When England is involved in a major sporting event – most of all, soccer’s World Cup – the Cross of St George is everywhere. The flag of England, a red cross on a white field, flies from cars and from house windows; people wear it on their chests, their heads and even their feet. But not so long ago, the flag of the United Kingdom filled this role: the flag itself and various Union Jack images claimed their allegiance.
The Cross of St George, Flag of England
Strange, really, since the Union Jack represents Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as well as England, while the Cross of St George has been the flag of England since the sixteenth century.
St George, who lived from around 280 until 303 AD was a Roman soldier, said to have been executed for his refusal to abandon his Christian faith. The legend of his fight with the dragon can be traced back to at least the eleventh century.
It was in the thirteenth century that England adopted George as patron saint and by the last quarter of the century, the cross of St George was being used as an emblem of the land. It was around this time that England conquered Wales, so when the Cross of St George later became the flag of England, it was that of Wales too, whether the Welsh liked it or not.
The Cross of St Andrew, Scotland’s Flag
The flag of Scotland is the Cross of St Andrew, also known as the Saltire, an X-shaped white cross on a blue field. Though legend dates its origin as far back as the ninth century, it was in the sixteenth century that it was adopted as Scotland’s flag.
St Andrew was one of the twelve apostles, and legend has it that he was executed on an X-shaped cross. It is said that the relics of St Andrew were brought to Scotland in the eighth century, and Scotland’s declaration of independence – the Declaration of Arbroath of 1320 – claims that it was Andrew who converted the nation to Christianity.
This is scarcely possible, but the people of Scotland have embraced their patron saint with enthusiasm, and Scottish flags are seen throughout the land.
The Cross of St Patrick – Ireland's Flag?
The strange thing about Ireland’s flag, the Cross of St Patrick, is that very few people recognise its validity. The general opinion is that the red saltire on a white field has little to do with St Patrick, and less to do with Ireland. It owes its presence in the Union Jack simply to the fact that it was thought necessary to include a symbol of Ireland.
St Patrick was a fifth-century Romano-British missionary, and is credited with converting Ireland to Christianity. The story goes that he was born in England, but captured by Irish raiders who took him across the sea to Ireland, where he lived for six years before escaping back to England. He later returned to Ireland to preach the gospel.
The Union Jack, Great Britain's Flag
The flag of the United Kingdom blends the Cross of St George with those of St Andrew and St Patrick in the flag known as the Union Jack, which came into being in 1801 with the Act of Union which merged Great Britain and Ireland in the United Kingdom.
As it happens, a very similar British flag, lacking only the Cross of St Patrick, had existed since 1606. It symbolised the coming together of England and Scotland in the 1603 Union of the Crowns, though it was not until the Union of the Parliaments in 1707 that its status was secure.
As for the name, a jack is the small flag sometimes flown on a ship’s bow. where the British flag was most often to be seen in its early days. An alternative derivation is that "Jack" was James I (Latin Jacobus), who introduced the flag of 1606. Today, it is often referred to as the Union Flag, but the term “Union Jack” is unlikely to fall into disuse.
Union Jack images are everywhere – on mugs, on T-shirts, on pencils and in a thousand other places. Endlessly popular are cheap Union Jack hats, often plastic bowler hats, worn not only by patriotic Brits, but often by foreign tourists keen to show at least temporary allegiance to the country they are visiting.
Scottish flags, English flags and Irish flags all exist, but only the Union Jack enjoys widespread international recognition.
Sources:
The patron saints of Great Britain and Ireland
Iain Manson - A Life – of Sorts Born in 1950 of a Scottish father and a Welsh mother, Iain Manson was brought up in Scotland, and graduated ...
