_The Union Flags and Jacks_
In the preceding sketch of the early history of the British flags we
have, so far as evidence is available, followed the steps by which the
red cross on a white ground came to represent the people of England,
and we have seen, though less clearly, how the white saltire on a blue
ground became the chosen flag of the Scottish nation. It now remains
to trace the process by which these two flags became united in one,
and finally, by the addition of a red saltire to represent Ireland,
developed into the present Union flag.
On the death of Queen Elizabeth in March, 1603, the succession to the
crown lay open.
There had been no repeal of the stipulation made by Henry VIII,
both in Act of Parliament and in his will, that after the death
without heirs of his three children, Edward, Mary and Elizabeth,
the crown should descend to the heirs of his younger sister,
Mary.... Consequently, the rightful heir when Elizabeth lay dying
was no scion of the Scottish House, but the eldest representative
of the Suffolk line--Princess Mary's great-grandson, Edward
Seymour, Lord Beauchamp. But Elizabeth's ministers were not the
slaves of legal niceties. The Queen's neutrality left their choice
unfettered; and though expectation of personal profit largely
moved them, their action proved politic. Lord Beauchamp was a
man of insignificant position and character; James VI, however
contemptible in many respects, had experience as a ruler, and
a contiguous kingdom to add to the endowments of the English
Crown[141].
[Illustration: PLATE IV Union Flag]
But the union of crowns brought about by Elizabeth's ministers with
the tacit approval of the two nations did not directly lead to
the union of peoples. The Parliaments remained separate; national
jealousies ran high, especially in England, and James was foiled in
his efforts to bring about the closer union he sought. Nevertheless,
he was determined[142] that the union of the two nations should have
some other outward expression than the change in the royal standard,
and in the beginning of the fourth year of his reign he issued a
proclamation in the following words:
A Proclamation declaring what Flags South and North Britains shall
bear at Sea.
Whereas some difference has arisen between our Subjects of South
and North Britain, Travelling by Sea, 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 Great 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[143]. And in their foretop Our Subjects of South Britain
shall wear the Red Cross only as they were wont, and our Subjects
of North Britain in their Foretop the White Cross only as they
were accustomed. Wherefore We will and command all our Subjects
to be conformable and obedient to this Our Order, and that from
henceforth they do not use to bear their flags in any other Sort,
as they will answer the contrary at their Peril.
Given at our Palace of Westminster the 12th.
day of April in the 4th. year of our Reign of
Great Britain France and Ireland Annoq.
Domini 1606.
Unfortunately the naval records of the early years of the seventeenth
century have almost entirely disappeared from the State archives; the
"State Papers" themselves are but fragmentary remains; and the English
Privy Council Registers from 1602 to 1613 were destroyed by the fire at
Whitehall in 1618, so that it is impossible to say what were the points
of contention referred to in the Proclamation.
The birth of the flag that is now the pride of so many millions was
indeed obscure. Intended at first for use only at sea, it appears to
have excited no attention except from those directly concerned with
shipping. The royal and merchant navies were alike dwindling away, and
the sea did not fill that place in the minds of James' subjects that it
had filled in the greater days of Elizabeth.
The only strictly contemporary evidence of the actual design chosen in
1606 is to be found in the following appeal from the shipmasters of
Scotland, whom it did not by any means please.
Edinburgh
7 Aug. 1606
Most sacred Soverayne. A greate nomber of the maisteris and awnaris
of the schippis of this your Majesteis kingdome hes verie havelie
compleint to your Majesteis Counsell that the form and patrone
of the flaggis of schippis, send doun heir and commandit to be
ressavit and used be the subjectis of boith kingdomes, is very
prejudiciall to the fredome and dignitie of this Estate and will
gif occasioun of reprotche to this natioun quhairevir the said
flage sal happin to be worne beyond sea becaus, as your sacred
Majestie may persave, the Scottis Croce, callit Sanctandrois
Croce is twyse divydit, and the Inglishe Croce, callit Sanct
George, haldin haill and drawne through the Scottis Croce,
whiche is thairby obscurit and no takin nor merk to be seene of
the Scottis Armes. This will breid some heit and miscontentment
betwix your Majesteis subjectis, and it is to be feirit that some
inconvenientis sall fall oute betwix thame, for oure seyfairing men
cannot be induceit to ressave that flag as it is set doun. They
haif drawne two new drauchtis and patronis as most indifferent for
boith kingdomes which they presented to the Counsell, and craved
our approbatioun of the same; bot we haif reserved that to your
Majesteis princelie determination,--as moir particularlie the Erll
of Mar, who wes present and hard thair complaynt, and to whome
we haif remittit the discourse and delyverie of that mater, will
inform your Majestie, and latt Your Heynes see the errour of the
first patrone and the indifferencie of the two new drauchtis. And
sua, most humelie beseiking your Majestie, as your Heynes has evir
had a speciall regaird of the honnour, fredome and libertie of
this your Heynes antient and native kingdome that it wuld pleis
your sacres Majestie in this particulair to gif unto your Heynes
subjectis some satisfactioun and contentment, we pray God to
blisse your sacred Majestie with a lang and prosperous reignne and
eternall felicitie[144].
There is nothing to show that this appeal met with any response, but
the Scots never took kindly to the new flag and rarely used it until
after the Legislative Union of 1707. Sir Edward Nicholas in 1634 was
doubtful "whether the Scots have used to carry that Flag of the Union."
It is unfortunate that these "drafts and patterns" have disappeared,
perhaps in the same fire that consumed the "form" made by the
heralds. There is no doubt about the main outline, but the absence
of precise detail has led several writers--purists in heraldic
matters--to contend that the white border of the red cross was simply
a narrow fimbriation[145]. I think, however, that examination of the
available evidence will show that this border did not originate as
a mere "fimbriation," that it was in fact part of the field of the
English flag, and that the new flag was, as described by Sir James
Balfour[146], "the flagis of St Andrew and St George interlaced," not
merely the red cross surmounting the Scots flag. Material proof that
it was so regarded sixty years later is in existence in Amsterdam in
the shape of actual flags captured during the Second and Third Dutch
Wars, and belonging therefore to the second half of the seventeenth
century. These show a very wide border to the red cross, and in two
instances[147] the red cross, the white border and the white saltire
are each of the same width.
