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THE STORY OF THE
UNION JACK

HOW IT GREW AND WHAT IT IS. PARTICULARLY IN ITS
CONNECTION WITH THE HISTORY OF CANADA.

BARLOW CUMBERLAND,

Paiit President of the yatiojial Club, Toronto, and Supreme President of
the •' Sons) of England," Canada.

ILLUSTRATED.

TORONTO:
^^'ILLIAM BRIGGS,

WesLKY BliLDIXGS.

MoxTRKAL : C. W. COATES.

Halifax : S F HUESTIS.

189';

Entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year one
thousand eight hundred and ninety-seven, hy Barlow Cumberland,
at the Department of Agriculture.

THE FLAG ITSELF

THIS STORY OF THE

IHnion Sack

IS DEDICATED WITH .MUCH RESPECT

ONE OF ITS SONS.

1. St. George.

CONTENTS.

Chapter Page

I. — The Instinct of Emblems 9

II. — Origins of National Flags 18

III. — The Origin of the Jacks . - - - - 31

IV.— The English Jack 40

V. — The Supremacy of the English Jack - - 51

VI. — The Scotch Jack 6.3

VII. — The "Additional Jack" of James I - - - 71

VIII — The English Jack Restored - - - - 81

IX. — The Sovereignty of the Seas - - - - 98

X.— The Jack of Queen Anne, 1707 - - - - 112

XL — The Union Jack — The Emblem of Parliamentary

Union 12.3

XII. — The Union Jack and Parliamentary Union in

Canada - 131

XIII.— The Irish Jack 143

XIV.— The Jack of George III, 1801 • - - - 156

XV. — The Lessons of the Crosses - - - - 166

XVI. — The Union Jack, the Flag of Canada - - 174

XVII. — The Union Jack, the Flag of Canada - - 183

XVIII. — The Union Jack of Canada, the Flag of

Liberty in America 192

XIX. — The [Jniun Jack of Canada, the Flag of

Liberty to the People 203

XX. — The Union Flag of the British Empire - - 213

Appendix A.— A Plea for the Maple Leaf - - - 227

M B. — Canadian War Medals .... 231

II C. — A Sample Canadian Record - - - 231

LIST OF ILLUSTRATlOiNS.

No. Page

1. St. George

2. Assyrian Emblems - 11

3. Eagle Emblems - - - 12

4. Tortoise -------.-. 14

5. Wolf - - 14

6. Cambuidge Ensign, 1776 27

7. Arms of the Washington Family - - - - 28

8. Washington's Book-Plate ------ 23

9. Washington's Seals 29

10. CoLODRs OF 10th Royal Grenadiers, Canada - - 34

11. A Red Cross Knight 37

12. St. George 41

13. The Seal of Lyme Regis ------ 46

14. Brass in Elsyne Church, A.D. 1347 - - - - 47

15. The Htnri Grace a Dieu, 1515. 56

16. St. Andrew 64

17. Scotch "Talle Shippe " 16th Century - - - 67

18. Royal Arms of James I., 1603 ----- 72

19. Jack of James I., 1606 - - 73

20. The Somreign of the Sea.% 1637 86

21. Commonwealth 20 Shilling Piece - - - - 88

22. The Naseby. Charles II. 94

23. Whip Lash Pendant, British Navy - . . . 105

24. Union Jack of Anne, 1707 - - - - - - 112

25. Fort Niagara, 1759 - - - - - - - 119

26. Assault of Quebec, 1759 121

27. Fort George and the Port of New York in 1770 - 128

28. Royal Arms of George II. 133

List of Illustrations.

No. Page

29. The Great Seal of Upper Canada, 1792 - - - 138

30. Upper Canada Penny 141

31 St. Patrick - 144

32. Labarum of Constantine 146

33. Harp of Hibernia - 147

34. Seal of Carkickfergus, 1605 153

35. Arms of Queen Victoria - 154

36. Union Jack of George III,, 1801 .... 157

37. Outline Jack. The Proper Proportions of the Crosses 159

38. The War Medal, 1793-1814 ------ 189

39. The North- West Canada Medal - - - - 191

40. Flag of the Governor-General of Canada - - 209

41. Flag of the Lieutenant-Governor of Quhbec - - 210

42. Australian Emblems 218

COLOURED PLATES.

