordinary grouping of flags may be seen in a picture

of a naval review in the reign of George I. It was on exhibition at the

Great Naval Exhibition at Chelsea, and is in private ownership. All the

vessels are dressed in immense flags, and these are of the most varied

description. It must be borne in mind that these are government bunting,

not the irresponsible vagaries of private eccentricity. Besides the

reasonable and orthodox flags, such as those represented in Figs. 65, 66,

and others of equal propriety, we find one striped all over in red, white,

blue, red, white, blue, in six horizontal stripes. Another, with a yellow

cross on a white ground; a third, a white eagle on a blue field; another, a

red flag inscribed--"For the Protestant Religion and the Liberty of

England"; while another is like Fig. 65, only instead of having a red cross

on white, it has a blue one instead. An altogether strange assortment.

Figs. 67, 68, 72, and 78 are flags of the London Trained Bands of the year

1643. The different regiments were known by the colour of their flags, thus

Fig. 67 is the flag of the blue regiment, Fig. 68 of the yellow, Fig. 72 of

the green, and Fig. 78 of the yellow regiment auxiliaries. Other flags were

as follows:--white, with red lozenges; green, with golden wavy rays;

orange, with white trefoils; in each case the Cross of St. George being in

the canton. {42} In a list before us of the Edinburgh Trained Bands for

1685 we find that the different bodies are similarly distinguished by

colours.[28]

On the union of the two crowns at the accession of James VI. of Scotland

and I. of England to the English throne, the Cross of St. Andrew, Fig. 92,

was combined with that of St. George.

The Cross of St. Andrew has been held in the same high esteem north of the

Tweed that the Southrons have bestowed on the ensign of St. George. It will

be seen that it is shaped like the letter X. Tradition hath it that the

Saint, deeming it far too great an honour to be crucified as was his Lord,

gained from his persecutors the concession of this variation. It is

legendarily asserted that this form of cross appeared in the sky to

Achaius, King of the Scots, the night before a great battle with

Athelstane, and, being victorious, he went barefoot to the church of St.

Andrew, and vowed to adopt his cross as the national device. The sacred

monogram that replaced the Roman eagles under Constantine, the cross on the

flag of Denmark, the visions of Joan of Arc, and many other suchlike

illustrations, readily occur to one's mind as indicative of the natural

desire to see the potent aid of Heaven visibly manifested in justification

of earthly ambitions, or a celestial support and encouragement in time of

national discomfiture.

Figs. 75 and 76 are examples of the Scottish red and blue ensigns. The

first of these is from a picture at Hampton Court, where a large Scottish

warship is represented as having a flag of this character at the main, and

smaller but similar colours at the other mastheads and on the bowsprit.

The famous banner, the historic "blue blanket," borne by the Scots in the

Crusades, was on its return deposited over the altar of St. Eloi in St.

Giles' Church, Edinburgh, and the queen of James II., we read, painted on

its field of azure the white Cross of St. Andrew, the crown, and the

thistle. St. Eloi was the patron saint of blacksmiths, and this craft was

made the guardian of the flag, and it became the symbol of the associated

trades of ancient Edinburgh. King James VI., when venting his indignation

against his too independent subjects, exclaimed, "The craftsmen think we

should be contented with their work, and if in anything they be controlled,

then up goes the blue blanket." The craftsmen were as independent and

difficult to manage as the London Trained Bands often proved, but King

James VI. found it expedient to confirm them in {43} all their privileges,

and ordered that the flag should at all times be known as the Standard of

the Crafts, and later Sovereigns found it impossible to take away these

privileges when they had once been granted. This flag was borne at Flodden

Field. Beside the cross, crown, and thistle it bore on a scroll on the

upper part of the flag the inscription, "Fear God and honor the king with a

long lyffe and prosperous reigne," and on the lower portion the words, "And

we that is trades shall ever pray to be faithfull for the defence of his

Sacred Majesties' persone till deathe," an inscription that scarcely seems

to harmonise with the turbulent spirit that scandalised this sovereign so

greatly.

The flags borne by the Covenanters in their struggle for liberty varied

much in their details, but in the great majority of cases bore upon them

the Cross of St. Andrew, often accompanied by the thistle, and in most

cases by some form of inscription. Several of these are still extant. In

one that was borne at Bothwell Brig, and now preserved in the Museum of the

Society of Antiquaries, Edinburgh, the four blue triangles (see Fig. 92 for

these) are filled with the words, "For Religion----Couenants----King----and

Kingdomes." The Avondale flag was a white one, having the cross, white on

blue, as in Fig. 75, in the corner. On the field of the flag was the

inscription, "Avondale for Religion, Covenant, and King,"[29] and beneath

this a thistle worked in the national green and crimson. A very interesting

Exhibition of Scottish national memorials was held at Glasgow in 1888, and

many of these old Covenant flags were there displayed. At the great

Heraldic Exhibition held in Edinburgh in 1891, one of the most interesting

things shown was the Cavers Standard. This is of sage green silk, twelve

feet by three. It bears the Cross of St. Andrew next the staff, and divers

other devices are scattered over the rest of the flag. It is in excellent

preservation, and its special interest lies in the fact that it is said to

have been the standard of James, second Earl of Douglas and Mar, and borne

by his son at the battle of Otterburn in the year 1388. If this be so it is

one of the oldest flags in existence.