The heralds had been faced by a dilemma. It was impossible to combine
the two flags so as to form a new one without giving precedence to one
of them. If quartered, the upper canton next the staff was the place
of honour, and both could not occupy it at the same time. In the reign
of James II this difficulty was solved, in the case of the Royal Arms,
by placing the Scots' Lion in the first quarter in the Great Seal of
Scotland. Possibly a similar solution was suggested by the Scottish
shipmasters. But there was a precedent for a closer union than this
quartered form, which no doubt the heralds had in mind. Elizabeth had
granted the Levant Company, by her charters of 1581 and 1592, the
right to wear as a flag "the Armes of England with the redde crosse in
white over the same[148]." We may be quite sure that in consenting to
such an arrangement Elizabeth had no thought of giving the national
flag precedence over the royal standard, but merely wished to signify
their intimate union and the extension of the royal protection to the
company. The method adopted in 1606 was exactly the same, the "red
cross in white" being placed over the Scots flag.
The quarterly arrangement of the crosses appears to have been used on
one occasion; the dispatch of a fleet in 1623 to bring back Prince
Charles and the Duke of Buckingham from Spain. Mr Serjeant Knight, in
a "discourse" on the St George's flag written in 1678 at the request
of Pepys[149], stated that he had in his possession the Order from the
Great Wardrobe directed to his father, Mr Thomas Knight, Arms Painter,
who was to paint the banners and streamers required for the Prince. The
principal flag was to be that shown in Plate V, fig. 1: "Imprimis in
ye Prince's ship wherein he goes, on ye top ye Crosses of St. Andrew
and St. George." Mr Knight assured Pepys that he could not be mistaken
about this "cobled Banner," as he scornfully called it, "ye severall
arms being trickt in ye margin of ye Order," and he proceeded to give
a sketch of it. Indeed, he was disposed to believe this to be the
original form of the Union flag:
having seen severall Flaggs with St. George and St. Andrew
quarterly and may every Lord Mayor's Day be seen born by some of ye
Companies Barges, these flags being made much about that time, all
men being willing to flatter their new king.
The evidence of the Privy Council Register of Scotland is, however,
sufficient to prove that this inference was incorrect.
The documents of 1606 do not give any name to the flag they describe.
It appears first to have been called the "Britain" or "British"
flag[150], and I have not found the name "Union" earlier than 1625,
when it appears in the list of the flags and banners used at the
funeral of James I[151]. Three years later it appears in the Sailing
Instructions of the Earl of Lindsey[152], but the older name still
persisted at sea and is found in inventories of stores and in sailing
and fighting instructions until 1639[153].
Hitherto this "British" or "Union" flag had, like the old English
flag of St George, been flown equally by merchantman and man-of-war,
strangers being expected to distinguish the latter by their more
warlike appearance.
[Illustration: PLATE V Union Flags and Jacks]
Towards the year 1633, however, the old question of the salute in the
Narrow Seas was becoming more and more acute, "because," in the words
of Sir Wm Monson, "both the French and Hollanders seek to usurp upon
his Majesties right[154]." Sir John Pennington, the "Admiral of the
Narrow Seas," seized on this as an excuse to advocate a difference in
the flags of the king's and the merchants' ships. In a letter dated
7th April, 1634, asking for instructions on various points relative to
his duties as Admiral of the Narrow Seas he writes:
For alteringe of the Coulers whereby his Ma^{ts} owne Shippes may
be knowne from his Subiects I leave to yo^r Lo^{pps} more deepe
consideration. But under correction I conceive it to bee very
materyall and much for his Ma^{ts} Hono^r, and besides will free
disputes with Strangers, for when they omitt doinge their Respectes
to his Ma^{ts} Shippes till they bee shott at they alleadge they
did not know it to be the kinges Shippe[155].
The plea that the existing arrangement caused confusion in the minds
of foreigners was quite justified, but it is probable that there was
a deeper underlying cause, jealousy of the mercantile marine. Be
this as it may, Pennington's suggestion was favourably received, and
the approval of the king was obtained to the issue of the following
Proclamation:
A Proclamation appointing the Flags, as well for our Navie Royall
as for the Ships of our Subjects of South and North Britaine.
Wee taking into Our Royall consideration that it is meete for the
Honour of Our owne Ships in Our Navie Royall and of such other
Ships as are or shall be employed in Our immediate Service, that
the same bee by their Flags distinguished from the ships of any
other of Our Subjects, doe hereby straitly prohibite and forbid
that none of Our Subjects, of any of Our Nations and Kingdomes,
shall from hencefoorth presume to carry the Union Flagge in the
Maine toppe, or other part of any of their Ships (that is) S.
Georges Crosse and S. Andrews Crosse joyned together upon paine
of Our high displeasure, but that the same Union Flagge bee still
reserved as an ornament proper for Our owne Ships and Ships in Our
immediate Service and Pay, and none other.
And likewise Our further will and pleasure is, that all the other
Ships of Our Subjects of England or South Britaine bearing flags
shall from hencefoorth carry the Red-Crosse, commonly called S.
George his Crosse, as of olde time hath beene used; And also that
all the other ships of Our Subjects of Scotland or North Britaine
shall from hencefoorth carry the White Crosse commonly called S.
Andrews Crosse, Whereby the severall Shipping may thereby bee
distinguished and We thereby the better discerne the number and
goodnesse of the same. Wherefore Wee will and straitly command all
Our Subjects foorthwith to bee conformable and obedient to this Our
Order, as they will answer the contrary at their perills.
Given at Our Court at Greenwich this fifth
day of May in the tenth yeere of Our Reigne
of England Scotland France and Ireland, Defender
of the Faith &c.
The ostensible reason for this distinction in flags--to enable the
"number and goodnesse" of the ships of the two nations to be more
readily discerned--is obviously an afterthought[156]; a sugar coating
to the pill. The customs officers of the various ports could, of
course, have provided any information desired relative to the shipping,
and were not dependent on the flags for their knowledge of the ships'
nationalities. The point is of some interest as it marks a distinct
step in the exaltation of the Navy Royal and its officers into a
position of superiority over the mercantile marine.
It will also be observed that the proclamation of 1634 does not require
the flags to be hoisted at the masthead as did that of 1606. Probably
this was no accidental omission but was the outcome of the general
introduction of the "Jack" on the bowsprit a year or two before.
