UNION JACK HISTORY - Primary Research

The Union Jack is a transnational flag full of historical significance. It represents the union of different countries and the growth of a family of nations whose influence extends far beyond the British Isles. This far-reaching influence is still seen today in the incorporation of the Union Jack in other national flags such as that of Australia. The British flag is called the "Union Jack", an expression that needs to be explained.

The Union Jack is a fine expression of unity as well as diversity. The British flag incorporates the national symbols of three distinct countries, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. In fact its name "Union Jack" emphasises the very nature of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland as a union of nations. 

The flag is also known by another name, this too, emphasizing the idea of union: the "Union flag", perhaps a less common term but a little more precise. The countries comprising the British Isles are not inward-looking or isolated states with an insular mentality; together they constitute a powerful union that has spanned centuries. Recent devolution that gave Scotland its own Parliament and Wales its own Assembly has also emphasized the importance of individual national identities within the union without affecting the essential unity of Great Britain. On the contrary, it has strengthened it. Recognition of, and respect for national identities are an essential ingredients for effective union. The Union Jack symbolizes all this: respect for individuality within a closely knit community.

St. George's Cross, the flag of England	St. Andrew's Cross, the flag of Scotland

St. Patrick's Cross, the flag of Ireland

The cross represented in each flag is named after the patron saint of each country: St. George, patron saint of England, St. Andrew, patron saint of Scotland and St. Patrick, patron saint of Ireland.

The image below renders the idea of the union of the three flags forming one unified, transnational Flag.

No mention has been made of the Welsh flag. The Welsh dragon was not incorporated into the Union Flag because Wales had already been united to England when the first version of the Union Flag was designed in 1606. It is, however, in common use:

The Welsh Dragon

THE HISTORY OF THE UNION JACK

The first step taken in the creation of the flag of Great Britain was on 12th April 1606. When King James VI of Scotland became king of England (King James I) it was decided that the union of the two realms under one king should be represented symbolically by a new flag. Originally It consisted in the red cross of England superimposed on the white cross of Scotland on the blue background of the Scottish flag as in this illustration:

Thus we have the first flag of the union called, in fact, the "Union Flag".

What was meant to be a symbol of unity actually became a symbol of international controversy. The English resented the fact that the white background of their cross had disappeared and that the new flag had the blue Scottish background. On the other hand the Scottish resented the fact that the English red cross was superimposed on the Scottish white cross!! The old adage says you cannot please everyone but this first version of the Union Flag seemed to please no-one!!

Apparently there was an unofficial "Scottish version" that attempted to rectify the sense of injustice that the Scottish felt at this innovatory flag. A distinct reference was made to this version when the King visited Dumfries in 1618. Here is what it looked like:

The controversy was destined to last!! There is conflict in the best of families!!

However, the flag was usually restricted to use at sea until the two kingdoms of Scotland and England were united in 1707. It was most probably from this use at sea that it got the name "Jack" ("Union Jack"). It was usually flown at the bow end of the ship, from the jack staff.

An attempt was made to modify the flag under Oliver Cromwell. A harp was placed in the centre, representing Ireland. However, the original design was restored along with the restoration of the monarchy in 1660.

The flag continued to be used in its original form until Jan. 1, 1801. At that time, with the union of Ireland and Great Britain, it became necessary to represent Ireland in the Union Flag and so the cross of St. Patrick was include thus creating the flag as we now have it. When the southern part of Ireland gained its independence in 1921 and became the Irish Free State no alteration was made to the Union Jack.

The name "Union Jack" became official when it was approved in Parliament in 1908. It was stated that "the Union Jack should be regarded as the National flag".

At the moment, the countries representing the UK, are still united under one flag. How long this will be so, no one knows. Even now, each of the countries which form the United Kingdom, is fighting for its own independence.

For the first time since 1707, the Scots now have their own Parliament in Edinburgh, and the Welsh their own national assembly in Cardiff. As a result, the Scottish saltire and the red dragon of Wales are much more in evidence. 

Is the Union Flag (Union Jack) on its way out?

In 1997, British Airways decided to scrub the Union Flag off the tails of its airliners and replace it with pictures of jackals from Africa and other ethnic designs. Its chief executive, Bob Ayling, said that the airline was no longer a British company with global operations, but a global company that happened to be headquartered in Britain: “We are proud to have been born and raised in Britain,” he explained. “But we want to show Britain as modern, not imperial...We still have our Beefeaters, but we now lead the world in restaurants and in fashion.”

 

In 2003, a campaign was launched to try and modernise the red, white and blue flag by adding a touch of black to reflect multicultural Britain in the 21st Century. The proposed new flag (see right) was the work of Nigel Turner, an enthusiastic fan of the UK's transformation into a multiracial society over the past 50 years. The campaign was NOT successful.

2007
 

More teenagers see themselves as English, Scottish or Welsh rather than British

 
A YouGov poll carried out by the Daily Telegraph in 2007 found that fewer than one third of today's teenagers instinctively think of themselves as British rather than English, Scottish or Welsh. But, pressed to say whether they also think of themselves as British, the great majority say yes. Only 10 per cent of the teenage sample, many of them Scots, reject a British identity altogether.
Most people want the United Kingdom broken up
An ICM poll published by the Daily Mail in 2007 suggested that majorities of voters in both Scotland and England now want the countries to split.

The Future?

MY INITIAL THOUGHTS

In my opinion I don't think that the union jack will ever change as, it is such a monumental and significant piece of design for great Britain. The union jack is recognized world wide so changing it might be quite difficult task which will have to please many people. The fact that the union jack appears on many other countries flags will affect how it works as a whole so I will have to look at the flag in context. There are 2 routes to go down with this brief, I could either evolve the flag and play with the existing concept and design or completely revolutionize the flag and create something new and interesting.

Nowadays Britain stands for very different principles to what we once stood for, so it might be important to try and create a completely different identity for britain which looks at Great Britain as a multicultural society and maybe stray away from its religious connotations of the patron saints. I think that the world is very different to how it was when the flag was designed, so this is something to consider when designing the flag.

  

I think it is important to look at the aspect of unity. This is a possitive message to revolve around and in this day and age I think unity is key to mankind. I know its very cliche but the main problem we have with the world is war and conflict. In the this day and age we are seeing more and more cultures fuse together and live as one, but it is the conflict between classes and religions we have a problem with. I want to try play on the concept of unity and togetherness as apposed to separation.

From looking at the history of the flag I can see that each country wasn't always happy with the design, Scotland wasn't happy the st Georges cross was laid over the st Andrews cross. So I will consider designing a flag which looks at each country as equals.