On the signet-ring of Mary Queen of Scots the white Cross of St. Andrew is

not shown on its usual blue ground, but on a ground striped blue and

yellow, the royal colours; in the same way that the St. George's Cross is

shown in Fig. 71, not on a {44} white ground, but on a ground striped white

and green, the Tudor colours.

Why St. Andrew was selected to be the Patron Saint of Scotland has never

been satisfactorily settled.[30] Some uncharitable enquirer has hazarded

the explanation that it was because it was this Apostle who discovered the

lad who had the loaves and fishes. Others tell us that one Hungus, a

Pictish prince, dreamt that the Saint was to be his champion in a fight

just then pending with the men of Northumbria, and that a cross--the symbol

of the crucifixion of this Apostle--appeared in the sky, the celestial omen

strengthening the hearts and arms of the men of Hungus to such effect that

the Northumbrians were completely routed. Should neither of these

explanations appear sufficiently explanatory, we can offer yet a third. On

the martyrdom of St. Andrew, in the year 69, at Patræ, in Achaia, his

remains were carefully preserved as relics, but in the year 370, Regulus,

one of the Greek monks who had them in their keeping, was warned in a

vision that the Emperor Constantine was proposing to translate these

remains to Constantinople, and that he must at once visit the shrine and

remove thence an arm bone, three fingers of the right hand, and a tooth,

and carry them away over sea to the west. Regulus was much troubled at the

vision, but hastened to obey it, so putting the relics into a chest he set

sail with some half-dozen other ecclesiastics, to whom he confided the

celestial instructions that he had received. After a stormy voyage the

vessel was at last dashed upon a rock, and Regulus and his companions

landed on an unknown shore, and found themselves in a dense and gloomy

forest. Here they were presently discovered by the aborigines, whose leader

listened to their story and gave them land on which to build a church for

the glory of God and the enshrining of the relics. This inhospitable shore

proved to be that of "Caledonia, stern and wild," and the little forest

church and hamlet that sprang up around it were the nucleus that thence and

to the present day have been known as St. Andrews, a thriving, busy town in

Fife, and for centuries the seat of a bishopric. On July 5th, 1318, Robert

the Bruce repaired hither and testified his gratitude to God for the

victory vouchsafed to the Scots at Bannockburn by the intercession of St.

Andrew, guardian of the realm, when thirty thousand Scots defeated one

hundred thousand Englishmen. What St. George could have been doing to allow

this, seems a very legitimate question, but we can scarcely wonder that the

Scots should very gladly appoint so potent a protector their patron, and

look to him for succour in all their national difficulties.

On the blending of the two kingdoms into one under the {45} sovereignty of

King James,[31] it became necessary to devise a new flag that should typify

this union and blend together the emblems of the puissant St. George and

the no less honoured St. Andrew, and the flag represented in Fig. 73 was

the result--the flag of the United Kingdoms of England and Scotland,

henceforth to be known as Great Britain.

The Royal Ordinance[32] ran as follows:--"Whereas some difference hath

arisen between our subjects of South and North Britain, travelling by seas,

about the bearing of their flags,--for the avoiding of all such contentions

hereafter we have, with the advice of our Council, ordered that from

henceforth all our subjects of this isle and kingdom of Greater 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 fore-top our subjects of South Britain shall wear

the Red Cross only, as they were wont, and our subjects of North Britain in

their fore-top the White Cross only, as they were accustomed. Wherefore we

will and command all our subjects to be comparable and obedient to this our

order, and that from henceforth they do not use or bear their flags in any

other sort, as they will answer the contrary at their peril."

Such a proclamation was sorely needed, as there was much ill-will and

jealousy between the sailors and others of the two nationalities, and the

Union flag itself, when "our heralds" produced it, did not by any means

please the North, and the right to carry in fore-top the St. Andrew's Cross

pure and simple was a concession that failed to conciliate them. The great

grievance was that, as we see in Fig. 73, the Cross of St. George was

placed in front of that of St. Andrew, and the Scottish Privy Council, in a

letter dated Edinburgh, August 7th, 1606, thus poured forth their

feelings:--"Most sacred Soverayne, a greate nomber of the maisteris of the

schippis of this your Majesties kingdome hes verie havelie complenit to

your Majesties Counsell, that the forme and patrone of the flagges of

schippis sent down heir and command it to be ressavit and used be the

subjectis of both kingdomes is verie prejudiciall to the fredome and

dignitie of this Estate, and wil gif occasioun of reprotche to this natioun

quhairevir the said flage sal happin to be worne beyond sea, {46} becaus,

as your Sacred Majestie may persave, the Scottis Croce, callit Sanctandrois

Croce, is twyse divydit, and the Inglishe Croce, callit Sanct George,

drawne through the Scottis Croce, which is thereby obscurit, and no token

nor mark to be seene of the Scottis armes. This will breid some heit and

miscontentment betwix your Majesties subjectis, and it is to be feirit that

some inconvenientis sall fall oute betwix thame, for our seyfaring men

cannot be inducit to resave that flage as it is set down. They have drawne

two new drauchtis and patrones as most indifferent for both kingdomes,

whiche they presentid to the Counsell, and craved our approbation of the

same, but we haif reserved that to your Majestie's princelie

determinatioun, as moir particularlie the Erll of Mar, who was present, and

herd their complaynt, and to whom we haif remittit the discourse and

delyverie of that mater, will informe your Majestie and let your Heynes see

the errour of the first patrone and the indifferencie of the two newe

drauchties." These draughts are not to be found, nor does it appear that

any notice was taken of the complaint.

