THE UNION JACK
BY REV. J. R. CRAWFORD
Orders in Council and other official documents refer to this flag as the
Union Flag, The Union Jack, Our Jack, The King's Colours, and the Union
Banner, which last title precise Heraldry usually adopts. In patriotic
songs it is toasted as "The Red, White, and Blue," whilst in the Services
men affectionately allude to it as "the dear old duster." But Britons at
large cling to the title which heads this chapter; to them it is "_The
Union Jack_."
_Why Union?_ Obviously because it unites three emblems of tutelar saints on
one flag, and thereby denotes the union of three peoples under one
Sovereign. It is the motto "_Tria juncta in Uno_" rendered in bunting.
_Why Jack?_ Two theories are propounded, one fanciful, the other probable.
Some say "Jack" is the anglicised form of "Jacques," which is the French
signature of James I., in whose reign and by whose command the first Union
Flag was called into being. Against this at least three reasons may justly
be urged: (1) The term "_Jack_" does not appear--so far as we can
discover--in any warrant referring to the Jacobean Flag of 1606. It is
rather in later documents that this term occurs. (2) If the earliest Union
Flag be a "_Jack_" just because it is the creation of James, then surely it
follows that, to be consistent, later Union Flags, the creations of later
sovereigns, should have borne those Sovereigns' names; for example _The
Union Anne_, _The Union George_! (3) The English way of pronouncing
"Jacques" is not, and probably never was _Jack_, but _Jaikes_. The other,
and more feasible theory, is as follows: The term "Jaque" (e.g. _jaque de
mailles_) was borrowed from the French and referred to any jacket or coat
on which, especially, heraldic emblems were blazoned. In days long prior to
those of the first Stuart king, mention is made of "WHYTTE COTES WITH RED
CROSSES WORN BY SHYPPESMEN AND MEN OF THE CETTE OF LONDON," from which
sentence we learn that the emblem of the nation's tutelar saint was (as in
yet earlier Crusaders' days) a _fighter's_ emblem. When such emblem or
emblems were transferred to a flag, {612} the term _Jaque_ may well, in
course of time, have been also applied to that flag, as previously to the
jacket.
Glance now at the story of those Orders in Council which created the
various Union flags. The very union of the two kingdoms of England and
Scotland seems to have accentuated the pettier national jealousies, so that
Southrons annoyed Northerners by hoisting the St. George above the St.
Andrew, and the Scotchmen retaliated by a species of _tu quoque_. The King
sought to allay these quarrels by creating a British, as other than a
purely English or Scottish, flag. But let the Proclamation speak for
itself.
"_By the King._
"_Whereas, some differences hath arisen between Our subjects of South
and North Britaine travelling by Seas, about the bearing of their
Flagges: For the avoiding of all contentions hereafter, Wee have, with
the advice of our Councill, ordered: That from henceforth all our
Subjects of this Isle and Kingdome of Great Britaine, and all our
members thereof, shall beare in their main-toppe the Red Crosse,
commonly called St. George's Crosse, and the White Crosse, commonly
called St. Andrew's Crosse, joyned together according to the forme made
by our heralds, and sent by Us to our Admerall to be published to our
Subjects: and in their fore-toppe our Subjects of South Britaine shall
weare the Red Crosse onely as they were wont, and our Subjects of North
Britaine in their fore-toppe the White Crosse onely as they were
accustomed._"--1606.
This attempt at conciliating differences deserved but did not win success.
"_The King's Owne Shipps_" deemed themselves slighted, since all vessels
were treated alike in this matter, and so persistent was the agitation that
at last, in Charles I.'s reign (1634), another Proclamation was issued
"_for the honour of Oure Shipps in Oure Navie Royall_," whereby those ships
alone had the right of hoisting "_the Union Flagge_." The days of the
Commonwealth brought another change, for with the King the King's Flag
disappeared. The Protector caused two new flags to be made, viz. _The Great
Union_ (a flag little used, however, although it figured at his funeral
obsequies), and which may be thus blazoned: _Quarterly 1 and 4, The St.
