The History of the Union Jack: How Three Crosses Merged into Britain’s Flag

On April 12, 1606, a peculiar problem arose in London. Disputes between ships operated by English merchants and those operated by Scottish merchants had become incessant. Three years earlier, James VI of Scotland had also become James I of England, placing both kingdoms under a single monarch — yet at sea, the two nations still flew different flags and treated each other like foreign vessels. English and Scottish ships regularly clashed over precedence in the same harbor.^[1]

So King James issued a royal proclamation. The order was to merge the flags of the two nations into one. The red cross of St George and the white diagonal cross of St Andrew were overlaid to create a single flag. This was the beginning of the Union Jack.

But the problem did not end so simply. A fresh dispute broke out over which cross should sit on top, and over the next four hundred years this flag absorbed — thread by thread — the history of a king’s execution, the establishment of a republic, the union with Ireland, and the expansion of empire.

St George: The Palestinian Soldier England Chose

St George, the figure at the heart of one of the crosses, had no actual connection to England. He was born in the late third century in the eastern Roman Empire, in what is now Turkey or Palestine, served as a soldier, and was martyred for his Christian faith.^[2] The legend that he slew a dragon and saved a village — set in what is now Libya — was a tale invented in the medieval period.

England’s adoption of him as patron saint is closely tied to the Crusades. English soldiers who took part in the Crusades of the 11th and 12th centuries began venerating St George as a symbol of Christian chivalry, and this devotion spread throughout England via returning soldiers. The red cross of St George on a white background began to be used as the emblem of the English army from the 1270s, during the reign of Edward I.^[3]

In 1348, Edward III founded the Order of the Garter and named St George as its patron saint, further cementing his status as England’s patron.^[3] By 1552, all saints’ flags except St George’s had been abolished in England. A Roman soldier from Palestine had become the defining symbol of England.

St Andrew: The Cross That Fell from the Sky

Scotland’s national flag — a white diagonal cross, called a saltire, on a blue background — is considered one of the oldest national flags in Europe. Its origin is entwined with a legend from the year 832.

According to the story, when the Pictish king Angus mac Fergus was surrounded by Anglo-Saxon forces near what is now Athelstaneford in eastern Scotland, a diagonal cross made of white clouds appeared in the sky.^[4] Angus believed this was a sign from St Andrew, and he went on to win the battle. St Andrew was one of the twelve disciples of Jesus; tradition holds that he was martyred on an X-shaped cross turned diagonally, because he did not consider himself worthy to be executed in the same manner as Jesus.^[4]

There is no way to confirm whether this legend is historically accurate. However, records show that a diagonal cross was already being used on the seal of the Guardians of Scotland in 1286, and in 1385 the Scottish Parliament officially ordered soldiers preparing to repel an English invasion to wear “a white cross of St Andrew on front and back.”^[4] Whether myth and history can be separated or not, the saltire became a core symbol of Scottish identity.

St Patrick: Ireland’s Cross or a Noble Family’s Coat of Arms?

The third cross — the red diagonal cross on a white background known as St Patrick’s Saltire — has a character quite different from the other two. While the crosses of St George and St Andrew have long histories, the very origin of St Patrick’s Saltire is a subject of debate.

The most widely accepted theory holds that this cross has no direct connection to St Patrick at all. The FitzGerald family — the Dukes of Leinster — who dominated Irish politics and society in the eighteenth century, bore a red saltire on a white background as their coat of arms.^[5] When King George III of Britain founded the Order of Saint Patrick in 1783, he adopted this design as the heraldic badge representing Ireland, and it subsequently acquired the name “St Patrick’s Cross.”^[5]

In other words, the cross supposedly representing Ireland most likely originated from the coat of arms of Ireland’s most powerful Anglo-Norman aristocratic family. Some researchers even argue that the founder of the order simply rotated the Order of the Garter’s St George’s Cross by 45 degrees when hastily designing the order’s badge.^[5] It is arguably the most contested cross in Irish history.

1606: The First Union Flag

In 1603, when England’s Queen Elizabeth I died without an heir, James VI of Scotland — a distant relative — inherited the English throne and became James I. This was not a political merger of two kingdoms. The two countries still maintained their own parliaments, laws, and monetary systems. But a “personal union” had been established under a shared king, and there arose a need to express this new reality through a flag.^[1]

On April 12, 1606, James I issued a proclamation establishing a new flag that combined the cross of St George with the saltire of St Andrew.^[1] However, the flag was not accepted without controversy from the outset. The English version placed the red upright cross over the diagonal white cross on a blue background, which made it look as though St George’s cross was “dominating” St Andrew’s saltire.