Flags had no doubt been occasionally carried on the bowsprit from the
time when that spar was first invented, but the practice had been
exceptional, at any rate in the English navy. An early instance was
depicted in a contemporary picture in Cowdray Castle, since destroyed
by fire, which represented "the encampment of the English forces near
Portsmouth, together with a view of the English and French fleets at
the commencement of the action between them on the 19th of July, 1545."
In this picture, which fortunately was reproduced in an engraving by
the Society of Antiquaries in 1780, the Lord Admiral's ship, the 'Henri
Grace à Dieu,' was seen flying a royal standard on the bowsprit. Drake,
also, had flown a striped flag in this position in that last voyage
which ended for him in his death at sea in January, 1596[157]. Yet when
Captain Young submitted his "Noates for Sea Service" to the Earl of
Essex[158] he wrote as though the idea were unusual:
and that the cullers maye bee the better knowne from those of
the enemies and yf they chance to have the like it shalbe then
convenient that upon o^r misson flagge-staves or th ende of o^r
bowlesprits and that theare bee but a smawle litle flagge with a
red Crosse yt being but a litle bigger than a vaine of a great
Catche[159].
As remarked by Admiral Sir Massie Blomfield[160], this "jack" is not
shown in the "illustrations of the flagships of the Expedition of 1596
reproduced in the 'Naval Miscellany,'[161]" so that the suggestion was
probably not received with favour.
There is no mention of, or provision for, "jacks" in the inventories
which accompanied the report of the committee that inquired into the
state of the navy in 1618. Sir Julian Corbett has pointed out[162]
that the earliest instance of the use of the word "jack" to denote a
flag occurs in the orders issued by Sir John Pennington to one of his
captains on 3rd July, 1633. The original has not survived, but the
copy[163] is in a contemporary hand and is corroborated by Pennington's
Journal, now among the MSS. of Lord Muncaster.
In the summers of the years 1631, 1633 and 1634 Pennington was in
command of a small squadron as Admiral of the Narrow Seas, charged
especially with the duty of freeing the coast from pirates. He tells us
in his journal[164], under the above date (3rd July, 1633):
In the morninge it blew very hard at SW by W. Aboute noone we
weyed--leavinge the 8th Whelpe in Catt Water and stoode of to sea
with the rest of our Fleete, knowinge it to bee a very hard matter
for any small vessels to keepe the sea in such fowle weather, and
the likelyest place for them to shelter in with these winds was
Torbaye, for which place we stoode, causinge the 10th Whelpe to
goe a head of us and close aboard the shore, with her coullers and
ordynance in, that shee might not bee suspected to bee one of our
Fleete, the better to intrap any Pyrates.
The order, which is dated the same day on board the 'Vanguard,'
Pennington's flagship, is evidently the one given to the 10th
Whelp[165]. It contains instructions as to rendezvous in case the ships
lost company, and continues as follows:
you are to looke out carefully for these pirates night and day;
that if it be possible wee maie intrapp them. You are alsoe for
this present service to keepe in yo^r Jack at yo^r Boultsprit end
and yo^r Pendant and yo^r Ordinance[166].
The fact that the position of the "Jack" is defined in this order tends
to show that the term had not yet become common, and this is fully
confirmed by a passage added by Sir Nathaniel Boteler to one[167]
of the manuscript copies of his well-known _Six Dialogues about Sea
Services_, written about the year 1634.
Boteler, who last served at sea in the Ile de Ré Expedition of 1627,
says:
but of late ther hathe bin invented an order that none of our
Englishe shypps should be allowed to carry the king's flagge (that
is the English Crosse quartered[168] w^h the Scottish, and called
the Brittish flagge or Colours) save only such shyps as are either
of his Ma^{ties} owne or serve under his paye, and every such
vessel, though but a Catche, is permitted and enjoined to weare one
of thes in a smale volume in her Boltsprites Topp. And the flaggs
thus worne are tearmed Jacks.
The "Order" referred to is evidently the Proclamation of 1634,
which, as already remarked, was the outcome of Pennington's request
for instructions. It seems highly probable that it is to the same
outstanding personality[169] that we owe the institution of the "Jack"
on the bowsprit.
From 1634 until the death of Charles I the royal ships continued to
be distinguished from the merchant ships by this difference in their
flags, although, as a distinct favour, merchant ships were, in a few
special cases, granted permission to carry the Union flag.
The execution of Charles I on 30th January, 1649, dissolved the
dynastic union between England and Scotland. The two nations, which
only a few years before had been united in a "Solemn League and
Covenant" against Charles, had been gradually drifting apart, and
on the proclamation by the Scots of Charles' son as king the two
governments fell into open enmity. In these circumstances the Union
flag had become meaningless. On the 22nd of February the Parliament
decreed that the "Admiralty" should be settled in the Council of
State[170], and the "Navy Committee," that is, the Committee of the
Council, who were managing those affairs of the navy that had formerly
been within the jurisdiction of the "Principal Officers of the Navy,"
immediately applied to the Council to know what they were to do about
flags.
This Committee taking notice of the arms y^t are engraven upon ye
sternes of ye shipps belonging to ye Comonwealth & intended for
this Summers fleet doe think fit to inform the Com^{tee} of State
therewith that so directions may be given what arms shalbe placed
in their steed & likewise what characters shalbe given to the
flaggs that are to be worne in this service[171].
The Council of State promptly decided "That the Ships at Sea in service
of the State shall onely beare the red Crosse in a white flag[172],"
thus bringing the navy back to the old English flag and once more
into line with the merchant shipping. The royal arms were ordered to
be removed from the sterns and replaced by "the Armes of England and
Ireland in two Scutcheons[173]."
Two days later the Generals at Sea were informed, in answer to a
further inquiry, that if Scots ships were found "bearing either the red
cross or the Armes heretofore called the King's Armes" they were to
admonish them to "forbeare the carrying of them for the future[174]."