George_; 2. _The St. Andrew_; 3. _azure, a harp or, for Ireland; over all
on an inescutcheon of pretence, sable, a lion rampant or_, for the
Protector's personal arms, and _The Commonwealth Ensign_, which latter
Parliament treated as the paramount flag. The most interesting features of
this flag are that it was of three kinds, one red, one white, one blue, and
that Ireland but not Scotland had a place on its folds. When the King came
to {613} his own again yet another change was witnessed. By this
Proclamation ships in the Navy were to carry _The Union_, and all
merchantmen _The St. George_, whilst these latter vessels were also to wear
"_The Red Ensign with the St. George, on a Canton_." Passing on, we reach
the days of Queen Anne, who as soon as the union of the two Parliaments was
accomplished, issued a famous Proclamation often quoted. Suffice it here to
outline its effect.
PLATE IX.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: FIG. 775.]
The two crosses of _St. George_ and _St. Andrew_ were--as the Treaty of
Union had agreed should be--"_conjoyned in such a manner as we should think
fit_"; and what that manner was is "_described on the margent_" in the
shape of a sketch. But further, in place of the _St. George_ being placed
on the canton of the _Red Ensign_ of Charles II. (itself the _Commonwealth
Ensign, minus_ the harp) the Proclamation ordered the "_Union_" as a
canton, and finally this new Red Ensign was confined to the merchant ships,
whilst "_Our Jack_" was reserved for the use of the Navy, unless by
particular warrant. Thus things continued until the union of Ireland with
England and Scotland. The Proclamation referring to this Act of Union
closes with the Herald's verbal blazon of the full Union Flag:--"_The Union
Flag shall be Azure, the Crosses Saltire of St. Andrew and St. Patrick,
Quarterly per saltire, countercharged Argent and Gules, the latter
fimbriated of the second, surmounted by the Cross of St. George of the
third, fimbriated as the Saltire._" Thus the Union, as displayed in
bunting, was perfected.
Our _Union Flag_ is very remarkable, even amongst the flags of Christendom,
both as a blending of crosses, and crosses only, and also as an emblem of
the union of two or more countries. Yet it is not unique, for the flags of
Denmark, Sweden, and Norway have a somewhat similar story to tell. The last
two countries separated at {614} different dates from Denmark, and then
together formed a United Scandinavian Kingdom. In separating, they each
took to themselves a separate flag, and again, in uniting, they called into
being a Union Banner. How they treated these changes Fig. 775 will
illustrate. Notwithstanding these acts of union both Scandinavians and
Britons have had, and we still have, differences over these Union Flags.
Whilst, however, they based their protests on the sentiment of
independence, we ground our grumblings on questions of heraldic precedence,
and of the interpretation of verbal blazons. Leaving our neighbours to
settle their differences, let us examine our own. Take the subject of
precedence. Very early in the flag's history, Scotsmen were indignant
because the St. Andrew was not placed over the St. George. All kinds of
variations have been suggested to lessen this crux of precedence, but such
attempts must plainly be in vain. Do what you will, some kind of precedence
is unavoidable. The _St. George_, then, as representing the paramount
partner, occupies the centre of the flag, whilst the _St. Andrew_, as
senior in partnership to the _St. Patrick_, is placed _above the St.
Patrick, in the first quarter_, although throughout it is counterchanged.
The words in italic are important, for when the order is reversed, then
that particular flag is flying upside down.
[Illustration: FIG. 776.--The Union Flag of 1707.]
The mode of procedure in creating flags has been much the same from one
reign to another. Briefly it is this: The Sovereign seeks the advice of,
and receives a report from, the Lords of the Privy Council. These
councillors are "_attended by the King of Arms and Heralds, with diverse
drafts prepared by them_." A decision being arrived at, an Order in
Council, followed by a Royal Proclamation, makes known the character of the
flag. In both Order and Proclamation it is usual to make reference to the
verbal blazon, and to "_the form made by our heralds_." Thus there are
three agents recognised--(1) the Sovereign, the fountain of all honours;
(2) the heralds, who authoritatively blazon, outline, and register all
achievements; and (3) the naval authority, as that in which are vested the
duty and the power of seeing the actual bunting properly made up and
properly flown. {615}
[Illustration: FIG. 777.--The Union Flag of 1801.]
