Union Flag
In July 2007, British prime minister Gordon Brown unveiled plans to have the Union Flag flown more often from government buildings.[3] While consultation on new guidelines is underway, the decision to fly the flag may be made by each government department.
Previously the flag was generally only flown on public buildings on days marking the birthdays of members of the Royal Family, the wedding anniversary of the monarch, Commonwealth Day, Accession Day, Coronation Day, the Queen's Official Birthday, Remembrance Sunday and on the days of the State Opening and prorogation of Parliament. The Union Flag is flown at half mast from the announcement of the death of the Sovereign (save for Proclamation Day), or upon command of the Sovereign.[29]
The current flag days where the Union Flag should be flown from government buildings throughout the UK are:
- 20 January (Birthday of the Countess of Wessex)
- 6 February (Anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II)
- 19 February (Birthday of the Duke of York)
- Second Sunday in March (Commonwealth Day)
- 10 March (Birthday of Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex)
- 21 April (Birthday of Queen Elizabeth II)
- 9 May (Europe Day)
- 2 June (Anniversary of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II)
- 10 June (Birthday of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
- June (no fixed date) - Official Birthday of Queen Elizabeth II
- 17 July (Birthday of the the Duchess of Cornwall)
- 15 August (Birthday of the Princess Royal)
- Second Sunday in November (Remembrance Sunday)
- 14 November (Birthday of the Prince of Wales)
- 20 November (Anniversary of the wedding of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh)
In addition, the Union Flag should be flown in the following areas on specified days:
- 1 March (Wales only, for St David's Day)
- 23 April (England only, for St George's Day)
- 3 September (Scotland only, for Merchant Navy Day)
- The Day of the Opening of a Session of the Houses of Parliament, Greater London only
- The day of the prorogation of a Session of the Houses of Parliament, Greater London only
However, on 30 November, (St Andrew's Day), the Union Flag can be flown in Scotland only where a building has more than one flagpole—on this day the Saltire will not be lowered to make way for the Union Flag if there is only one flagpole.[30] This difference arose after Members of the Scottish Parliament complained that Scotland was the only country in the world that could not fly its national flag on its national day.[31]
There is no specified flag flown on 17 March, (St Patrick's Day), in Northern Ireland. However, the St Patrick's saltire flag has been used in recent times for St Patrick's Day in Northern Ireland by various organisations wishing to avoid the sectarianism that may be implied by the use of either the tricolour of the Republic of Ireland or symbols of Unionism such as the Union Flag of the United Kingdom or the former flag of Northern Ireland.
Non-government organisations may fly the Union Flag whenever they choose.
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Specifications for flag use
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The flag does not have reflectional symmetry, due to the slight pinwheeling of St Patrick's cross, which is technically called the counterchange of saltires. Thus, it has a right side and a wrong side up. To fly the flag the correct way up, the broad portion of the white cross of St Andrew should be above the red band of St Patrick (and the thin white portion below) in the upper hoist canton (the corner at the top nearest to the flag-pole), giving the Scottish symbol precedence over the Irish symbol. This is expressed by the phrases wide white top and broad side up. Traditionally, flying a flag upside down is understood as a distress signal. In the case of the Union Flag, the difference is so subtle as to be easily missed by many.
The normal proportions of the flag are 1:2, except in the British Army where a 3:5 version is used. The British Army's flag is the Union Flag, but in 1938 a "British Army Non-Ceremonial Flag" was devised, featuring a Lion on crossed blades with the St Edward's Crown on a red background. This is not the equivalent of the ensigns of the other armed services, but is used at recruiting and military or sporting events, when the Army needs to be identified but the reverence and ceremony due to the regimental flags and the Union Flag would be inappropriate.
The colour specifications for the colours Union Flag (Royal) Blue, Union Flag Red and White are:[32]
| Scheme | Blue | Red | White | General Note: The colour schemes are not all congruent. This is due to different specifications for different types of media (for example, screen and print)
* Not official; these are Wikimedia Commons' own conversions of the Pantone. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pantone | 280 C | 186 C | Safe | |
| Web-Safe Hex | #003399 | #CC0000 | #FFFFFF | |
| MoD | 8711D | 8711H | 8711J | |
| NATO | 8305.99.130.4580 | 8305.99.130.4584 | 8305.99.130.4585 | |
| CMYK | 100.72.0.18.5 | 0.91.76.6 | 0.0.0.0 | |
| RGB (Hex)* | 0, 36, 125 (#00247D) | 207, 20, 43 (#CF142B) | 255, 255, 255 (#FFFFFF) |
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Usage and disposal
In general there are no prescriptions regarding the use and disposal of the flag in a manner akin to the United States Flag Code. This reflects its largely unofficial status as a national flag. There is no contemporary national concept of flag desecration, and a ritual such as flag burning would as likely be looked upon with amusement as disdain. There is also no specific way in which the Union Flag should be folded as there is with the United States Flag, it should just be folded ready for the next use. [33]
Royal Navy Stores Duties Instructions, article 447, dated 26 February 1914, specified that flags condemned for further service use were to be torn up into small pieces and disposed of as rags (ADM 1/8369/56), not to be used for decoration or sold. The exception was flags that had flown in action: these could be framed and kept on board, or transferred to a 'suitable place', such as a museum. (ADM 1/8567/245) [34]
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Other names
- In Canada the flag is officially called the Royal Union Flag.
