what do the colours on the union jack mean?

Question

you may think i'm a bit dumb but what do the colours all mean? i know St Georges cross is there and the scottish cross is there but why the rest

Answer 1

It means that us Welsh have been ignored again!!!

Answer 2

the Union Jack is England, Scotland, Ireland and the Original Union flag. Wales had no explicit recognition in the flag because Wales had been annexed by Edward I of England in 1282 for refusing to sign Great British laws.

They have now but they still aren't recognised on the flag

Answer 3

The flag of England and Scotland are cobined to make the union jack. These are the two countries of the united Kingdom. Wales is a principality and Northern Ireland a province that is why they are not included.

Answer 4

n March 1603 Elizabeth I of England died without an heir, leaving the succession to the Crown open. Elizabeth's Ministers chose to ignore Henry VIII's will which would have made his younger sister Princess Mary's great-grandson, Edward Seymour - Lord Beauchamp, King, and instead invited James VI of Scotland to accept the Crown of England.

The two countries remained independent under a single Monarch, James VI and I, who called his new realm the Kingdom of Great Britain (after the name of the main island of the British Isles on which lie England, Scotland and Wales).

In 1606, following some altercations over flags between English and Scottish ships, James VI and I issued the following proclamation:

The exact design that accompanied this has been lost. Several designs are known to have been considered including quartering the flags of England and Scotland (as the Royal Standard is quartered) and putting the two side-by-side, but the chosen design was:

Some Scots vessels used an unofficial version where the St. Andrews's cross went over the St. George's cross. The width of the white line (or fimbration) around the St.George's cross has also been a matter of debate. Actual flags from the period suggest that the fimbration was quite wide. The shade of blue started as a sky blue, but gradually became darker over the centuries.

In 1634, after some disputes concerning saluting ships in the Channel, Charles I partially repealed his father's proclamation:

To this day civilian vessels are not permitted to use the Union Jack. They have their own Jack (a white bordered Union Jack) and the courtesy flag is an appropriately coloured ensign (red for civil vessels, blue for government vessels, and white for naval vessels).

The execution of Charles I on the 30th January 1649, brought an end to the union of England and Scotland. The Union Flag no longer made sense so the English Parliament ordered the Admiralty to chose a new design. This was to be the first of several design used until the restoration of Charles II in May 1660 restored the pre-1649 flags.

In 1707, Queen Anne completed the task that James had started - a complete union of England and Scotland. The first article of the Treaty of Union stated that the flag would be the crosses of St. George and St. Andrew conjoined in such a manner as the Queen saw fit. Queen Anne decided to keep the existing design.

Up until 1801 Ireland had been a separate kingdom. In 1800 an Act of Union was passed to create the new United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to come into effect on the 1st January 1801. The College of Arms designed a new flag with the Cross of St. Patrick counter-changed with the Cross of St. Andrew. The inclusion of St. Patrick's cross is of interest as St. Patrick was not martyred and therefore did not have a cross. The red saltire on white was the emblem of the powerful Irish Fitzgerald family and was a convenient symbol for Ireland:

Over the years the shape of the flag has gradually changed to its current proportions of one to two. This was caused by a steady decrease in the width of the cloth used to make the flags. The specifications were in the form of so many widths high by so many yards long. This meant that as the width of cloth reduced the flag apparently became longer and longer:

The independence in 1921 of the southern part of Ireland as the Irish Free State did not result in any change to the Union Flag.

Graham Bartram, General Secretary of The Flag Institute


The Union Jack or Union Flag

When the 'Union Jack' was first introduced, in 1606, it was known simply as 'the British flag' or 'the flag of Britain', and was ordered to be flown at the main masthead of all ships, warships and merchant ships, of both England and Scotland.

The first use of the name 'Union' appears in 1625. There are various theories as how it became known as the 'Union Jack', but most of the evidence points to the name being derived from the use of the word 'jack' as a diminutive. This word was in use before 1600 to describe a small flag flown from the small mast mounted on the bowsprit, and by 1627 it appears that a small version of the Union flag was commonly flown in this position. For some years it was called just 'the Jack', or 'Jack flag', or 'the King's Jack', but by 1674, while formally referred to as 'His Majesty's Jack', it was commonly called the Union Jack, and this was officially acknowledged.

In the 18th century the small mast on the bowsprit was replaced by staysails on the stays between the bowsprit and the foremast. By this time the Ensign had become the principal naval distinguishing flag, so it became the practice to fly the Union Jack only in harbour, on a specially rigged staff in the bows of the ships, the jackstaff. It should thus be noted that the jack flag had existed for over a hundred and fifty years before the jack staff came into being, and its name was related to its size rather than to the position in which it was flown.

It is often stated that the Union Flag should only be described as the Union Jack when flown in the bows of a warship, but this is a relatively recent idea. From early in its life the Admiralty itself frequently referred to the flag as the Union Jack, whatever its use, and in 1902 an Admiralty Circular announced that Their Lordships had decided that either name could be used officially. Such use was given Parliamentary approval in 1908 when it was stated that "the Union Jack should be regarded as the National flag".
happy now

Answer 5

He is wrong above. It is a combination of 3 flags. England, Scotland and Wales. They make up an overlay of these 3 flags and the Wesh were not ignored...again?!

Oops I do apolgise I was wrong. IT is the England, Scottish and Irish flags combined. My apologies and to the Welsh

Answer 6

Bit of geeky trivia- its actually called the union flag. It is only called a union Jack when it is flown from the mast of a boat.

Answer 7

red cross for uk blue for scots and white for wales

Answer 8

the other red cross is for Northern Ireland......I think.

Helen :)