In keeping with this, the general mode of procedure, the Proclamations
demand our attention. The Proclamation of James (1606). A high official of
the College of Arms informs us that neither verbal blazon nor drawing of
the first Union Flag is extant. On the other hand, in the Proclamations of
1707 and 1801 we have both blazon and drawing. The blazon has already been
given of the 1801 flag (which is the one most needing a verbal blazon), and
the drawings of both flags we here produce (Figs. 776 and 777). These
drawings--though slightly reduced in these pages--are most careful copies
of the _signed_ copies supplied to us by the official already alluded to.
In forwarding them he writes: "_They are not drawn to scale_;" and he adds,
further on, "_they are exactly the same size as recorded in our books_." So
then we have, in these two drawings, the heralds' interpretation, _at the
time_, of their own verbal blazon. Now comes the Admiralty part of the
work. In the Admiralty Regulations we have a "_Memorandum relative to the
origin of the Union Flag in its present form_." In this there is a brief
history of the changes made in the flag from time to time, with quotations
from the warrants, together with the verbal blazon AND two coloured
drawings (Figs. 778 and 779). The Admiralty has also appended to the
Memorandum the following interesting and ingeniously worked out _Table of
Proportions, adapted for a flag 15 feet by 7½ feet_. Presumably this table
forms the basis upon which all Union Flags are made up under Admiralty
supervision:--
ft. in.
The + of { St. George 1/5 } together 1/3 { 1 6 } 1/3
{ Two borders 1/15 each 2/15 } { 1 0 }
{ St. Patrick 1/15 } together 1/10 { 0 6 }
The × of { Its border 1/30 } { 0 3 } 1/5
{ St. Andrew 1/10 0 9 }
[Illustration: FIG. 778.--Admiralty Pattern of 1707 Flag.]
[Illustration: FIG. 779.--Admiralty Pattern of 1801 Flag.]
The student of heraldry will observe that this table is based on the
proportions of the Ordinaries and Sub-Ordinaries figuring on the flag, as
those proportions are regulated by English Rules of Armory. These rules
give a cross as 1/3, a saltire as 1/5, a fimbriation about 1/20, of {616}
the flag's width. By the way, we notice here, yet only to dismiss it as
hypercritical, the objection taken to the employment (in the verbal blazon
of 1801) of the term "_fimbriated_." To our mind this objection seems a
storm in a teacup. Further, it is always admissible in armory to lessen the
size of charges when these crowd a field, and although we are fully aware
that the laws of armory are not always nor all of them applied to flags,
yet there is sufficient evidence to show that the heralds and the Admiralty
did recognise the cases of shields and flags to be somewhat analogous. But
there are two features in _The Admiralty pattern_ which cannot but arrest
the attention of all those who have made a study of armory. The one is that
the sub-ordinaries, _i.e._ the fimbriations, have different proportions
given to them, although they are repetitions of the same sub-ordinary, and
also seem guarded against such treatment by the very wording of the blazon,
and by the practice usual in such cases. And the other is that, after
counterchanging the saltires, the St. Patrick is attenuated by having its
fimbriation taken off its own field, instead (as the common custom is) off
the field of the flag.
All Warrants dealing with flags provide for their being flown _at sea_
(Queen Anne's Proclamation is apparently the first that adds "_and land_"),
and gradually reserve for the Royal Navy--or fighting ships--the honour of
alone bearing the Union Jack. The accompanying diagram shows at a glance
the changes made by the several Proclamations. The latest word on this
subject is "The Merchant Shipping (Colours) Act of Queen Victoria, 1894."
This Acts sets forth among other things that--(1) "_The red ensign usually
worn by merchant ships, without any defacement or modification whatsoever,
is hereby declared to be the proper national colours for all ships and
boats belonging to any British subject, 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 {617} pursuance of a warrant
from Her Majesty or from the Admiralty._ (2) _If any distinctive national
colours except such red ensign, or except the Union Jack with a white
border, or if any colours usually worn by Her Majesty's ships, &c. ... are
or is hoisted on board any ship ... without warrant ... for each offence
... a fine not exceeding five hundred pounds._" {618}