The Scottish Union flag, as carefully depicted in a scarce little work

published in 1701, and entitled "The Ensigns, Colours, and Flags of the

Ships at Sea, belonging to the several Princes and States in the World,"

may be seen in Fig. 88. In it will be noted that the Cross of St. Andrew is

placed in front of that of St. George--anyone comparing Figs. 73 and 88

will readily see wherein they differ. Though its appearance in a book of

sea-flags would seem to imply that such a flag had been made, we know of no

other instance of it. Fig. 84 was also suggested as a solution of the

problem, but here we get false heraldry, the blue in contact with the red,

and in any case a rather weak-looking arrangement.

The painful truth is that when two persons ride the same animal they cannot

both be in front, and no amount of heraldic ingenuity will make two devices

on a flag to be of equal value. The position next the staff is accounted

more honourable than that remote from it, and the upper portion of the flag

is more honourable than the lower.[33] At first sight it might appear that

matters are impartially dealt out in Fig. 81, but the position next the

staff is given to St. George, and in the quartered arrangement, Fig. 85,

the same holds true. Both these were suggestions made at the time the

difficulty was felt, but both were discarded in favour of the arrangement

shown in Fig. 73.

This Union Flag is not very often met with. It occurrs on one of the great

seals of Charles II., and is seen also as a Jack on the {47} bowsprits of

ships in paintings of early naval battles. It may, by good fortune, be seen

also on the two colours of the 82nd regiment that in the year 1783 were

suspended in St. Giles', Edinburgh, and a very good illustration of it may

be seen in the National Gallery, where, in a battle scene by Copley,

representing the death of Major Peirson, at St. Helier, Jersey, on January

6th, 1781, this Union flag is conspicuous in the centre of the picture. We

have it again in Fig 57, the original flag of the East India Company; the

difference between this and the second Union Flag, made on the admission of

Ireland's Cross of St. Patrick, may be very well seen on a comparison of

Figs. 57 and 61. We have it again in Figs. 142 and 143, flags of the

revolting American Colonists before they had thrown off all allegiance to

the Old Country.

A knowledge of the history of the flag has not only interest, but is of

some little importance. We remember seeing a picture of the sailing of the

_Mayflower_, in which, by a curious lack of a little technical knowledge,

the flag depicted was the Union Flag of to-day, which did not come into

existence until the first year of the present century, whereas the historic

event represented in the picture took place in the year 1620. In a fresco

in the House of Lords, representing Charles II. landing in England,[34] the

artist has introduced a boat bearing the present Union Flag. In each of

these cases it is evident that it should have been the first Union--that of

England and Scotland--that the flag should have testified to.

Charles I. issued a proclamation on May 5th, 1634, forbidding any but the

Royal ships to carry the Union flag; all merchantmen, according to their

nationality, being required to show either the Cross of St. George or that

of St. Andrew. Queen Anne, on July 28th, 1707, required that merchant

vessels should fly a red flag "with a Union Jack described in a canton at

the upper corner thereof, next the staff," while the Union Flag, as before,

was reserved for the Royal Navy. This merchant flag, if we cut out the

inscription there shown, would be similar to Fig. 142. This is interesting,

because, after many changes, so lately as October 18th, 1864, it was

ordered that the red ensign once again should be the distinguishing flag of

the commercial marine; the present flag is given in Fig. 97. It is further

interesting because this proclamation of Queen Anne's is the first time

that the term Union Jack, so far as we are aware, is officially used.

Technically, our national banner should be called the Union Flag, though in

ordinary parlance it is always called the Union Jack. {48} The latter flag

is a diminutive of the former, and the term ought in strictness to be

confined to the small Union Flag flown from the Jack-staff on the bowsprit

of a ship. The Union Flag is, besides this, only used as the special

distinguishing flag of an Admiral of the Fleet, when it is hoisted at the

main top-gallant mast-head, and when the Sovereign is on board a vessel, in

which case the Royal Standard is flown at the main and the Union at the

mizen. With a white border round it, as in Fig. 104, it is the signal for a

pilot: hence this is called the Pilot Jack. The sea flags now in use are

the white, red, and blue ensigns, Figs. 95, 96, 97, to be hereafter

described, while the Union flag is devoted especially to land service,

being hoisted on fortresses and government offices, and borne by the

troops.

Why the flag should be called "Jack" at all has been the subject of much

controversy. It is ordinarily suggested that the derivation is from

Jacques, the French word for James, the Union Jack springing into existence

under his auspices. Why it should be given this French name does not seem

very clear, except that many of the terms used in blazonry are French in

their origin. It never seems to have been suggested that, granting the

reference to King James, the Latin Jacobus would be a more appropriate

explanation, as the Latin names of our kings have for centuries supplanted

the earlier Norman-French on their coins, seals, and documents. Several

other theories have been broached, of varying degrees of improbability; one

of these deriving it from the word "jaque"[35] (hence our modern jacket),

the surcoat worn over the armour in mediæval days. This, we have seen, had

the Cross of St. George always represented on it; but there is no proof

that the jaque was ever worn with the union of the two crosses upon it, so

that the derivation breaks down just at the critical point. The present

flag came into existence in the reign of King George, but no one ever

dreams on this account, or any other, of calling it the Union George.

On the death of Charles I., the partnership between England and Scotland

was dissolved, and the Union Flag, Fig. 73, therefore, was disestablished,

and was only restored in the general Restoration, when the Commonwealth and

Protectorate had run their course, and Charles II. ascended the throne of

his forefathers.