It is probable that the order of 22nd Feb. was not altogether welcome
to the navy officers, for on 5th March, only a few days after the above
order had been issued, the Council of State decided upon a new union
flag for naval use. The union now to be symbolised was that of England
and Ireland. Although Ireland had been more or less under the rule of
the kings of England from the time of Henry II, it was not until the
accession of James I in 1603 that she had found recognition in the
royal standard, and it remained for the Commonwealth to give her due
recognition in the national flag. The entry in the Council Minute Book
runs: "That the fflagg that is to be borne by the Admirall be that
now presented, viz: the Armes of England and Ireland in two severall
Escotchons in a red flagg w^{th} in a Compartiment (or)[175]."
At the same time two other variants of this design were introduced, a
standard and a jack. The order for these cannot be found, but they are
referred to in the following letter to the Committee of the Navy signed
by Deane and Blake (two of the Generals at Sea[176]) and dated 21st
April, 1649:
Gentlemen
Touching the flaggs &c. It seems strange you referre the
proportions to bee ascertained by us, yo^rselves knowing best the
former allowaunces, which wee suppose are alike in number in every
expedition, but since the Issue depends on o^r resolution wee
think needfull that you make up what you have allready sent, for
o^rselves three Standards, o^r viceadm^{ll} and Rereadm^{ll} with
the Adm^{ll} Viceadm^{ll} & Rereadm^{ll} of Ireland three flaggs
apiece, with two Jackes for every Shipp in the ffleet. ffor the
Ensignes and pendants you best know how many are wanting, which
(whatsoever they are) with the flaggs &c. we desire may bee noe
longer delayed[177].
In the standard, intended to replace the royal standard, and to be used
by the Generals at Sea, the yellow "compartment" was omitted and the
two escutcheons were surrounded by green branches of laurel and bay.
Fortunately, an actual specimen[178] has survived of this interesting
flag, which was destined to wave over Blake's ship at the heroic battle
of Santa Cruz and to see the rise of the English navy to an eminence
unequalled even in the days of Elizabeth.
The jack contained only the cross and harp on their white and blue
fields, corresponding with the centre part of the Admirals' flags.
It is to be seen in several pictures of battles of the First Dutch
War[179]. Apparently this jack was also used by ships having letters of
marque; "privateers" as we should now call them. In December, 1652, the
captain of a small frigate, called the 'Helena,' fought with two armed
ships from Brest, "putting out the Parliament Jack on the bowsprit
end and the English ensign on the poop, the enemy having hung out the
disunion flag or late King's colours[180]."
Early in 1653 the junior Admiral's flag with the red border and yellow
compartment seems to have been abandoned, and a flag like the jack,
with the harp and cross only, substituted for it[181], probably because
the red border would cause confusion when flown in the white and blue
squadrons.
Scotland was formally re-united to England by an Ordinance of the
Commonwealth Parliament dated 12th April, 1654, and the cross of St
Andrew was ordered to be brought once more into conjunction with that
of St George:
And that this Union may take its more full effect and intent Be
it further ordained by the Authority aforesaid That the Arms
of Scotland viz: a Cross commonly called Saint Andrews Cross
be received into and borne from henceforth in the Arms of this
Commonwealth as a Badge of this Union.
In the new great seal which was prepared in 1655 the St Andrew's cross
was quartered with St George's cross and the Irish harp, but it was not
at once introduced into the naval flags, although placed on the obverse
of naval medals struck in 1654.
The cross of St Andrew was re-introduced into the naval flags by the
following order of the Council of State dated 18th May, 1658[182]:
That the Standard for the Generall of his Highness ffleete be
altered, and doe beare the Armes of England, Scotland, and Ireland,
with his Highness Escutcheon of pretence, according to the
impression of the Great Seale of England; and that the Jack fflaggs
for the fflagg officers of the ffleete and for the severall Shipps
of Warre of his Highness be the Armes of England and Scotland
united, according to the auncient forme, With the addition of the
Harpe, according to a Modell now showd; and that the Com^{rs} of
the Adm^{ty} and Navy to take order That the standard and Jacke
fflaggs be prepared accordingly.
In the standard the two crosses and the harp were borne "quarterly"
surmounted by an inescutcheon (sable, a lion rampant argent), the
personal arms of Cromwell[183], but in the other Admirals' flags and
the jack the crosses were superposed, as in the Union flag of 1606,
with the addition of a harp in the centre. The "model" has disappeared,
like all its predecessors, and nothing remains to show for certain
whether this harp was placed in a blue escutcheon as in the earlier
Commonwealth flags or not, but since a request was received from
Chatham in the following November for 200 yards of blue bewper "for
ye altering of all y^e fflaggs and Jacks here y^t are of y^e former
fashion into y^e new forme[184]" it seems on the whole probable that
the harp was in an escutcheon with a blue field.
This return towards the flag of 1606, prophetic of the coming
restoration, lasted for a few months only. In September Cromwell died,
and his son, the shadow of a great name, after being tolerated as a
mere figurehead for a few months, was in the following May forced
to abdicate. The remnant of the Long Parliament, which had just
re-assembled, passed an "Act for the Great Seal of England" which
restored the seal of 1651 with its map of England and Ireland and
shields with the St George's cross and the Irish harp. The cross of
Scotland vanished and the Commonwealth "Cross and Harp" jack supplanted
Cromwell's Union Jack.
In March, 1660, the Navy Commissioners were told to furnish General
Mountagu, then in command of the Fleet[185], "with Standards for the
Naseby suitable to the Jacks now worne in the ffleete[186]." This was
the standard which Mountagu was flying when ordered to cross to the
Hague and bring back the king.
On 1st May, 1660, the newly assembled Houses of Parliament passed a
joint vote for the restoration of the ancient government, and a few
days later, before Charles was publicly proclaimed, the Commissioners
of the Admiralty and Navy, at the instance of the Council of State,
issued the following order to their subordinate Board:
In pursuance of an order of the Councell of State of the 5th of
this instant May It is ordered that it be referred to the Com^{rs}
for the Navy forthwith to take care that such Standards, fflags
and Jacke Colours for the ffleete be forthwith prepared as were
in use before 1648 and that they be sent downe with all speed to
Generall Mountagu as alsoe that Carvers and Painters be appointed
to goe down for the altering of the Carved workes according to such
directions as they shall receive from Com^r Pett, who is ordered
by ye Councell forthw^{th} to goe to ye Generall. And the said
Com^{rs} are to give order for the sending downe to the Generall
One silke Standard and one silke Ensigne and Jacke and such other
silke fflags as may compleate a suite for the Naseby[187].
