39 Facts About Union Flag

Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the de facto national flag of the United Kingdom.

The Union Flag appears in the canton of the flags of several nations and territories that are former British possessions or dominions, as well as in the flag of the US State of Hawaii, which has no such connection.

Terms Union Jack and Union Flag are both used historically for describing the national flag of the United Kingdom.

Whether the term Union Jack applies only when used as a jack flag on a ship is a matter of debate.

Notwithstanding Their Lordships' circular of 1902, by 1913 the Admiralty described the "Union Flag" and added in a footnote that 'A Jack is a Flag to be flown only on the "Jack" Staff'.

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Union Flag Jack is normally twice as long as it is tall, a ratio of 1:2.

In South Africa, the Union Jacks flown alongside the National Flag between 1928 and 1957 were 2:3 flags.

The ground of the current Union Flag is a deep "navy" blue, which can be traced to the colour used for the Blue Ensign of the Royal Navy's historic "Blue Squadron".

One early proposal for the Union Flag Jack, consisting of a white St Andrew's saltire with blue fimbriation superimposed over a red St George's cross on a field of white.

Reconstruction of the Union Flag Jack displayed on the ceiling boss from Linlithgow Palace.

Since there is no Welsh element in the Union Jack, Wrexham's Labour MP Ian Lucas proposed on 26 November 2007 in a House of Commons debate that the Union Flag be combined with the Welsh flag to reflect Wales's status within the UK, and that the red dragon be added to the Union Flag's red, white, and blue pattern.

Union Flag said the Union Jack currently only represented the other three UK nations, and Minister for Culture, Creative Industries and Tourism Margaret Hodge conceded that Lucas had raised a valid point for debate.

Union Flag Jack is used as a jack by commissioned warships and submarines of the Royal Navy, and by commissioned army and Royal Air Force vessels.

Union Flag is worn at the masthead of a ship to indicate the presence of the Sovereign or an Admiral of the Fleet.

In March 2021, the UK government published new guidance for the Union Flag to be flown all year round on UK government buildings, unless another flag is being flown – such as another national flag of the UK, or a county flag, or other flags to mark civic pride.

Union Flag is flown at half mast from the announcement of the death of the Sovereign, or upon command of the Sovereign.

Union Flag has no official status in the United Kingdom, and there are no national regulations concerning its use or prohibitions against flag desecration.

Outside the UK, the Union Flag Jack is usually part of a special ensign in which it is placed in the upper left hand corner of a blue field, with a signifying crest in the bottom right.

Union Flag was used as a flag of Australia until 1953, although the Australian blue ensign saw use as a governmental flag of Australia, and an informal national flag of the country since the early 20th century.

The Union Flag served as the formal flag for the various colonies of British North America, and it remained as the formal flag of Canada after confederation.

The Union Flag was Canada's formal flag until 1965, although from the late-19th century to 1965, the Canadian Red Ensign was used as an informal flag of Canada.

Union Flag was the formal flag for the Dominion of Newfoundland, a separate dominion of the British Empire from 1907 to 1949.

Union Flag became the flag of New Zealand after the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in February 1840, replacing the flag used by the United Tribes of New Zealand.

However, the Union Flag continued to see tandem use with the national flag of New Zealand into the 1950s.

The Union Jack was to be flown alongside the National Flag at the Houses of Parliament, from the principal government buildings in the capitals, at Union ports, on government offices abroad, and at such other places as the government might determine.

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Union Flag was formerly used in Hong Kong when it was a British Dependent Territory.

However, the meaning behind the use of the flags by pro-democracy protestors, including the Union Flag, remains disputed with protestors citing a variety of reasons for flying it.

Some pro-democracy protestors that flew foreign flags, including the Union Flag, did so in an effort to attract international media attention to the protests, while others did so in an effort to irritate the central government of China.

Use of foreign flags at the protests, including the Union Flag, has been cited multiple times by the central government of China as evidence for their claim that foreign interference is steering the protests in Hong Kong against the central government.

The most recent decommissioning of the Union Flag came on 1 July 1997, when the former Dependent Territory of Hong Kong was handed over to the People's Republic of China.

In former British colonies, the Union Jack was used interchangeably with informal flags of the territory for significant parts of their colonial early history.

The Union Flag was used as the flag of Canada until it was re-adopted as a ceremonial flag, and the Maple Leaf flag made the official national flag in 1965.

The pre-1801 Union Flag sees limited use by private organizations, most notably the United Empire Loyalists Association of Canada.

Basque Country's flag, the Ikurrina, is loosely based on the Union Jack, reflecting the significant commercial ties between Bilbao and Britain at the time the Ikurrina was designed in 1894.

The Union Jack was contained as part of top left hand shield and close to the flags of the United States and France, there was contained the flag of Prussia, but it was removed around 1917.

Flag of the Chilean city of Coquimbo features the Union Jack, owing to its historical commercial links to Britain.

Union Flag can be found in the canton of several of the ensigns flown by vessels and aircraft of the United Kingdom and its overseas territories.

In 1970, the white-bordered Union Flag ceased to be the signal for a pilot, but references to it as national colours were not removed from the current Merchant Shipping Act and it was legally interpreted as a flag that could be flown on a merchant ship, as a jack if desired.

Union Flag has been a prominent symbol in the sphere of fashion since the British Invasion movement of the 1960s, in a similar manner to the American Stars and Stripes flag, and came back into fashion in the mid-1990s 'Cool Britannia' era, notably Spice Girl Geri Halliwell's iconic Union Jack dress of the 1997 Brit Awards.