The earliest Commonwealth Flag was a simple reversion to the Cross of St.

George, Fig. 91. At a meeting of the Council of State, held on February

22nd, 1648-49, it was "ordered that the ships at sea in service of the

State shall onely beare the red Crosse {49} in a white flag. That the

engravings upon the Sterne of ye ships shall be the Armes of England and

Ireland in two Scutcheons, as is used in the Seals, and that a warrant be

issued to ye Commissioners of ye Navy to see it put in execution with all

speed." The communication thus ordered to be made to the Commissioners was

in form a letter from the President of the Council as follows:--"To ye

Commissioners of ye Navy.--Gentlemen,--There hath beene a report made to

the Councell by Sir Henry Mildmay of your desire to be informed what is to

be borne in the flaggs of those Ships that are in the Service of the State,

and what to be upon the Sterne in lieu of the Armes formerly thus engraven.

Upon the consideration of the Councell whereof, the Councell have resolved

that they shall beare the Red Crosse only in a white flagg, quite through

the flagg. And that upon the Sterne of the Shipps there shall be the Red

Crosse in one Escotcheon, and the Harpe in one other, being the Armes of

England and Ireland, both Escotcheons joyned according to the pattern

herewith sent unto you. And you are to take care that these Flaggs may be

provided with all expedition for the Shipps for the Summer Guard, and that

these engraveings may also be altered according to this direction with all

possible expedition.--Signed in ye name and by order of ye Councell of

State appointed by Authority of Parliament.--Ol. Cromwell, Derby House,

February 23rd, 1648."

In a Council meeting held on March 5th, considerably within a month of the

one we have just referred to, it is "ordered that the Flagg that is to be

borne by the Admiral, Vice-Admiral, and Rere-Admiral be that now presented,

viz., the Armes of England and Ireland in two severall Escotcheons in a Red

Flagg, within a compartment."[36] This arrangement may be seen in Fig. 82.

A Commonwealth flag that is still preserved at the dockyard, Chatham,

differs slightly from this. The ground of the flag is red, but the shields

are placed directly upon it without any intervening gold border, and around

them is placed a large wreath of palm and laurel in dark green colour.

In the year 1787 an interesting book called the "Respublica" was published;

the author, Sir John Prestwich, deriving much of his material from MSS.

left by an ancestor of his who lived during the Interregnum. In this the

reader may find full descriptions of many of the flags of the

Parliamentarians. One of these is much like the Chatham example already

referred to, except that the ground of the flag is blue, and that outside

the shields, but within the wreath, is found the inscription--"_Floreat

Respublica._" {50}

The flag of the Commonwealth was borne to victory at Dunbar, Worcester, and

many another hard-fought field, and under its folds Blake, Monk, and other

gallant leaders gained glorious victories over the Dutch and Spaniards, and

made the English name feared in every sea.

"Of wind's and water's rage they fearful be,

But much more fearful are your flags to see.

Day, that to those who sail upon the deep,

More wish'd for and more welcome is than sleep,

They dreaded to behold, lest the sun's light

With English streamers should salute their sight."[37]

It was not until the year 1651 that Scotland was brought under the sway of

the Commonwealth, and the ordinance for its full union with England and

Ireland was not promulgated until April 12th, 1654. Somewhat later an Order

of Council recognised the new necessities of the case, and decreed that the

Standard for the Protectorate be as shown in Fig. 83. England and Scotland

are here represented by their respective crosses, while Ireland, instead of

having the Cross of St. Patrick, is represented by the harp. In Fig. 80 all

three crosses are introduced, but there seems somewhat too much white in

this latter flag for an altogether successful effect, and the blue of the

Irish quarter, balancing the blue of the Scottish, is more pleasing. The

Union Flag underwent yet another modification, and instead of being like

Figs. 82 or 86, the Union Flag of James I., Fig. 73, was reverted to, and

in the centre of the flag was placed a golden harp--"the Armes of England

and Scotland united, according to the anncient form, with the addicion of

the harpe." On the restoration of Charles II. this harp was removed, and

Ireland does not appear again in the Union Flag, Fig. 73, until January

1st, 1801.

A pattern farthing of this period--preserved in the magnificent numismatic

collection in the British Museum--shows on its reverse a three-masted ship:

at the stern is a large flag divided vertically, like Fig. 86, into two

compartments, the Cross of St. George in one and the harp in the other; the

main and mizen masts are shown with flags containing St. George's Cross

only, as in Fig. 91, while the foremast bears a flag with St. Andrew's

Cross upon it, a flag similar to Fig. 92.

For nearly fifty years before its rise, and for nearly one hundred and

fifty years after the downfall of the Protectorate, that is to say from

1602 to 1649 and from 1659 to 1801, the Union Flag was as shown in Fig. 73,

but in 1801 the Legislative Union of Ireland with Great Britain was

effected, and a new Union Flag, the one now in {51} use, was devised. This

may be seen in Fig. 90, the noblest flag that flies under heaven.

