The Flags of the World Part 3

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At the siege of Antioch, according to Robertus Monachus, a Benedictine of Rheims who flourished about the year 1120, and wrote a history of the Crusade, "Our Souldiers being wearied with the long continuance of the Battaile, and seeing that the number of enemies decreased not, began to faint; when suddenly an infinite number of Heavenly Souldiers all in white descended from the Mountains, the Standard-bearer and leaders of them being Saint George, Saint Maurice, and Saint Demetrius, which when the Bishop of Le Puy first beheld he cryed aloud unto his troopes, 'There are they (saith he) the succours which in the name of G.o.d I promised to you.' The issue of the miracle was this, that presently the enemies did turne their backs and lost the field: these being slaine, 100,000 horse, beside foot innumerable, and in their trenches such infinite store of victuals and munition found that served not only to refresh the wearied Christians, but to confound the enemy." This great victory at Antioch led to the recovery of Jerusalem. At the Crusades England, Arragon, and Portugal all a.s.sumed St. George as their patron saint.

Throughout the Middle Ages the war-cry of the English was the name of this patron saint. "The blyssed and holy Martyr Saynt George is patron of this realme of Englande, and the crye of men of warre," we read in the "Golden Legend," and readers of Shakespeare will readily recall ill.u.s.trations. Thus in "King Richard II." we read:--

"Sound drums and trumpets, boldly and cheerfully, G.o.d and St. George! Richard and victory."

or again in "King Henry V." where the king at the siege of Harfleur cries,

"The game's afoot, Follow your spirit, and upon this charge Cry, G.o.d for Harry, England, and St. George!"

while in "King Henry VI." we find the line,

"Then strike up, drums--G.o.d and St. George for us!"[25]

At the battle of Poitiers, September 19th, 1356, upon the advance of the English, the Constable of France threw himself, Lingard tells us, across their path with the battle shout, "Mountjoy, St. Denis," which was at once answered by "St. George, St. George," and in the onrush of the English the Duke and the greater part of his {38} followers were swept away, and in a few minutes slain. In an interesting old poem on the siege of Rouen in 1418, written by an eye-witness, we read that on the surrender of the city,

"Whanne the gate was openyd there And thay weren ready in to fare, Trumpis blew ther bemys of bras, Pipis and clarionys forsoothe ther was.

And as they entrid thay gaf a schowte With ther voyce that was full stowte, Seint George! Seint George! thay criden on height And seide, Welcome oure kynges righte!"

We have before us, as we write, "The story of that most blessed Saint and Souldier of Christ Jesus, St. George of Cappadocia," as detailed by Peter Heylyn, and published in 1633, and the temptation to quote at length from it is great, as it is full of most interesting matter, but into the history of St. George s.p.a.ce forbids us to go at any length. The author of the "Seven Champions of Christendom" makes St. George to be born of English parentage at Coventry, but for this there is no authority whatever, and all other writers make Cappadocia his birthplace. The history of St. George is more obscure than that of any name of equal eminence in the Calendar.

According to the "Acta Sanctorum" he was the son of n.o.ble parents, became famous as a soldier, and, embracing Christianity, was tortured to death at Nicomedia in the year 303.

"The hero won his well-earned place, Amid the Saints, in death's dread hour; And still the peasant seeks his grave, And, next to G.o.d, reveres his power.

In many a Church his form is seen, With sword, and s.h.i.+eld, and helmet sheen; Ye know him by his s.h.i.+eld of pride, And by the dragon at his side."

As Patron Saint, the dragon vanquisher is still seen on our crowns and sovereigns, and reference to such a book as Ruding's history of our coinage will show that it has for centuries been a popular device.

In 1245, on St. George's Day, Frederic of Austria inst.i.tuted an order of knighthood and placed it under the guardians.h.i.+p of the soldier-saint, and its white banner, bearing the ruddy cross, floated in battle alongside that of the Empire. In like manner on St. George's Day, in the year 1350, Edward III. of England inst.i.tuted the order of the Garter with great solemnity.

