British Flag Irina Averkieva

British Flag The United Kingdom (The UK) consists of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The British flag is called The Union Jack

The British flag, known as the Union Jack, is a combination of three flags: the Saint George’s cross, the Saint Andrew’s cross and the Saint Patrick’s cross. They represent England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The Saint George’s cross represents England

English flag The Saint George’s cross is the English flag. Saint George is the patron saint of England.

The Saint Andrew’s cross represents Scotland

Scottish Flag The Saint Andrew’s cross is the Scottish flag. Saint Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland.  

The Saint Patrick’s cross represents Northern Ireland

The Irish Flag The Saint Patrick’s cross is the flag of Northern Ireland. Saint Patrick is the patron saint of Northern Ireland.                                                        

The Welsh Flag Wales isn’t represented on the Union Jack. The Welsh people have their own flag.

The Welsh Flag The Welsh flag shows a dragon. Saint David is the patron saint of Wales.                               

Why isn’t the Welsh dragon represented on the Union Jack? The Welsh dragon is not on the Union flag because when the first Union Flag was created in 1606, Wales was already united with England in the 13th century. In 1536, under Henry VIII, the Act of Union joined England and Wales officially.  

The First Union Jack In 1603 - King James VI of Scotland inherited the English throne and became King James I of England. In 1606 The National Flags of Scotland and England were united for using at sea, thus the first Union Flag was made.

The present Union Flag In 1801 Ireland was united with Great Britain and the present Union Flag was formed.

Match the flags to the countries and to the Patron Saints England Wales Northern Ireland Scotland St George's Cross St Andrew's Cross  St Patrick's Cross St David  

Guess the country The flag of … is red, blue, white. The UK The flag of … is blue and white. The flag of … is red, white, green. The flag of … is red and white. The flag of … is red, white, the red hand. The UK Scotland Wales England Northern Ireland

England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland were all joined together and called the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The name was later changed to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 1921 when the greater part of Ireland left the United Kingdom.

But what if Wales were represented, what would the flag look like? In November 2007, a Welsh member of parliament, Ian Lucas, asked the Parliament, why Wales was not represented on the Union Jack. Look at Ian Lucas' version of the Union flag with Wales represented.

British Flag

The National Coat of Arms