Though the National Flag is primarily just so much silk or bunting, its

design and colouring are full of meaning: and though its prime cost may be

but a few shillings, its value is priceless, for the national honour is

enwrapped in its folds, and the history of centuries is figured in the

symbolism of its devices. It represents to us all that patriotism means. It

is the flag of freedom and of the greatest empire that the world has ever

known. Over three hundred millions of people--in quiet English shires, amid

Canadian snows, on the torrid plains of Hindustan, amidst the busy energy

of the great Australian group of colonies, or the tropical luxuriance of

our West Indian possessions--are to-day enjoying liberty and peace beneath

its shelter. Countless thousands have freely given their lives to preserve

its blazonry unstained from dishonour and defeat, and it rests with us now

to keep the glorious record as unsullied as of old; never to unfurl our

Union Flag in needless strife, but, when once given to the breeze, to

emulate the deeds of our forefathers, and to inscribe on its folds fresh

records of duty nobly done.

How the form known as St. Patrick's Cross, Fig. 93, became associated with

that worthy is not by any means clear. It is not found amongst the emblems

of Saints, and its use is in defiance of all ecclesiastical tradition and

custom, as St. Patrick never in the martyrological sense had a cross at

all, for though he endured much persecution he was not actually called upon

to lay down his life for the Faith. It has been suggested, and with much

appearance of probability, that the X-like form of cross, both of the Irish

and of the Scotch, is derived from the sacred monogram on the Labarum of

Constantine, where the X is the first letter of the Greek word for Christ.

This symbolic meaning of the form might readily be adopted in the early

Irish Church, and thence be carried by missionaries to Scotland.

A life of St. Patrick was written by Probus, who lived in the seventh

century, and another by Jocelin, a Cistercian monk of the twelfth century,

and this latter quotes freely from four other lives of the Saint that were

written by his disciples.

St. Patrick was born in Scotland, near where Glasgow now stands. The date

of his birth was somewhere near the close of the fourth century, but as to

the year authorities differ widely--372, 455, 464, and 493 being all given

by various biographers.[38] His father was of good family, and, while the

future saint was still under the paternal roof, God manifested to him by

divers visions that he was {52} destined for the great work of the

conversion of Ireland, at that time plunged in idolatry. Hence he resigned

his birthright and social position, and devoted himself entirely to the

salvation of these barbarians, suffering at their hands and for their sakes

much persecution. He was ordained deacon and priest, and was ultimately

made a bishop. He travelled over the whole of Ireland founding monasteries

and filling the country with churches and schools of piety and learning.

Animated by a spirit of perfect charity and humility, he demonstrated not

only the faith but the spirit of his Master, and the result of his forty

years of labour was to change Ireland from a land of barbarism into a seat

of learning and piety, so that it received the title of the Island of

Saints, and was for centuries a land of mental and spiritual light.

On the Union of the Kingdom of Great Britain with Ireland in the year 1801,

the following notice was issued by Royal Authority:--"Proclamation, George

R.--Whereas by the First Article of the Articles of Great Britain and

Ireland it was declared: That the said Kingdoms of Great Britain and

Ireland should upon this day, being the First Day of January, in the Year

of our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and One, for ever after be united

into One Kingdom, by the name of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and

Ireland: and that the Royal Style and Titles appertaining to the Imperial

Crown of the said United Kingdom and its Dependencies, and also the Ensigns

Armorial, Flags, and Banners thereof, should be such as We, by our Royal

Proclamation under the Great Seal of the said United Kingdom should

appoint: We have thought fit, by and with the advice of our Privy Council,

to appoint and declare that our Royal Style and Titles shall henceforth be

accepted, taken, and used as the same set forth in Manner and Form

following: Georgius Tertius, Dei Gratia, Britannarium Rex, Fidei Defensor;

and in the English Tongue by these words: George the Third, by the Grace of

God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland King, Defender of

the Faith; and that the Arms or Ensigns Armorial of the said United Kingdom

shall be Quarterly: first and fourth, England: second, Scotland: third,

Ireland: and it is Our Will and Pleasure that there shall be borne thereon

on an escutcheon of pretence, the Arms of Our Domains in Germany, ensigned

with the Electoral Bonnet:[39] And that the Union Flag shall be Azure, the

Crosses Saltire 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." {53}

The heralds who devised the new flag of the extended Union, Fig. 90, have

been subjected to a very considerable amount of adverse criticism,[40] but

no one has really been able to suggest a better plan than theirs. It will

be noted in the illustration and in every Union flag that is made, that the

red Cross of St. Patrick, Fig. 93, is not in the centre of the white Cross,

Fig. 92, of St. Andrew. The scarlet Cross of St. George is equally fringed

on either side by the white border or fimbriation that represents the

original white field, Fig. 91, on which it was placed, and on the addition

of the white cross or saltire of St. Andrew on its field of blue, Fig. 92,

it fitted in very happily. When, however, another X-like cross had to be

provided for, on the admission of Ireland to the Union, a difficulty at

once arose. As the Irish Cross would, according to all rule and fairness,

be of the same width on the joint flag as that of St. Andrew, the result of

placing the second or red X over the first white one would be to entirely

obliterate the latter. Even then the Irish Cross would not be rightly

rendered, as it should be on a white ground, and by this method it would be

on a blue one, while if we placed the Irish Cross on that of St. Andrew,

but left a thin line of white on either side, St. Andrew's Cross would

still be obliterated, as the thin fimbriation of white would be the just

due of St. Patrick, and would not stand for St. Andrew at all. Besides,

Scottish indignation would not unjustly be aroused at the idea that their

noble white cross should become a mere edging to the symbol of St. Patrick.