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St. George's Day, April 23rd, has too long been suffered to pa.s.s almost unregarded. The annual festivals of St. Andrew, St. Patrick, and St. David are never overlooked by the members of the various nationalities, and it seems distinctly a thing to be regretted that the Englishman should allow the name day of his Patron Saint to pa.s.s unnoticed.[26] Whatever conduces to the recognition of national life is valuable, and anything that reminds Englishmen of their common ties and common duties--and reminds them, too, of their glorious heritage in the past--should scarcely be allowed to fall into disuse. Butler, in his "Lives of the Fathers and Martyrs," tell us that at the great National Council, held at Oxford in 1222, it was commanded that the Feast of St. George should be kept. In the year 1415, by the Const.i.tutions of Archbishop Chichely, St. George's Day was made one of the greater feasts and ordered to be observed the same as Christmas Day. In 1545 a special collect, epistle, and gospel were prepared, and at the Reformation, when many of the Saints' Days were swept away, this was preserved with all honour, and it was not till the sixth year of the reign of Edward VI., when another revision was made, that in "The Catalogue of such Festivals as are to be Observed" St. George's day was omitted.

The Cross of St. George was worn as a badge,[27] over the armour, by every English soldier in the fourteenth and subsequent centuries, even if the custom did not prevail at a much earlier period. The following extract from the ordinances made for the government of the army with which Richard II.

invaded Scotland in 1386, is a good ill.u.s.tration of this, wherein it is ordered "that everi man of what estate, condicion, or nation thei be of, so that he be of owre partie, here a signe of the armes of Saint George, large, bothe before and behynde, upon parell that yf he be slayne or wounded to deth, he that hath so doon to hym shall not be putte to deth for defaulte of the cross that he lacketh. And that non enemy do bere the same token or crosse of Saint George, notwithstandyng if he be prisoner, upon payne of deth." It was the flag of battle, and we see it represented in the old prints and illuminations that deal with military operations both on land and sea. Ordinarily it is the Cross of St. George, pure and simple, as shown in Fig. 91, while at {40} other times, as in Figs. 66, 67, 68, it forms a portion only of the flag. The red cross on the white field was the flag under which the great seamen of Elizabeth's reign traded, explored, or fought; the flag that Drake bore round the world--that Frobisher unfolded amidst the Arctic solitudes--that gallant Englishmen, the wide world over, bore at the call of duty and died beneath, if need be, for the honour of the old home land; and to this day the flag of the English Admiral is the same simple and beautiful device, and the white ensign of the British Navy, Fig. 95, is similar, except that it bears, in addition, the Union; while the Union flag itself, Fig. 90, bears conspicuously the ruddy cross of the warrior Saint.

Figs. 26, 27, 74 and 140 are all sea-pennants bearing the Cross of St.

George. The first of these is from a painting of H.M.S. _Tiger_, painted by Van de Velde, while Fig. 27 is flying from one of the s.h.i.+ps represented in the picture by Volpe of the embarkation of Henry VIII. from Dover on his way to the Field of the Cloth of Gold. Fig. 74 is from a picture of H.M.S.

_Lion_, engaging the French s.h.i.+p _Elisabethe_, on July 9th, 1745, the latter being fitted out to escort the Young Pretender to Scotland. Though the red, white, and blue stripes suggest the French tricolor, their employment in the pennant has, of course, no reference to France. The _Lion_ had at the foremast the plain red streamer seen at Fig. 25. Fig. 140 is the pennant flown at the present day by all Colonial armed vessels, while the pennant of the Royal Navy is purely white, with the exception of the Cross of St. George. In a picture by Van de Velde, the property of the Queen, representing a sea fight on August 11th, 1673, between the English, French, and Dutch, we see some of the vessels with streamers similar to Fig. 140, thus ante-dating the Colonial flag by over two hundred years.

As we have at the present time the white ensign, Fig. 95, the special flag of the Royal Navy; the blue ensign, Fig. 96, the distinguis.h.i.+ng flag of the Royal Naval Reserve; and the red ensign, Fig. 97, the flag of the Merchant Service, each with the Union in the upper corner next the mast, so in earlier days we find the white flag, Fig. 65, the red flag, Fig. 66, and the blue, each having in the upper corner the Cross of St. George. Fig. 69 becomes, by the addition of the blue, a curious modification of Fig. 66. It is from a sea piece of the sixteenth century. It was displayed at the p.o.o.p of a vessel, while Fig. 79 is the Jack on the bowsprit.