Instructions to this effect must have reached the fleet before it left
England, but the flag-makers had evidently not had sufficient time to
prepare the new royal standard, for on the 13th May, on the way over,
(so Pepys, then secretary to Mountagu, tells us[188])
the tailors and painters were at work cutting out some pieces of
yellow cloth into the fashion of a crown and C.R. and put it upon a
fine sheet and that into the flag instead of the State's arms[189]
which after dinner was finished and set up.... In the afternoon a
Council of War only to acquaint them that the Harp must be taken
out of all their flags, it being very offensive to the King.
The Union flag, like the Government, now reverted to its original form,
but the right to fly it remained the special prerogative of the State's
ships, a prerogative much sought after by merchant ships, and often
assumed by them without warrant. For the next half century a long-drawn
struggle was waged by the merchant shipping for the possession of this
right. It begins with a special instruction sent by the Lord High
Admiral, James Duke of York, to the Corporation of Trinity House on 9th
March, 1661:
I desire you will give notice unto all Commanders and Masters of
Shipping belonging to the Subjects of the King, my Sovereign Lord
and Brother, that from henceforward they forbear to wear the Flag
of Union; and also acquaint them, that such as presume to wear the
said Flag contrary hereunto, the King's Ships will have orders to
take it from them[190].
The Trinity House issued orders to this effect, but although the
prohibition had been stiffened with a threat that the flag would be
taken by force from those displaying it, the notices seem to have had
so little effect that, on 19th Nov., when a royal proclamation was
issued "For prohibiting the Imbezlement of His Majesties Stores," the
opportunity was taken to make the further threat that the Commander of
the ship would be seized also:
And for preventing the abuse which hath been of late practised
concerning Flags, Pendents and other Ornaments His Majesty doth
hereby strictly prohibit & forbid the use of His Majesties Colours
in Merchant Ships, and doth Authorize and Command all Commanders
and Officers of any His Majesties Ships of War not only to take
from Merchants Ships all such Colours but likewise to seize the
Commander of such Merchant Ships, wherein after the first day
of April next they shall be used, and to bring them to condign
punishment[191].
It is interesting to find here, as in 1634, an excuse made for the
order which is not the main reason for it. No doubt a certain number of
colours were embezzled and sold by the boatswains of the king's ships,
just as the gunners embezzled and sold the powder, but the desire of
the merchant shipping to fly the Union flag was not due to the fact
that they might occasionally pick that flag up cheap, it was due rather
to the privileges, especially freedom from pilotage and port dues in
foreign ports, which the flag assured them.
Probably the further threat of imprisonment checked the practice for
a time, but not entirely, for the Lord High Admiral was again taking
action in 1666.
Warrant for taking into custody such Ma^{rs} of Merch^t Ships as
shall presume to Wear the Kings Jack.
Whereas I am informed y^t the Ma^{rs} of severall Merchant Shipps
outward bound from the River of Thames have presumed to Wear the
Kings Jack without having leave from myself or the Prin^{le}
Officers & Comm^{rs} of His Mat^{ys} Navy or any other just
pretence for so doing These are therefore to will and require you
forthwith to goe down the River of Thames and examine and enquire
what Merchant Ships either do or have lately Wore the Kings Jack
not being hired nor carrying goods for His Ma^{tys} Service and
yt you apprehend the Ma^{rs} of them ... (except the Ship Tryall
whereof Hope for Bendall is Ma^r, which is bound for New England &
is to carry some Goods for me) and keep them in safe custody that
they may be punished for their presumption.
And all May^{rs} Sheriffs &c.
Dated 11th May 1666.
James[192].
Deterred by these measures from a direct attempt to make use of the
Union flag, the merchant shipping hit upon the device of flying a flag
which was a sufficiently close imitation of the forbidden colours to
deceive foreign powers[193] without falling within the strict letter of
the law. In 1674 this practice had evidently become common, for Pepys
acquainted the Trinity House, in June, of the King's intention to put
a stop to it[194]. Three months later the following proclamation was
issued:
Whereas by ancient usage no merchant's ship ought to bear the
Jack, which is for distinction appointed for his Majesty's ships;
nevertheless his Majesty is informed that divers of his Majesty's
subjects have of late presumed to wear his Majesty's Jack on board
their ships employed in merchants' affairs, and thinking to evade
the Punishment due for the same, bear Jacks in shape and mixture of
colours so little different from those of his Majesty as not to be
without difficulty distinguisht therefrom, which practice is found
attended with manifold Inconveniences; for prevention whereof for
the future his Majesty hath thought fit, with the advice of his
Privy Council, by this his Royal Proclamation, strictly to charge
and command all his subjects whatsoever, that from henceforth they
do not presume to wear his Majesty's Jack (commonly called The
Union Jack) in any of their ships or vessels, without particular
warrant for their so doing from his Majesty, or the Lord High
Admiral of England, or the Commissioners for executing the office
of Lord High Admiral for the time being; and his Majesty doth
hereby further command all his loving subjects, that without such
warrant as aforesaid, they presume not to wear on board their
ships or vessels, any Jacks made in imitation of his Majesty's, or
any other flags, Jacks, or Ensigns whatsoever, than those usually
heretofore worn on merchants' ships, viz., the Flag and Jack White,
with a Red Cross (commonly called Saint George's Cross) passing
right through the same; and the Ensign Red, with a like Cross in a
Canton White, at the upper corner thereof next to the staff.
And his Majesty doth hereby require the principal officers and
Commissioners of his navy, Governors of his Forts and Castles, the
Officers of his Customs, and Commanders or officers of any of his
Majesty's ships, upon their meeting with, or otherwise observing
any merchants' ships or vessels of his Majesty's subjects wearing
such a flag, jack, or ensign, contrary hereunto, whether at Sea
or in Port, not only to cause such flag, jack or ensign to be
forthwith seized, but to return the names of the said ships and
vessels, together with the names of their respective masters, unto
the Lord High Admiral, Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, or the
Judge of the High Court of Admiralty for the time being, to the end
the Persons offending may be duly punished for the same.