Hence the somewhat awkward-looking compromise that breaks the continuity of

direction of the arms of the red cross of Ireland by its portions being

thrown out of the centre of the white oblique bands, so that in each

portion the crosses of Ireland and Scotland are clearly distinguished from

each other. This compromise notwithstanding, no more effective or beautiful

flag unfolds itself the round world over than the Union flag of Great

Britain and Ireland.

The crosses might have been quartered as we see them in Fig. 80, but it is

clearly better to preserve the idea of the unity and blend all three

crosses into one composition. No criticism or objection has ever come from

Ireland as to the Union flag, but even so lately as 1853 the Scotch renewed

their grievance against the Cross of St. Andrew being placed behind that of

St. George, "and having a red stripe run through the arms thereof, for

which there is no precedent in law or heraldry." If ever an Irishman cared

to hunt up a grievance, surely here is one at last--the cross of his patron

saint "a red stripe"! {54}

When the Union flag is flown, it should always be as we have drawn it in

Fig. 90, with the broad white stripe nearest to the head of the flagstaff.

It would be quite possible, our readers will see, on a little study of the

matter, to turn it with the red stripe uppermost; but this, as we have

indicated, is incorrect; and, trivial as the matter may appear, there is a

right and a wrong in it, and the point must not be overlooked.

Many suggestions at the time of the Union were made by divers writers in

the public prints, such as the _Gentleman's Magazine_, and the like. One

version preserved the flag of the first Union, Fig. 73, but placed in the

centre a large green circle having within it the golden harp of the Emerald

Isle; but this is objectionable, as it brings green on red, which is

heraldically false, and as Ireland has a cross as well as England and

Scotland, it seems more reasonable to keep the whole arrangement in

harmony. Another version, and by no means a bad one, is shown in Fig. 89,

where each cross is distinct from the two others. This appeared in the

_Gentleman's Magazine_ for March 20th, 1803, and, like all the other

suggestions, good, bad, and indifferent, suffered from the fatal objection

that it saw the light when the whole matter was already settled and any

alteration scarcely possible.

In view of the changes from the simple Cross of St. George to its union

later on with that of St. Andrew, and later on still the union of both with

that of St. Patrick, it is sufficiently evident that Campbell's stirring

appeal to the mariners of England to defend the flag that for a thousand

years has braved the battle and the breeze, however excellent in spirit,

does not fit in with the literal facts, though we would not willingly

change it for such a version as

Ye mariners of England,

That guard our native seas:

Whose flag has braved since eighteen-one,

The battle and the breeze.

The "Queen's Regulations" are very precise as to the hoisting of the flag

at the various home and foreign stations and fortresses. Some few of these

have the Royal Standard for use on Royal Anniversaries and State occasions

only, and these flags are issued in two sizes--either twenty-four by twelve

feet, or twelve by six feet--according to the importance of the position;

thus Dover, Plymouth, and the Tower of London, for example, have the larger

size. In like manner the Union Flag is of two sizes: twelve by six feet, or

six by three feet. These flags at the various stations are either hoisted

on anniversaries only, or on Sundays in addition, or else daily; thus

Dover, besides its Standard, has a Union flag, twelve by six, for special

occasions, and another, six by three, {55} which is hoisted daily. Our

foreign stations, Bermuda, Cape of Good Hope, Cyprus, Gibraltar, Hong Kong,

Halifax, St. Helena, and so forth, are all equally rigidly provided for in

Regulations. There is no option anywhere in the matter. A particular

fortress has to fly a particular flag of a particular size on a particular

day.

The white ensign, Fig. 95, is the distinguishing flag of the Royal Navy. It

is hoisted at the peak of all vessels in commission, or in such other

conspicuous position of honour as their rig or (as in the case of some

ironclads) absence of rig will permit. It is a large white flag, having

upon it the Cross of St. George, the portion of the flag nearest the

mast-head being occupied by the Union.[41]

Until 1864 the Royal Navy was divided into the white, the blue, and the red

squadrons, distinguished by the flags shown in Figs. 95, 96, and 97, but

this arrangement, though it had lasted for over two hundred years,[42] was

found to have many inconveniences. It was very puzzling to foreigners, and

it was necessary that each vessel should have three sets of colours, so as

to be able to hoist the orthodox flag for the squadron in which, for the

time being, it might be placed. It was also a difficulty that peaceful

merchantmen were carrying a red ensign, Fig. 97, exactly similar to the war

flag of the vessels of the red squadron. It was inconvenient in action,

too; hence, Nelson at Trafalgar ordered the whole of his fleet to hoist the

white ensign. An Order of Council, dated October 18th, 1864, put an end to

this use of differing flags, declaring that henceforth the white ensign

alone should be the flag of the Royal Navy. In the old days the red was the

highest, the white the intermediate, and the blue the third in rank and

dignity.

Her Majesty's ships, when at anchor in home ports and roads, hoist their

colours at 8 o'clock in the morning from March 25th to September 20th, and

the rest of the year an hour later; and on foreign stations, at either of

these hours as the commanding officer shall direct; and either abroad or at

home they remain flying throughout the day until sunset.[43] When at sea,

on passing, meeting, {56} joining or parting from any other of Her

Majesty's ships or on falling in with any other ship the flag is hoisted,

and also when in sight of land, and especially when passing any fort,

battery, lighthouse, or town.

When salutes are fired on the occasion of a foreign national festival, such

as the birthday of the sovereign, the flag of the nation in question is

hoisted at the main during the salute and for such further time as the war

ships of such nation are be-flagged, but if none are present, then their

flag remains up till sunset. Should a British war vessel arrive at any

foreign fortified port, the flag of the foreign nation is hoisted at the

main during the exchange of salutes.