A hundred years ago or so, we may see that there was a considerable variety in the flags borne by our men-o'-war. Such galleries as those at Hampton Court or Greenwich afford many examples of this in the pictures there displayed. In a picture of a battle off Dominica, on April 12th, 1782, we find, one of the English {41} s.h.i.+ps has two great square flags on the foremast, the upper one being plain red, and the lower one half blue and half white in horizontal stripes, while the main mast is surmounted by the Cross of St. George, and below it a tricolor of red, white, and blue in horizontal stripes. Other s.h.i.+ps show equally curious variations, though we need not stop to detail them, except that in one case both fore and mizen masts are surmounted by plain red flags. In a picture of Rodney's Action off Cape St. Vincent, on January 16th, 1780, we meet with all these flags again. In the representation of an action between an English and French fleet on May 3rd, 1747, off Cape Finisterre, we notice that the English s.h.i.+ps have a blue ensign at the p.o.o.p, and one of them has a great plain blue flag at the foremast, and a great plain red flag at the main-mast head. In a picture of the taking of Portobello, November 21st, 1739, we notice the same thing again. These plain surfaces of blue or red are very curious. It will naturally occur to the reader that these are signal flags, but anyone seeing the pictures would scarcely continue to hold that view, as their large size precludes the idea. In the picture of H.M.S. _Tiger_ that we have already referred to, the flag with five red stripes that we have represented in Fig. 70 is at the p.o.o.p, while from the bow is hoisted a flag of four stripes, and from the three mastheads are flags, having three red stripes. These striped red and white flags may often be seen.

Perhaps the most extraordinary grouping of flags may be seen in a picture of a naval review in the reign of George I. It was on exhibition at the Great Naval Exhibition at Chelsea, and is in private owners.h.i.+p. All the vessels are dressed in immense flags, and these are of the most varied description. It must be borne in mind that these are government bunting, not the irresponsible vagaries of private eccentricity. Besides the reasonable and orthodox flags, such as those represented in Figs. 65, 66, and others of equal propriety, we find one striped all over in red, white, blue, red, white, blue, in six horizontal stripes. Another, with a yellow cross on a white ground; a third, a white eagle on a blue field; another, a red flag inscribed--"For the Protestant Religion and the Liberty of England"; while another is like Fig. 65, only instead of having a red cross on white, it has a blue one instead. An altogether strange a.s.sortment.

Figs. 67, 68, 72, and 78 are flags of the London Trained Bands of the year 1643. The different regiments were known by the colour of their flags, thus Fig. 67 is the flag of the blue regiment, Fig. 68 of the yellow, Fig. 72 of the green, and Fig. 78 of the yellow regiment auxiliaries. Other flags were as follows:--white, with red lozenges; green, with golden wavy rays; orange, with white trefoils; in each case the Cross of St. George being in the canton. {42} In a list before us of the Edinburgh Trained Bands for 1685 we find that the different bodies are similarly distinguished by colours.[28]

On the union of the two crowns at the accession of James VI. of Scotland and I. of England to the English throne, the Cross of St. Andrew, Fig. 92, was combined with that of St. George.

The Cross of St. Andrew has been held in the same high esteem north of the Tweed that the Southrons have bestowed on the ensign of St. George. It will be seen that it is shaped like the letter X. Tradition hath it that the Saint, deeming it far too great an honour to be crucified as was his Lord, gained from his persecutors the concession of this variation. It is legendarily a.s.serted that this form of cross appeared in the sky to Achaius, King of the Scots, the night before a great battle with Athelstane, and, being victorious, he went barefoot to the church of St.

Andrew, and vowed to adopt his cross as the national device. The sacred monogram that replaced the Roman eagles under Constantine, the cross on the flag of Denmark, the visions of Joan of Arc, and many other suchlike ill.u.s.trations, readily occur to one's mind as indicative of the natural desire to see the potent aid of Heaven visibly manifested in justification of earthly ambitions, or a celestial support and encouragement in time of national discomfiture.