And his Majesty doth hereby command and enjoyn the Judge and Judges
of the High Court of Admiralty for the time being, that at the
several Sessions to be hereafter held by his Majesty's Commission
of Oyer and Terminer for the Admiralty, they give in charge, that
strict enquiry be made of all offences in the premises, and that
they cause all offenders therein to be duly punished. And all Vice
Admirals and Judges of Vice Admiralties, are also to do the same,
and to attend the due observation hereof, within the several Ports
and Places of their respective Precincts.
Given at our Court at Whitehall the Eighteenth
Day of September 1674, in the Six and Twentieth
Year of our Reign.
By his Majesty's Command.
A new competitor for the privilege now appeared in the yacht--a type
of pleasure-boat introduced from the Netherlands at the Restoration.
In 1676 the request of the Governor of Dover "to have the liberty of
wearing his Maj^{ts} Jack upon his private yacht" was refused by the
king in Council[195], but the practice of hoisting the Union Jack upon
yachts without warrant had become sufficiently widespread by 1686 to
attract the notice of the navy authorities, as shown by the following
memorandum of Pepys:
Notes about the Jack taken by S. P. at the Navy Board the 20th of
Sept^r 1686 upon occasion of the liberty taken by Private Yachts to
wear the Kings Jack without License.
Memorandum. That the temptations to this Liberty (besides the pride
of it) are
1st. That in Holland they are freed by it from taking a Pilot.
2dly. As to France they are by the Jack excused from paying the
Duty of 50 Sous by Tun paid by every Mercht Man coming into a
French Port.
3dly. All our Merchant Men lower their Topsails below Gravesend
to any ship or vessel carrying the King's Jack, be it but a
Victualling Hoy[196].
About this time another form of jack had come into use in the
Mediterranean. Its origin is obscure: we first meet with it in some
notes of matters to be looked into jotted down by Pepys about 1687:
"Quaere, the Practice of wearing Colours in Boats? And the Budgee[197]
Jack now familiarly used abroad (as lately by St Loe[198]) being the
Union Jack in a Canton upon a Red Flag." It will be seen from this note
that it was of similar design to the red ensign instituted in 1707, and
from the juxtaposition of "Colours in Boats" it may be inferred that it
was a combination of the jack and red ensign for use in boats only. It
was afterwards made the distinctive jack of a privateer[199].
For the next few years more serious matters than the misuse of the
Union Jack occupied the attention of the authorities, but in 1694[200],
when William III was safely seated on the throne, another Proclamation,
similar to that of 1674, was issued forbidding merchant ships, except
those having letters of marque, to wear other colours than the "Flag
and Jack white with a Red Cross commonly called St George's Cross
passing quite through the same and the Ensign Red with the like Cross
in a Canton White at the upper corner thereof next the staff." The
privateers were to wear the same ensign as other merchant ships, but
were to have the red (Budgee) jack.
Another Proclamation in identical terms was issued in the first year of
Queen Anne's reign[201].
Meanwhile yet another variant of the Union Jack had been created for
the use of ships commissioned by the Governors of the North American
Colonies. In July, 1701, the Admiralty complained to the Council of
"the inconvenience by Merchant Ships wearing the King's Colours in
and among the Plantations abroad, under colour of Commissions from
the Governors of the said Plantations," and obtained the Council's
approval to the use by such vessels of a distinctive Jack which is thus
described in the Instructions to the Governors.
Whereas great inconveniences do happen by Merchant Ships and other
Vessels in the Plantations wearing the Colours born by our Ships of
War under pretence of Commissions granted to them by the Governors
of the said Plantations, and that by trading under those Colours,
not only amongst our own Subjects, but also those of other Princes
and States, and Committing divers Irregularities, they do very much
dishonour our Service--For prevention whereof you are to oblige the
Commanders of all such Ships, to which you shall grant Commissions,
to wear no other Jack than according to the Sample here described,
that is to say, such as is worn by our Ships of War, with the
distinction of a White Escutchion in the middle thereof and that
the said mark of distinction may extend itself to one half of the
depth of the Jack and one third of the Fly thereof[202].
In 1707 was brought about that complete union of England and Scotland
that James had worked for a hundred years before. The first article
in the Treaty of Union provided that the crosses of St George and St
Andrew should be conjoined in such manner as the queen thought fit.
After due consideration of various designs suggested by a Committee
of the Privy Council in conjunction with the Heralds College, it was
finally decided by an Order in Council of 17th April, 1707, "That the
Union Flag continue as at present." Coloured drawings of the Royal
Standard, Union Flag, and Red Ensign were formally communicated to the
Admiralty by a further Order in Council with instructions that these
designs were to be adhered to in the flags flown at sea[203].
But although no change was made in the Union flag an important
alteration was made in the Ensign; the English and Scots navies being
now united, the Union was introduced into its canton in place of the St
George.
In promulgating[204] this change of ensign opportunity was taken to
repeat the thunders of the former proclamations against the offending
merchant service, but with the inclusion of the Union in the ensign the
fight practically came to an end. Before long the general introduction
of fore and aft headsails led to the disappearance of the sprit
topmast on which the jack had been displayed, and as the flagstaff on
the bowsprit, which took its place, was in the way of the jib when
headsails were set, it became the common practice to fly a jack only
when the ship was in harbour.
With the opening of the nineteenth century came the final change in the
design of the Union flag. By the Act of 1800 the union of Great Britain
and Ireland was to take effect from the first day of the new century,
and by the first of the Articles of Union the "Ensigns, Armorial Flags
and Banners" were to be such as the king by "Royal Proclamation under
the Great Seal of the said United Kingdom should appoint."
The Privy Council, after consulting the Heralds, recommended to the
king "that the Union Flag should be altered according to the Draft
thereof marked (C) in which the Cross of St George is conjoined with
the Crosses of St Andrew and St Patrick." This proposal was approved by
Order in Council of the 5th November, 1800.
The Proclamation[205] was issued on the 1st January, 1801. It decreed
that the Union Flag shall be azure, the Crosses Saltires of St
Andrew and St Patrick Quarterly per Saltire, counterchanged Argent
and Gules; the latter fimbriated of the Second[206] surmounted by
the Cross of St George of the Third[207], fimbriated as the Saltire.