Scottish merchants and shipowners pushed back strongly. Some Scottish vessels ignored official orders and flew a reversed version with St Andrew’s saltire on top.^[6] When the parliaments of England and Scotland officially merged in 1707 to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, the debate flared up again; a Scottish version was proposed to Queen Anne but was not adopted.^[6]

An Interlude in the Republic: The Flag Disappeared with the King

On January 30, 1649, King Charles I of England was beheaded. Without a monarch, the monarch’s flag had no place to stand. The Parliamentarians banned the use of the Union Flag. The republican Commonwealth government led by Oliver Cromwell instead flew a new flag combining England’s Cross of St George with a harp representing Ireland. Scotland’s white saltire — a reminder of monarchy — was removed from that flag.^[7]

In 1658, Cromwell died and his son Richard Cromwell succeeded him as Lord Protector, but lasted less than a year. When Charles II returned with the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, the republican flags vanished again and the Union Flag came back.^[7] A flag is also a political declaration. The day a flag came down was the day power changed hands.

1801: Ireland Is Added — The Birth of Asymmetry

In 1800, the British Parliament passed the Act of Union, merging the Kingdom of Great Britain with the Kingdom of Ireland. The backdrop was the Irish Rebellion of 1798. A French-backed uprising had broken out in Ireland, and after suppressing it, the British government concluded that leaving Ireland as an independent kingdom was too dangerous. On January 1, 1801, Great Britain and Ireland were united to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.^[8]

With this union came the need for a new flag. The red saltire of St Patrick was added to the existing flag. There was a problem, however. The white saltire of St Andrew and the red saltire of St Patrick ran at the same diagonal angle, so simply overlapping them would cause one to completely cover the other.

The designers found a creative solution: the technique of “counterchange.” The red and white saltires were arranged alternately, with the white saltire always positioned above the red. The result is that if you look closely at the flag, the diagonal sections consist of alternating white and red bands that cross each other.^[9] The red saltire was made narrower than the white, ensuring that Scotland’s symbol remained visually more prominent than Ireland’s — a mark of respect for Scotland, which had joined the union first.^[9]

Because of this counterchange arrangement, the Union Jack is asymmetrical from left to right. And this asymmetry carries significance.

Which Side Is Up: A Flag That Changes When Inverted

Few people would immediately notice if the Union Jack were flown upside down. Yet the Union Jack does have a defined “right way up.”

The rule is this: the wider white band must appear at the top on the side nearest the flagpole — the “hoist” side.^[9] The correct orientation is where St Andrew’s white saltire sits above St Patrick’s red saltire. Inverted, the red saltire comes above the white. From a distance the difference may not seem significant, but in heraldic terms it is plainly wrong.

Historically, flying a flag upside down was used as a distress signal. Ships in distress, or wishing to signal surrender, would fly their flag inverted.^[10] Today, flying the Union Jack upside down is interpreted as a deliberate act of insult or protest. During the coronation of Charles III in 2023, a minor controversy erupted when some media outlets reported that an officially displayed Union Jack had been flown inverted.

Why Wales Is Absent: Already Part of England

The Union Jack has three components: England (St George), Scotland (St Andrew), and Ireland (St Patrick). Where is Wales?

The answer is paradoxical. Wales is absent not because it was excluded from Britain, but because it was incorporated too early. Henry VIII passed the Laws in Wales Acts in 1535 and 1542, fully integrating Wales into the Kingdom of England. The monarch who completed this work bore the Welsh family name “Tudor,” and was himself of Welsh descent.^[11]

When the first Union Flag was created in 1606, Wales was already a constituent part of England — not a separate kingdom to be merged. Since it was not a distinct nation requiring union, there was no reason to assign it a separate cross. The Welsh symbol, the red dragon (Y Ddraig Goch), was not officially recognized as a national flag until 1959.^[11]

Today, calls continue for Wales to be included in the Union Jack. Multiple petitions requesting the addition of the Welsh dragon have been submitted to the UK Parliament’s petitioning website. However, the practical difficulty of completely redesigning the flag, combined with divided opinion within Wales itself, means no change has yet been made.

What Is a “Jack”? The Debate Over the Name’s Origin

Officially, the flag is called the “Union Flag.” So why is “Union Jack” the more common name? Where does “Jack” come from?

The most widely accepted explanation traces it to naval terminology. “Jack” originally referred to a small flag flown from the jackstaff — a small flagpole at the bow of a ship.^[12] When Royal Navy vessels began flying the Union Flag at their bows, it came to be called the “Union Jack.” Under this interpretation, strictly speaking, “Union Jack” is technically correct only when referring to the flag as flown at the bow of a naval vessel; on land or in civilian contexts, “Union Flag” is the proper term.

The Flag Institute notes, however, that as far back as 1902 the Admiralty officially recognized both names as acceptable.^[12] There are also theories that “Jack” derives from “Jacobus,” the Latin name for James I, or from the “jack-coat” worn by soldiers, but the documentary evidence for these is thin.^[12]

In practice, calling it the “Union Jack” is perfectly acceptable. The official website of the British Royal Family uses both names interchangeably.