Figs. 75 and 76 are examples of the Scottish red and blue ensigns. The first of these is from a picture at Hampton Court, where a large Scottish wars.h.i.+p is represented as having a flag of this character at the main, and smaller but similar colours at the other mastheads and on the bowsprit.

The famous banner, the historic "blue blanket," borne by the Scots in the Crusades, was on its return deposited over the altar of St. Eloi in St.

Giles' Church, Edinburgh, and the queen of James II., we read, painted on its field of azure the white Cross of St. Andrew, the crown, and the thistle. St. Eloi was the patron saint of blacksmiths, and this craft was made the guardian of the flag, and it became the symbol of the a.s.sociated trades of ancient Edinburgh. King James VI., when venting his indignation against his too independent subjects, exclaimed, "The craftsmen think we should be contented with their work, and if in anything they be controlled, then up goes the blue blanket." The craftsmen were as independent and difficult to manage as the London Trained Bands often proved, but King James VI. found it expedient to confirm them in {43} all their privileges, and ordered that the flag should at all times be known as the Standard of the Crafts, and later Sovereigns found it impossible to take away these privileges when they had once been granted. This flag was borne at Flodden Field. Beside the cross, crown, and thistle it bore on a scroll on the upper part of the flag the inscription, "Fear G.o.d and honor the king with a long lyffe and prosperous reigne," and on the lower portion the words, "And we that is trades shall ever pray to be faithfull for the defence of his Sacred Majesties' persone till deathe," an inscription that scarcely seems to harmonise with the turbulent spirit that scandalised this sovereign so greatly.

The flags borne by the Covenanters in their struggle for liberty varied much in their details, but in the great majority of cases bore upon them the Cross of St. Andrew, often accompanied by the thistle, and in most cases by some form of inscription. Several of these are still extant. In one that was borne at Bothwell Brig, and now preserved in the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries, Edinburgh, the four blue triangles (see Fig. 92 for these) are filled with the words, "For Religion----Couenants----King----and Kingdomes." The Avondale flag was a white one, having the cross, white on blue, as in Fig. 75, in the corner. On the field of the flag was the inscription, "Avondale for Religion, Covenant, and King,"[29] and beneath this a thistle worked in the national green and crimson. A very interesting Exhibition of Scottish national memorials was held at Glasgow in 1888, and many of these old Covenant flags were there displayed. At the great Heraldic Exhibition held in Edinburgh in 1891, one of the most interesting things shown was the Cavers Standard. This is of sage green silk, twelve feet by three. It bears the Cross of St. Andrew next the staff, and divers other devices are scattered over the rest of the flag. It is in excellent preservation, and its special interest lies in the fact that it is said to have been the standard of James, second Earl of Douglas and Mar, and borne by his son at the battle of Otterburn in the year 1388. If this be so it is one of the oldest flags in existence.

On the signet-ring of Mary Queen of Scots the white Cross of St. Andrew is not shown on its usual blue ground, but on a ground striped blue and yellow, the royal colours; in the same way that the St. George's Cross is shown in Fig. 71, not on a {44} white ground, but on a ground striped white and green, the Tudor colours.