In his desire to adhere to those pedantic formulae which came into
being during the decadence of heraldic art, the draftsman of this
clause was unfortunately obscure in a matter that called for the
clearest precision. The "Draft marked C" showed a fimbriation or
border for the St George's cross nearly as wide as the counterchanged
saltires[208]. This drawing and the verbal blason of it above
recited, were supplied to the Council by Sir Isaac Heard, the Garter
King-at-Arms, and since in so important a matter he is not likely
to have been guilty of carelessness, while there is no question of
incompetence, it is clear that "fimbriated as the saltire" was not
intended to denote that the border was to be of the same width as for
the saltire, but simply that this border was to be of the same colour.
In other words, a fimbriation was not so strictly defined as to width
in 1800 as some persons at the present day would have us believe.
There would be no need to dwell upon this point were it not for the
importance of this flag and the confusion into which the details of its
construction have fallen.
It may seem an extraordinary statement to make, but it is a fact that
the Union flag is never made in strict accordance with the original
design.
In the pattern approved for the navy[209], which is also that flown
on the Houses of Parliament and on the Government Offices, and is
that adopted almost universally by private individuals of British
nationality, the Irish saltire is reduced in width by having its
fimbriation taken from itself instead of from the blue ground.
Apparently this has been done to bring the outer boundaries in line
across the flag, but it seems neither heraldically nor historically
correct, for the saltire representing Ireland[210] should be of equal
width with that of Scotland.
The other pattern in use is that established in 1900 by the War
Office, in an attempt to comply with the literal terms of the
Proclamation of 1st January, 1801, as interpreted by modern heraldic
definitions[211]. In this pattern the two saltires are of equal
breadth, but the "fimbriation" of the St George's cross has been
reduced to the same width as that of St Patrick's saltire.
However, these differences are of no serious importance, and indeed
this flag seems doomed to misrepresentation, which extends even to
its name. A "Union Jack" is, correctly speaking, a small Union flag
intended to be flown in one particular place, the bows of one of H.M.
ships: yet for many years past this technical distinction has been lost
sight of[212] and the misapplication of the term "Jack" has become
almost universal, so much so that we have the Government solemnly
announcing that "The Union _Jack_ should be regarded as the national
flag[213]."
The Union Pendant, that is a pendant with St George's Cross at the
head and with the fly striped longitudinally red, white and blue (see
Plate V, fig. 2) appears to have been first instituted in 1661 as a
pendant which combined the colours of the Union flag and which, like
that flag, was to be flown only by H.M. ships. It was afterwards known
as the "Ordinary" or "Common" Pendant[214]. It went out of use when
the squadronal colours were abandoned in 1864, though it survives in
a smaller form (in which the fly is not slit) to this day as a signal
that the ship's company is engaged in divine service.
FOOTNOTES:
[141] _Cambridge Modern History_, III, 360.
[142] Mr Oppenheim suggests that this was partly due to James's natural
vanity and his jealousy of anything that could remind the English
seamen of their late Queen.
[143] This was sent to the Lord High Admiral to be communicated to the
Navy and Mercantile Marine, _vide_ draft letter _S. P. D. Jas I_, App.
XXXVIII, 16. An earlier draft altered from a signet warrant of James
I, and now in part illegible, is to be found in _S. P. D. Jas I_, App.
XXXV, 23, misplaced among the papers of 1603. The deleted ninth and
tenth lines, however, read: "Given under [our signet?] at our Pallace
of Westm^r the first day of April in the fourth year of o^r raigne of
Great Britaine ffrance and Ireland."
A writer on the Union flag in the _Archeological Journal_, 1891, misled
by the date at the top of the page containing the entry of the above
Proclamation in the Syllabus to Rymer's _Foedera_, has stated that
there was an earlier proclamation issued in 1605; an error that has
been repeated by several subsequent writers.
[144] _The Register of the Privy Council of Scotland_, VII, 498.
[145] The object of a fimbriation is to prevent colour touching colour
or metal touching metal, and, according to modern heraldic rules, it
should be as narrow as possible consistent with this result. White is
of course a metal: "argent."
[146] _Annales of Scotland_ (_s.v._ 1606), written about 1640.
[147] In the Rijks Museum. There are many illustrations of the Union
flag in late seventeenth century MSS., one of the most important of
these being the Flag Book of Lieut. Graydon (1686) in the Pepysian
Library. They all show a broad border.
[148] See p. 134.
[149] _Pepys MSS._, Miscellanea, IX.
[150] _S. P. D. Jas I_, CI, 8: A Survey of the present rigging of all
His Maj^s Ships 1618.
1 Imperiall fflag w^h the kings armes of taffaty guilded.
1 Brittish fflag of 15 clothes of taffaty.
1 of St George of 12 breadths of taffaty.
[151] _S. P. D. Chas I_, I, 98: "the Banner of the Union with the
Crosses of both kingdoms."
[152] _Ibid._ CXVI, 50: "When you shall heare a piece of ordnance from
ye Adm^{ll} of the fleete and see ye Union fflagg in ye misne shrowds
y^t shalbe a signe for ye Counsell of Warre to come aboard."
[153] _Ibid._ CCCCXV, 49: Instructions given by Sir John Pennington,
26th March, 1639. "And when you see ye British Flagg spread upon my
Mizen Shrowds...."
[154] Really because the English navy had become so weak that other
nations saw no longer any reason to yield those marks of respect
formerly exacted of them.
[155] _S. P. D. Chas I_, CCLXV, 23.
[156] It is not mentioned in the Council's warrant to the Attorney
General directing him to prepare the proclamation.
[157] See "An Atlas of Drake's last voyage," by Dr Jules Sottas,
_Mariner's Mirror_, May, 1912.
[158] Probably about June, 1596.
[159] _S. P. D. Eliz._ CCLIX, 48. For full transcript of the second
section of these notes see _The Naval Tracts of Sir Wm Monson_, edited
by Mr Oppenheim (Navy Records Society), IV, 202. The first part has
never been published.
[160] _Mariner's Mirror_, April, 1911.
[161] Navy Records Society, vol. XX, 1902.
[162] _Fighting Instructions_ 1530-1816 (N.R.S.), 1905, p. 108.
[163] _B. M. Sloane MS._ 2682. The copy was probably made in 1638.
[164] See _Hist. MSS. Com._ Report X, App. IV, p. 280.
[165] The 'Lion's Whelps,' ten in number, were built in 1628.