It is a rank offence for any vessel to fly any ensign or pendant similar to

those used in the Royal Navy. It will at once be boarded by any officer of

Her Majesty's Service, the offending colours seized, and the vessel

reported. The penalty for the offence is a very heavy one.

The admiral has as a flag the white flag with the Cross of St. George

thereon, Fig. 91, and this must be displayed at the main top-gallant

mast-head, since both the vice and rear-admirals are entitled to fly a

similar flag, but the former of these displays his from the fore, and the

latter from the mizen top-gallant mast-head; it being not the flag alone

but the position of it that is distinctive of rank. The commodore's broad

pendant is a very similar flag, but it tapers slightly, and is

swallow-tailed.

The "Naval Discipline Act," better known as "The Articles of War,"

commences with the true and noble words--"It is on the Navy, under the Good

Providence of God, that our Wealth, Prosperity, and Peace depend," and we

may trust that the glorious traditions of this great service may be

maintained to the full as effectually under the White Ensign as in any

former period for the defence of

"This royal throne of kings, this scepter'd isle,

This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,

This other Eden, demi-paradise;

This fortress built by nature for herself,

Against infection, and the hand of war;

This happy breed of men, this little world;

This precious stone set in the silver sea,

Which serves it in the office of a wall,

Or as a moat defensive to a house,

Against the envy of less happier lands;

This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England."

The blue ensign, Fig. 96, is the flag of the Royal Naval Reserve, and may

be flown by any merchant vessels that comply with the {57} Admiralty

conditions respecting that service. Such vessels must be commanded by

officers of the Reserve, and at least one-third of their crew must belong

to it: they then, the structural conditions being satisfactory, receive a

Government subvention and an Admiralty Warrant to fly the blue ensign.

Officers commanding Her Majesty's ships, meeting with ships carrying the

blue ensign, are authorised to go on board them at any convenient

opportunity and see that these conditions are strictly carried out,

provided that they are of superior rank to the officers of the Royal Naval

Reserve. The men of the Reserve receive an annual retainer and drill pay.

The number of men in the Reserve, at the time we write these lines, is

10,600 in the first class and 10,800 in the second. The first class Reserve

is composed of the men on the long voyage ships, the second being the

fishermen and coasting crews. In addition to this there are some 3,000

engineers and stokers, and some 1,500 or so of officers, all equally

prepared to rally to the pennant and to take their place in the national

defence.

This utilisation of the faster vessels of the Mercantile Marine as cruisers

in war time has seriously engaged the attention of the Admiralty. The

Government gives an annual subsidy, and then claims the right to the vessel

at a fixed charge in case of emergency. Such vessels would be of immense

service in time of war in many ways: for scouting, for transporting troops,

and for engaging such of the enemy as she felt fairly a match for. When,

some few years ago, it seemed as though war with Russia was imminent, the

_Massilia_ and the _Rosetta_ of the Peninsula and Oriental Company's fleet

were put in commission by telegraph at Sydney and Hong Kong respectively.

These vessels were provided at once with warlike stores, and were at gun

practice off the ports referred to a few hours after the receipt of

instructions, and ready to go anywhere. This Company, during the Crimean

War, carried over sixty thousand men to the scene of operations, and during

the Indian Mutiny, the war in the Soudan, and all other possible occasions,

has rendered the greatest aid to the State. The _Teutonic_ and the

_Majestic_, of the White Star Line, each carry twelve Armstrong guns, and

could either of them land two thousand infantry at Halifax in five days, or

at Bombay in fourteen days, or at Hong Kong in twenty-one; and many other

armed cruisers of the Mercantile Marine, that we need not stay to

particularise, could do as much, and as effectively, flying the Blue Ensign

as worthily as those we have named.

"Little England! Great in story!

Mother of immortal men!

Great in courage! Great in glory!

Dear to Freedom's tongue and pen!

{58}

If the world combine to brave thee,

English hearts will dare the fight,

English hands will glow to save thee,

Strong for England and the right!"[44]

The Red Ensign, represented in Fig. 97, is the special flag of the ordinary

merchantman. "The Red Ensign"--lays down the "Merchant Shipping (Colours)

Act"--"usually worn by merchant ships, without any defacement or

modification whatsoever, is hereby declared to be the proper national

colour of all ships and boats belonging to any subject of Her Majesty,

except in the case of Her Majesty's ships or boats, or in the case of any

other ship or boat for the time being allowed to wear any other national

colours, in pursuant of a Warrant from Her Majesty or from the Admiralty."

This Act goes on to say that any ship belonging to any subject of the Queen

shall, on a signal being made to her by one of Her Majesty's ships, or on

entering or leaving any foreign port, hoist the red ensign, and if of fifty

tons gross tonnage or upwards, on entering or leaving any British port

also, or incur a penalty not exceeding one hundred pounds. A merchantman

may also fly the Union Jack from the bowsprit, but if so the flag, as in

Fig. 104, must have a broad white border.

The earliest form of red ensign is seen in Fig. 66. In a picture at Hampton

Court, representing the embarkation of William of Orange for England, in

the year 1688, his ship is shown as wearing two flags, one a red one with

St. George's Cross in the canton, as in Fig. 66, while the other, also red,

has the Union Flag in the canton. We get, therefore, a regular sequence of

red ensigns: that with St. George's Cross alone in the corner next the

masthead; that with the Union of St. George and St. Andrew--this picture at

Hampton Court being the earliest example known of its use; and, thirdly,

that of to-day with the crosses of St. George, St. Andrew, and St. Patrick.