Why St. Andrew was selected to be the Patron Saint of Scotland has never been satisfactorily settled.[30] Some uncharitable enquirer has hazarded the explanation that it was because it was this Apostle who discovered the lad who had the loaves and fishes. Others tell us that one Hungus, a Pictish prince, dreamt that the Saint was to be his champion in a fight just then pending with the men of Northumbria, and that a cross--the symbol of the crucifixion of this Apostle--appeared in the sky, the celestial omen strengthening the hearts and arms of the men of Hungus to such effect that the Northumbrians were completely routed. Should neither of these explanations appear sufficiently explanatory, we can offer yet a third. On the martyrdom of St. Andrew, in the year 69, at Patrae, in Achaia, his remains were carefully preserved as relics, but in the year 370, Regulus, one of the Greek monks who had them in their keeping, was warned in a vision that the Emperor Constantine was proposing to translate these remains to Constantinople, and that he must at once visit the shrine and remove thence an arm bone, three fingers of the right hand, and a tooth, and carry them away over sea to the west. Regulus was much troubled at the vision, but hastened to obey it, so putting the relics into a chest he set sail with some half-dozen other ecclesiastics, to whom he confided the celestial instructions that he had received. After a stormy voyage the vessel was at last dashed upon a rock, and Regulus and his companions landed on an unknown sh.o.r.e, and found themselves in a dense and gloomy forest. Here they were presently discovered by the aborigines, whose leader listened to their story and gave them land on which to build a church for the glory of G.o.d and the enshrining of the relics. This inhospitable sh.o.r.e proved to be that of "Caledonia, stern and wild," and the little forest church and hamlet that sprang up around it were the nucleus that thence and to the present day have been known as St. Andrews, a thriving, busy town in Fife, and for centuries the seat of a bishopric. On July 5th, 1318, Robert the Bruce repaired hither and testified his grat.i.tude to G.o.d for the victory vouchsafed to the Scots at Bannockburn by the intercession of St.

Andrew, guardian of the realm, when thirty thousand Scots defeated one hundred thousand Englishmen. What St. George could have been doing to allow this, seems a very legitimate question, but we can scarcely wonder that the Scots should very gladly appoint so potent a protector their patron, and look to him for succour in all their national difficulties.

On the blending of the two kingdoms into one under the {45} sovereignty of King James,[31] it became necessary to devise a new flag that should typify this union and blend together the emblems of the puissant St. George and the no less honoured St. Andrew, and the flag represented in Fig. 73 was the result--the flag of the United Kingdoms of England and Scotland, henceforth to be known as Great Britain.

The Royal Ordinance[32] ran as follows:--"Whereas some difference hath arisen between our subjects of South and North Britain, travelling by seas, 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 Greater 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: and in their fore-top our subjects of South Britain shall wear the Red Cross only, as they were wont, and our subjects of North Britain in their fore-top the White Cross only, as they were accustomed. Wherefore we will and command all our subjects to be comparable and obedient to this our order, and that from henceforth they do not use or bear their flags in any other sort, as they will answer the contrary at their peril."

Such a proclamation was sorely needed, as there was much ill-will and jealousy between the sailors and others of the two nationalities, and the Union flag itself, when "our heralds" produced it, did not by any means please the North, and the right to carry in fore-top the St. Andrew's Cross pure and simple was a concession that failed to conciliate them. The great grievance was that, as we see in Fig. 73, the Cross of St. George was placed in front of that of St. Andrew, and the Scottish Privy Council, in a letter dated Edinburgh, August 7th, 1606, thus poured forth their feelings:--"Most sacred Soverayne, a greate nomber of the maisteris of the schippis of this your Majesties kingdome hes verie havelie complenit to your Majesties Counsell, that the forme and patrone of the flagges of schippis sent down heir and command it to be ressavit and used be the subjectis of both kingdomes is verie prejudiciall to the fredome and dignitie of this Estate, and wil gif occasioun of reprotche to this natioun quhairevir the said flage sal happin to be worne beyond sea, {46} becaus, as your Sacred Majestie may persave, the Scottis Croce, callit Sanctandrois Croce, is twyse divydit, and the Inglishe Croce, callit Sanct George, drawne through the Scottis Croce, which is thereby obscurit, and no token nor mark to be seene of the Scottis armes. This will breid some heit and miscontentment betwix your Majesties subjectis, and it is to be feirit that some inconvenientis sall fall oute betwix thame, for our seyfaring men cannot be inducit to resave that flage as it is set down. They have drawne two new drauchtis and patrones as most indifferent for both kingdomes, whiche they presentid to the Counsell, and craved our approbation of the same, but we haif reserved that to your Majestie's princelie determinatioun, as moir particularlie the Erll of Mar, who was present, and herd their complaynt, and to whom we haif remitt.i.t the discourse and delyverie of that mater, will informe your Majestie and let your Heynes see the errour of the first patrone and the indifferencie of the two newe drauchties." These draughts are not to be found, nor does it appear that any notice was taken of the complaint.

