Britain’s symbols work on two levels: a small number for the United Kingdom as a whole, and a much richer set belonging to each of the four nations separately. The second set is used far more often, and getting them mixed up is a reliable way to irritate people.
United Kingdom
- The Union Flag — the crosses of St George, St Andrew and St Patrick combined. Wales is not represented.
- The Royal Coat of Arms — quartered with the arms of England, Scotland and Ireland, supported by the English lion and the Scottish unicorn.
- “God Save the King” — the national anthem.
- Britannia — the helmeted female personification of Britain, on coins for centuries and on the fifty pence piece.
- John Bull — the stout, plain-speaking countryman in a Union Jack waistcoat, a satirical personification of England created in 1712 and now largely retired.
England
- Flag: the Cross of St George, red on white.
- Flower: the Tudor rose, red and white combined.
- Animal: the lion — see the three lions.
- Patron saint: St George, 23 April.
Scotland
- Flag: the Saltire, a white diagonal cross on blue, and one of the oldest national flags in continuous use.
- Flower: the thistle. Legend has it a Norse raiding party attacking by night trod on one, and the cry gave the alarm.
- Animal: the unicorn, adopted in the fifteenth century precisely because it was held to be the mortal enemy of the lion. On the royal arms it is shown chained, because a free unicorn was considered dangerous.
- Patron saint: St Andrew, 30 November.
Wales
- Flag: the red dragon on green and white.
- Plants: both the leek and the daffodil. The leek is the older — soldiers are said to have worn one to identify each other in battle — and the daffodil became popular in the nineteenth century partly because the Welsh words for the two are similar.
- Patron saint: St David, 1 March.
Northern Ireland
- Flag: contested. The old Ulster Banner has no official status since 1973, and Northern Ireland has no agreed flag — which is itself the most eloquent symbol of the place.
- Plant: the shamrock, used by St Patrick to explain the Trinity.
- Emblem: the Red Hand of Ulster, used by both communities and by neither exclusively.
- Patron saint: St Patrick, 17 March.
Using them
The important practical point is that flying a St George’s Cross in Scotland, or calling the Saltire “the British flag”, will be noticed. The Union Flag represents the state; the national flags represent the nations, and people are considerably more attached to the second.