Some little degree of flag-lore is valuable not only to the soldier, the

seaman, or the traveller, but to everyone. For want of this knowledge,

ludicrous and serious mistakes are often made. Discussing these matters

with a man of good general knowledge, we found that he had a notion that

there were two kinds of "Union Jack," one, that had most red in it, being

the Army flag; while the other, in which blue preponderated, was the flag

of the Navy! Outside a large provincial theatre we saw a conspicuous notice

indicating that the piece then running was entitled "The Old Flag." To

emphasise this was a picture of a square of British linesmen surrounded by

{59} Zulus, while in the centre of the square rose the Royal Standard! As a

set-off to this we saw, not far off, a public house called the "Royal

Standard," flying from its roof the white Ensign! A friend of ours brought

home for his son a really capital toy model of an ironclad, with turrets,

ram, fighting tops, etc., and yet flying the red ensign of the harmless

merchantman!

At a church we occasionally pass, the living being in the gift of the

Queen, the Royal Standard is hoisted on such Church festivals as Christmas

Day, while at other times, for no apparent reason, the white Ensign is

substituted--the special flag of the War Navy. Anyone venturing to point

out to the authorities thereof that, as the old church could scarcely take

up its position as a unit in our fighting fleet--having, in fact, quite

another mission in the world--the special flag of the Royal Navy was not

the most appropriate, would probably derive from the interview the

impression that, after all, to the churchwardens a flag was a flag, and

that it was quite possible to make a mountain out of a molehill.

To one who knows anything about it, the eruption of silk bunting, and baser

fabrics innumerable that comes to the fore on any occasion of national

rejoicing, is a thing of horror, not merely in the festal disfigurements of

the patchwork counterpane or cotton pockethandkerchief type, seeing that to

some people any coloured piece of stuff that will blow out in the wind is a

valid decoration, but in the painful ignorance shown in the treatment of

recognised ensigns. Some little time ago, for instance, we found ourselves

in a town gaily beflagged and radiant in bunting on the occasion of a great

popular rejoicing. The Royal Standard, betokening the presence in the house

of some member of the Royal Family, was flying with a profusion that made

it impossible to believe that all the people displaying it could be

entertaining such distinguished guests. As a set-off, others were decking

their houses with red flags, the symbols of revolution and bloodshed, or

with yellow ones, leaving us to infer that such houses were to be avoided

as nests of yellow fever or such-like deadly infection. The Stars and

Stripes of the United States were, in almost every case, upside down, as

indeed were many others; a thing that, except for the ignorance that was

its excuse, might be considered as an insult to the various Foreign Powers,

while the repeated reversal of the red ensign implied a signal of distress.

The good folks really meant no harm to anybody, and they were quite happy

to believe, as they strolled in their thousands up the leading streets of

the town, that their decorations were a great success. At the same time, a

little more knowledge would have done them no harm. As it is an insult to

hoist one national flag below another, it is a rigid law that in all

official decorations national flags may not be so placed, but {60}

enthusiastic and irresponsible burgesses, in the depth of their ignorance,

ignore all such considerations of international courtesy, and in the length

of a short street commit sufficient indiscretion to give umbrage to all

mankind. It may be said that

"Happiness too swiftly flies,

Thought would destroy their Paradise"--

that "he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow," that

"From ignorance our comfort flows,

The only wretched are the wise"--

but despite all this philosophy, that "where ignorance is bliss 'tis folly

to be wise," no one is the worse for knowing something about the matter

with which he is dealing; and if proverbial philosophy is to count for

anything in the matter, a not inappropriate moral may be quoted as to the

rushing in of fools where their betters feel a judicious modesty. The

confidence of knowledge is better than the confidence of ignorance, and

would certainly, in street flagging, produce a more satisfactory result.

We have in Plate VI. some few examples of these vagaries from sketches that

we made at the time. Fig. 45, if it had not got the Union in the canton,

would nearly be the Danish flag, Fig. 225, but the addition of the canton

makes it sheer foolishness. Fig. 46 is a good example of the notion that

anything will do if it be only bright enough: it is a mere piece of

patchwork, not by any means the only one in evidence. Figs. 47 and 50

explain themselves; it is evident that in one case the decorator started

with a white ensign and in the other with a blue one, and then, feeling

that they were a little small and insignificant looking, tacked on a goodly

amount of red material to bring them up to their notion of what would be

sufficiently conspicuous in size. Fig. 48 is very quaint: there is a notion

of the white ensign hovering about it, but the Royal Standard employed as a

canton in one quarter is outside all the proprieties, and in any case all

the arm of the cross that one would expect to see below the canton is

absorbed by it. The addition of the two red tails to the Royal Standard in

Fig. 49 is not by any means legitimate, while in Fig. 51 the Royal Standard

is made the canton of a red ensign, and, as if this were not bad enough in

itself, the whole thing is flown upside down. Many of the so-called flags

had no semblance to anything, some were strange and abnormal tricolors;

others, chequers: one, we remember, was deep crimson, with a broad

bordering round three of its edges of light blue. Whatever opportunity of

going wrong seemed to be at all feasible appeared to be eagerly seized by

some well-meaning burgess, so that the result was a perfect museum of

examples of how not to do it, and therefore of immense interest.

* * * * *

{61}