The Scottish Union flag, as carefully depicted in a scarce little work published in 1701, and ent.i.tled "The Ensigns, Colours, and Flags of the s.h.i.+ps at Sea, belonging to the several Princes and States in the World,"

may be seen in Fig. 88. In it will be noted that the Cross of St. Andrew is placed in front of that of St. George--anyone comparing Figs. 73 and 88 will readily see wherein they differ. Though its appearance in a book of sea-flags would seem to imply that such a flag had been made, we know of no other instance of it. Fig. 84 was also suggested as a solution of the problem, but here we get false heraldry, the blue in contact with the red, and in any case a rather weak-looking arrangement.

The painful truth is that when two persons ride the same animal they cannot both be in front, and no amount of heraldic ingenuity will make two devices on a flag to be of equal value. The position next the staff is accounted more honourable than that remote from it, and the upper portion of the flag is more honourable than the lower.[33] At first sight it might appear that matters are impartially dealt out in Fig. 81, but the position next the staff is given to St. George, and in the quartered arrangement, Fig. 85, the same holds true. Both these were suggestions made at the time the difficulty was felt, but both were discarded in favour of the arrangement shown in Fig. 73.

This Union Flag is not very often met with. It occurrs on one of the great seals of Charles II., and is seen also as a Jack on the {47} bowsprits of s.h.i.+ps in paintings of early naval battles. It may, by good fortune, be seen also on the two colours of the 82nd regiment that in the year 1783 were suspended in St. Giles', Edinburgh, and a very good ill.u.s.tration of it may be seen in the National Gallery, where, in a battle scene by Copley, representing the death of Major Peirson, at St. Helier, Jersey, on January 6th, 1781, this Union flag is conspicuous in the centre of the picture. We have it again in Fig 57, the original flag of the East India Company; the difference between this and the second Union Flag, made on the admission of Ireland's Cross of St. Patrick, may be very well seen on a comparison of Figs. 57 and 61. We have it again in Figs. 142 and 143, flags of the revolting American Colonists before they had thrown off all allegiance to the Old Country.

A knowledge of the history of the flag has not only interest, but is of some little importance. We remember seeing a picture of the sailing of the _Mayflower_, in which, by a curious lack of a little technical knowledge, the flag depicted was the Union Flag of to-day, which did not come into existence until the first year of the present century, whereas the historic event represented in the picture took place in the year 1620. In a fresco in the House of Lords, representing Charles II. landing in England,[34] the artist has introduced a boat bearing the present Union Flag. In each of these cases it is evident that it should have been the first Union--that of England and Scotland--that the flag should have testified to.

Charles I. issued a proclamation on May 5th, 1634, forbidding any but the Royal s.h.i.+ps to carry the Union flag; all merchantmen, according to their nationality, being required to show either the Cross of St. George or that of St. Andrew. Queen Anne, on July 28th, 1707, required that merchant vessels should fly a red flag "with a Union Jack described in a canton at the upper corner thereof, next the staff," while the Union Flag, as before, was reserved for the Royal Navy. This merchant flag, if we cut out the inscription there shown, would be similar to Fig. 142. This is interesting, because, after many changes, so lately as October 18th, 1864, it was ordered that the red ensign once again should be the distinguis.h.i.+ng flag of the commercial marine; the present flag is given in Fig. 97. It is further interesting because this proclamation of Queen Anne's is the first time that the term Union Jack, so far as we are aware, is officially used.

Technically, our national banner should be called the Union Flag, though in ordinary parlance it is always called the Union Jack. {48} The latter flag is a diminutive of the former, and the term ought in strictness to be confined to the small Union Flag flown from the Jack-staff on the bowsprit of a s.h.i.+p. The Union Flag is, besides this, only used as the special distinguis.h.i.+ng flag of an Admiral of the Fleet, when it is hoisted at the main top-gallant mast-head, and when the Sovereign is on board a vessel, in which case the Royal Standard is flown at the main and the Union at the mizen. With a white border round it, as in Fig. 104, it is the signal for a pilot: hence this is called the Pilot Jack. The sea flags now in use are the white, red, and blue ensigns, Figs. 95, 96, 97, to be hereafter described, while the Union flag is devoted especially to land service, being hoisted on fortresses and government offices, and borne by the troops.

