The Union Flag is one of the most recognisable flags in the world, and almost everything people confidently say about it is slightly wrong — including, quite often, which way up it goes.
What it is made of
The flag layers three national crosses:
- Saint George’s Cross — a red upright cross on white, for England.
- Saint Andrew’s Cross — a white diagonal cross on blue, for Scotland.
- Saint Patrick’s Cross — a red diagonal cross on white, for Ireland.
England and Scotland were combined in 1606 after the Union of the Crowns. Ireland’s cross was added in 1801. The design has not changed since, despite most of Ireland leaving the union in 1922.
Where is Wales?
It is not there. When the first union flag was designed, Wales had already been annexed to the Kingdom of England for over sixty years and was not treated as a separate kingdom, so it got no representation. The Welsh have been pointing this out ever since, and proposals to add the Welsh Dragon resurface every few years without ever going anywhere.
Union Flag or Union Jack?
Both are accepted, and the argument that “Jack” is only correct at sea is a well-loved myth. A jack is a flag flown from the bow of a ship, and the flag certainly is one — but “Union Jack” has been used on land since at least the eighteenth century, and the Flag Institute treats the two names as equally valid. Nobody in Britain will correct you.
Which way up
The flag has a right way up, and getting it wrong was historically read as a distress signal. Look at the top-left corner, nearest the pole: the wide white diagonal band should sit above the red one. If the thin white stripe is on top, the flag is upside down. It is flown incorrectly at public events more often than you would imagine.