They were small craft, of the "Pinnace" type, ship-rigged, with
spritsail-topmasts.
[166] On a later occasion the two Whelps were ordered to take down
their topgallant masts as well, to complete the disguise.
[167] B. M. _Sloane MS._ 2449, a holograph copy: the page is headed
"of the Flagge called the Jacke." It does not occur in _Sloane_ 758 or
_Harleian_ 1341, or in the Bodleian MS. _Rawlinson_ A 463.
[168] He is using this word incorrectly.
[169] Pennington was the principal figure at sea on the royalist side
until the Parliament drove him from the navy in 1642.
[170] _S. P. D. Inter._ I, 62, p. 7: the Act was, however, dated 23rd.
See _Acts and Ordinances of the Interregnum_, II, 13.
[171] Bodl. _Rawlinson MS._ A 224. The entry is dated 22nd Feb.
[172] _S. P. D. Inter._ I, 62, p. 8. In the letter to the Navy
Commissioners the words "quite through the flagg" were added.
[173] _Ibid._ The order about the Arms does not appear to have been
immediately acted upon, for it was repeated on 6th June.
[174] _Ibid._ p. 24.
[175] _Ibid._ I, 62, p. 53. See Plate VIII, fig. 3.
[176] The Commissioners (Blake, Deane, and Popham) for exercising
the office of "Admiral and General of the Fleet" created by Act of
Parliament 24th Feb. 1649, usually known as the "Generals at Sea." They
stood in much the same position as that formerly occupied by the late
Lord High Admiral, the Earl of Warwick, so far as the management of
the fleet was concerned, though without the Lord Admiral's full legal
powers, which were vested in the Council of State.
[177] _S. P. D. Inter._ I, 65.
[178] See Plate VI, fig. 5. This flag, which tradition connects with
Blake himself, has been preserved at Chatham Dockyard from time
immemorial, but was recently loaned by the Admiralty to the Royal
United Service Institution, where it may now be seen. Mr Fraser has
discussed its connection with Blake in his book _The Fighting Fame of
the King's Ships_, 1910, p. 110.
[179] E.g. R. Nooms (Zeeman), _Zeegevecht voor Livorno_ (1653), and J.
A. Beerstraten, _Zeeslag by ter Heide_ 1653, in the Rijks Museum at
Amsterdam. Also in etchings by Zeeman. See Plate V, fig. 3.
[180] _Letters and Papers relating to the First Dutch War_ (N. R. S.),
III, 189.
[181] Bodl. _Rawlinson_ A 227. Order of Navy Commissioners hastening
supply of flags for the fleet, dated 2nd March, 1653: "3 Standards
of ye usuall colo^{rs} w^{th} ye field Red, 4 fflags of ye Jack
colo^{rs}." Cf. also Instructions of Vice Adm. Goodson to Penn 21
June, 1655: "You shall wear the jack-flag upon the maintop masthead
during your continuance in the service aforesaid" (_Memorials of the
Professional Life and Times of Sir Wm Penn_, II, 116.)
[182] _S. P. D. Inter._ I, 78, p. 627.
[183] See Plate VI, fig. 6. The quarterly form was best adapted to
admit of this surcharge, as the harp was to occupy the centre of the
Union flag.
[184] _S. P. D. Inter._ CXCV, 162. Presumably "ye former fashion"
refers to the pre-Commonwealth flags still in store, as the Parliament
jack and flag would not lend itself to conversion into the new form.
[185] Nominally in joint commission with Monk as General at Sea.
[186] _S. P. D. Inter._ CCIII, 69. This standard was the same as that
in use from 1649 to 1658.
[187] _Ibid._ CCI, 15.
[188] _Diary_, 13th May, 1660.
[189] I.e. covering over the escutcheons containing the cross and harp.
[190] _Memoirs of the English Affairs, chiefly Naval_..., 1729.
[191] B. M. 1851, C, 8 (129).
[192] Adm. Lib. _D'Eon MS._ p. 367.
[193] Not a difficult matter, to judge from some of the "union flags"
flown by foreign men-of-war at the Naval Review at Spithead in 1911.
[194] Mayo, _The Trinity House of London_, 1905, p. 44.
[195] _Pepys MSS._ Miscellanea, ix.
[196] _Ibid._
[197] The name "Budgee," in flag-books of the early eighteenth century,
is derived from Bugia (Bougie) in Algeria. In the tenth century this
was one of the most important seaports in North Africa, but in the
seventeenth century it was fast falling into decay, and beyond the fact
that the Algerine pirates lying there were successfully attacked by Sir
Edward Spragge in 1673 there was nothing to connect the name with the
English navy.
[198] George St Lo.
[199] By the Proclamation of 1694. "All such ships as shall have
Commissions of Letters of Mart or Reprisals shall, besides the colours
which may be worn by Merchants' ships, wear a Red Jack, with the Union
Jack described in a Canton of the upper corner thereof next the staff."
It retained this use until privateering was abolished in 1856.
[200] 17 July, 1694. B. M. 21 _h_, 3 (157).
[201] 18 Dec. 1702. _London Gazette_, 3872.
[202] See Plate V, fig. 6, and page 127.
[203] 21st July, 1707, _Adm. Sec. In. Lrs._ 5151. The illustration
in Plate IV, fig. 1, is a reduced facsimile of the Union flag as
therein depicted. It will be seen that the St George's cross has a
comparatively wide white border, and that the blue was of a lighter
colour than that which afterwards became customary.
[204] Proclamation 28th July, 1707, _London Gazette_, 4356.
[205] _London Gazette_, No. 15324.
[206] I.e. the second colour named: argent, or white.
[207] I.e. gules, or red.
[208] See the flag in Plate IV, fig. 2, which is a reproduction of the
original drawing preserved in the Privy Council Register.
[209] See Plate V, fig. 8.
[210] For discussion of the question how this came to represent Ireland
see Chapter II.
[211] The Union flag flown by the War Office on ceremonial days is,
however, of naval pattern.
[212] Probably because after the seventeenth century the Union flag was
rarely seen at sea in any other position.
[213] The Earl of Crewe, on behalf of His Majesty's Government, in the
House of Lords 14th July, 1908.
[214] Pepys calls it "the Ordinary or Union Pendant used by the King's
ships only."