- In China the flag has the nickname Rice-Character Flag (米字旗 pinyin: mǐzìqí) since the pattern looks like the Chinese character for "rice" (米).[35]
- In some countries, including Ireland, the Union flag is sometimes contemptuously termed the Butcher's Apron, because of its perceived association with the killing of civilian populations by English, and later British, forces.[36] In 2006, Sandra White, a Scottish National Party Member of the Scottish Parliament, caused some controversy when she referred to the flag in this way.[37][38]
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See also
- List of British flags — flags used within the United Kingdom.
- Gallery of flags by design
- Cross
- Union Jack Club, London
- Other "Union Flags":
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Further reading
- Nick Groom (2007). The Union Jack: The Story of the British Flag. Atlantic Books. ISBN 9781843543374.
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References
- ^ Royal Navy: Ship's Badges and Flags, see Union Flag
- ^ Union Flag. Official web site of the British Monarchy.
- ^ a b Flag Institute Accessed 2 May 2007
- ^ a b c d Flags of the World Accessdate=2008-06-10
- ^ "Union recognition" BBC News online article.
- ^ Merchant Shipping Act 1995 (c. 21) section 4(1)(a)(ii)
- ^ The Union Jack in the Australian National Flag
- ^ The Royal Union Flag / Union Jack in Canada
- ^ a b Union Jack Brief History (HTML). Retrieved on 2008-06-10.
- ^ Union Jack Flag Information (HTML). Retrieved on 2008-06-10.
- ^ www.fotw.net/flags/gb-lthse.html#cnlc Flags of the World, Northern Lighthouse Commissioner's Flag
- ^ Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania (U.S.)
- ^ The Kings and Queens of England and Scotland by Plantagenet Somerset Fry (Grove Press, 1990). Includes several proposed versions of the original Union Flag.
- ^ Proposal to include a Welsh symbol in the Union Flag
- ^ welshflaghist (HTML). Retrieved on 2008-06-10.
- ^ heraldicflags (HTML). Retrieved on 2008-06-10.
- ^ Rebranding puts black marks against UK flag. BBC News Online (June 11, 2003). Retrieved on 2008-02-26.
- ^ Welsh dragon call for Union flag BBC News Online November 27, 2007
- ^ The new face of Britain Flag poll results. telegraph.co.uk (December 11, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-12-11.
- ^ Japan offers to solve 'Union Jack problem'. telegraph.co.uk (December 06, 2007). Retrieved on 2008-02-26.
- ^ Flags of the World Use of the Union Flag at Sea
- ^ Court of Lord Lyon page (HTML).
- ^ Commonwealth Day (www.pch.gc.ca) Accessed 30 Dec 2007
- ^ Bills and Legislation - Union Flag Bill
- ^ CRW Flags
- ^ CRW Flags
- ^ Hong Kong
- ^ Flag of Australia
- ^ Department of Culture, Media and Sport's rules, issued on behalf of The Queen
- ^ Scotland.gov.uk- "Royal and ceremonial"/
- ^ BBC News- "Ministers agree flag day review"
- ^ The Flag Institute
- ^ http://flagspot.net/flags/ca_prtcl.html Canadian Flag Etiquette
- ^ [1] CRW Flags.
- ^ A Google Images search for '米字旗' turns up several United Kingdom flags
- ^ [2] The Sunday Business Post, June 25, 2006
- ^ http://news.scotsman.com/latest_scotland.cfm?id=82122006
- ^ Snp Face More Flak Over Flag Attacks - The Daily Record
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External links
- United Kingdom at Flags of the World
- The Lyon Court: Flags
- Monochrome Union Flag not flown to avoid controversy
- British flags during The Protectorate and the Commonwealth of England – see external link
- British Monarchy — Union Flag
- BBC page for 400th anniversary of flag
- How to draw the Union Jack
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