The Colonial Legacy: Marks Left Around the World

The expansion of the British Empire in the nineteenth century made the Union Jack the flag that flew over more territories than any other in the world. And some of those marks still live on inside the flags of other nations today.

Australia selected its flag design through an open public competition at the time of its federation in 1901. The design that received the most votes placed the Union Jack in the upper left corner of a blue background.^[13] New Zealand uses a flag of the same form, as do Fiji and Tuvalu. These flags all share a common format rooted in the British naval tradition of the “Blue Ensign.”

An intriguing case is Hawaii. Hawaii is the fiftieth state of the United States, yet its flag incorporates the Union Jack. This is because Kamehameha I, who unified the Hawaiian Islands, forged a personal friendship with Britain’s King George III and incorporated elements of the British flag in commemoration of that bond.^[13] Hawaii remains the only U.S. state whose flag contains an element of another country’s flag.

Canada, on the other hand, removed the Union Jack element from its official flag when it adopted the Maple Leaf Flag in 1965. South Africa likewise replaced its flag with a new design following the end of apartheid in 1994. A change in flags signals a change in political relationships.

The Blue That Almost Disappeared: The 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum

On September 18, 2014, Scotland held a referendum on independence. The result was 55.3% against (remaining in the union) and 44.7% in favor, so independence was rejected. But while the vote was taking place, another debate quietly surfaced: if Scotland became independent, what would happen to the Union Jack?

Without the blue background and white saltire of St Andrew, the current Union Jack could not survive intact. The Flag Institute ran a competition for alternative designs, and 65% of respondents said the flag should change if Scotland became independent.^[14] Dozens of proposals poured in — designs incorporating black, designs including green, and even designs featuring the Welsh dragon.

The official position of the College of Arms, however, was different. The College stated that even if Scotland became independent, the composition of the Union Jack would not legally need to change.^[14] The argument was that the Union Jack records not a political merger of two countries but a union of crowns — the historical fact of James I simultaneously wearing two crowns. The history of the succession of the throne, they argued, cannot be retroactively altered by Scotland’s departure from the union.

Since the Brexit vote of 2016, Scottish independence has come back onto the agenda. Whether the blue background of the Union Jack will hold its place remains an open question.

The 2015–2016 New Zealand Flag Referendums

The debate ignited by the Scottish referendum also spread to New Zealand. In two referendums held in 2015 and 2016, New Zealanders voted on whether to change the national flag. Then-Prime Minister John Key argued that the existing flag, with its Union Jack, was “a relic of the colonial era” and pushed for change.

An alternative design centered on a silver fern was proposed, but the final result was 56.6% to 43.1% in favor of keeping the existing flag.^[15] Opinion was sharply divided over whether changing the flag represented a break with the past, or a severing of the connection to a part of the nation’s own history.

A Flag Turned Cultural Icon: From Punk to Pop Art

From the 1970s onward, the Union Jack spread around the world in a very different way — not as a flag, but through fashion and music.

Vivienne Westwood, alongside the punk movement of the 1970s, brought the Union Jack into fashion. Union Jack print garments sold at her boutique “Sex” on the King’s Road were worn torn and pierced with safety pins.^[16] A symbol of state authority had become an icon of rebellion against that very authority. Members of the Sex Pistols wore these clothes on stage, and the Union Jack became a symbol of anti-establishment culture.

In the 1990s, another transformation took place. The Britpop era arrived, represented by Blur, Oasis, the Spice Girls, and others. Guitars plastered with Union Jacks, performers taking the stage in Union Jack dresses — all of it spread across the world under the banner of “Cool Britannia.”^[16] This time it was an expression of pride, not rebellion. The same design carried diametrically opposite meanings depending on the era.

Today, the Union Jack has become the most universal visual code of British pop culture — from London souvenir shops to the high fashion runway.

A Flag Is a Map

The flag King James created in 1606 to settle a dispute between quarreling merchants has become, in its own right, a map of British history. Beneath the cross of St George lies the story of an untamed Palestinian soldier; within the diagonal of the saltire resides the legend of a sky at dawn in 832; and overlaid on St Patrick’s red saltire is the coat of arms of an Irish lordly family and eight hundred years of dominion.

Wales is absent. It had already been incorporated into England long before the flag was ever created.

A flag always reflects the power structure of the era that made it. The fight over which cross sits on top, the compromise over whose saltire becomes narrower, the choice of which country enters the flag and which does not — all of this is also a record of what was decided at the negotiating table. The fact that the Union Jack lives on inside the flags of nations around the world, and the movements to remove it, are ultimately two versions of the same story. A flag is not finished the moment it is made.