Why the flag should be called "Jack" at all has been the subject of much controversy. It is ordinarily suggested that the derivation is from Jacques, the French word for James, the Union Jack springing into existence under his auspices. Why it should be given this French name does not seem very clear, except that many of the terms used in blazonry are French in their origin. It never seems to have been suggested that, granting the reference to King James, the Latin Jacobus would be a more appropriate explanation, as the Latin names of our kings have for centuries supplanted the earlier Norman-French on their coins, seals, and doc.u.ments. Several other theories have been broached, of varying degrees of improbability; one of these deriving it from the word "jaque"[35] (hence our modern jacket), the surcoat worn over the armour in mediaeval days. This, we have seen, had the Cross of St. George always represented on it; but there is no proof that the jaque was ever worn with the union of the two crosses upon it, so that the derivation breaks down just at the critical point. The present flag came into existence in the reign of King George, but no one ever dreams on this account, or any other, of calling it the Union George.

On the death of Charles I., the partners.h.i.+p between England and Scotland was dissolved, and the Union Flag, Fig. 73, therefore, was disestablished, and was only restored in the general Restoration, when the Commonwealth and Protectorate had run their course, and Charles II. ascended the throne of his forefathers.

The earliest Commonwealth Flag was a simple reversion to the Cross of St.

George, Fig. 91. At a meeting of the Council of State, held on February 22nd, 1648-49, it was "ordered that the s.h.i.+ps at sea in service of the State shall onely beare the red Crosse {49} in a white flag. That the engravings upon the Sterne of ye s.h.i.+ps shall be the Armes of England and Ireland in two Scutcheons, as is used in the Seals, and that a warrant be issued to ye Commissioners of ye Navy to see it put in execution with all speed." The communication thus ordered to be made to the Commissioners was in form a letter from the President of the Council as follows:--"To ye Commissioners of ye Navy.--Gentlemen,--There hath beene a report made to the Councell by Sir Henry Mildmay of your desire to be informed what is to be borne in the flaggs of those s.h.i.+ps that are in the Service of the State, and what to be upon the Sterne in lieu of the Armes formerly thus engraven.

Upon the consideration of the Councell whereof, the Councell have resolved that they shall beare the Red Crosse only in a white flagg, quite through the flagg. And that upon the Sterne of the s.h.i.+pps there shall be the Red Crosse in one Escotcheon, and the Harpe in one other, being the Armes of England and Ireland, both Escotcheons joyned according to the pattern herewith sent unto you. And you are to take care that these Flaggs may be provided with all expedition for the s.h.i.+pps for the Summer Guard, and that these engraveings may also be altered according to this direction with all possible expedition.--Signed in ye name and by order of ye Councell of State appointed by Authority of Parliament.--Ol. Cromwell, Derby House, February 23rd, 1648."

In a Council meeting held on March 5th, considerably within a month of the one we have just referred to, it is "ordered that the Flagg that is to be borne by the Admiral, Vice-Admiral, and Rere-Admiral be that now presented, viz., the Armes of England and Ireland in two severall Escotcheons in a Red Flagg, within a compartment."[36] This arrangement may be seen in Fig. 82.

A Commonwealth flag that is still preserved at the dockyard, Chatham, differs slightly from this. The ground of the flag is red, but the s.h.i.+elds are placed directly upon it without any intervening gold border, and around them is placed a large wreath of palm and laurel in dark green colour.

In the year 1787 an interesting book called the "Respublica" was published; the author, Sir John Prestwich, deriving much of his material from MSS.

left by an ancestor of his who lived during the Interregnum. In this the reader may find full descriptions of many of the flags of the Parliamentarians. One of these is much like the Chatham example already referred to, except that the ground of the flag is blue, and that outside the s.h.i.+elds, but within the wreath, is found the inscription--"_Floreat Respublica._" {50}