I. 1, Red Ensign— 2, White Ensign— 3, Blue Ensign.
IL 1, British — 2, Italy— 3, Greece— 4, German —

5, French — 6, United States - - - - 25

III. 1, Grand Union, 1776 — 2, United St.^tes, 1777 —

3, United States, 1897 .... - 30

IV. 1, English Jack — 2, Scotch Jack— 3, J.-vck of James I. 65
V. 1, Commonwealth Ensign — 2, Cromwell's "Great

Union"— 3, Ensign Red 88

VI. 1, Union Jack of Anne— 2, Red Ensign of Anne—

3, Irish Jack 112

VII. 1, Present Union Jack— 2, Jack Wrongly Made—

3, Jack Wrongly Placed 160

VIII. Nelson's Signal - 170

IX. ], Canadian Red Ensign— 2, Canadian Blue Ensign

—3, Suggested Canadian Ensign - - - 176

THE UNION JACK.

*' It's only a small bit of bunting,
It's only an old coloured rag,
Yet thousands have died for its honour
And shed their best blood for the tlag.

" It's charged with the cross of St. Andrew,
Which, of old, Scotland's heroes has led ;
It carries the cross of St. Patrick,

For which Ireland's bravest have bled.

" Joined with these is our old English ensign,
St. George's red cross on white field,
Round which, from King Richard to Wolseley,
Britons conquer or die, but ne'er yield.

" It flutters triumphant o'er ocean.

As free as the wind and the waves.
And bondsmen from shackles unloosened
'Xeath its shadows no longer are slaves.

The Union Jack.

" It floats over Cyprus and Malta,

O'er Canada, the Indies, Hong Kong ;
And Britons, where'er their flag's flying,
Claim the right which to Britons belong.

♦' We hoist it to show our devotion.

To our Queen, to our country, and laws ;
It's the outward and visible emblem
Of advancement and Liberty's cause.

" You may say it's an old bit of bunting.
You may call it an old coloured rag ;
But Freedom has made it majestic,
And time has ennobled the flag."

— St. George.

THE

STORY OF THE UNION JACK.

CHAPTER I.

THE INSTINCT OF EMBLEMS.

There is an instinct in the human race
which dehghts in the flying of flags. Place a
stick with a httle bit of colored ribbon at its
end in the hands of a bab}^ boy, and at once
the youngster will begin to wave it, crowing
with delight and evidencing every sensation
of excitement and energy as he brandishes it
to and fro. This is but an illustration of the
familiar old adage, "The child is father to the
man," for there appears to be something innate
in man which causes him to become enthusi-
astic about a significant emblem raised in the
air, whether as the insignia of descent or as
a symbol of race or nationality ; something
which, held aloft before the sight of other men,
declares, at a glance, the side to which the

10 The Story of the Union Jack.

bearer belongs, and serves as a rallying point
for those who think with him.

This characteristic has been universal
among all races of men, even in most primitive
times, and in all stages of their condition,
whether undeveloped or under the highest
civilization.

In ancient Africa, explorations among the
sculptured antiquities on the Nile have
brought to light national and religious
emblem standards, which had meaning and
use among the Egyptians long before history
had a written record.

At the time of the Exodus the Israelites
had their distinctive emblems, and the Book
of Numbers (ch. ii. 2) relates how Moses
directed in their journeyings, that '■'Every
man of the cliUdren of Israel shall j^itcJi hy
his 02vn standard, with the ensign of their
father's house.'''

From the lost cities of Nineveh have been
unearthed the ensign of the great Assyrian
race, the "Twin Bull" (2), sign of their
imperial might.

In later times there were few parts of the
continent of Europe which did not become
acquainted with the metal ensigns of Eome.

The In^stinct of Emblems.

Issuing from the centre of their power, the
formidable legions carried the Imperial Eagle
at their head, and setting it in triumph over
many a subjugated State, established it among
the peoples as the si>jn of the all-conquering
power of their mighty Empire. To this Eagle
of the Roman Legion may be traced back the
crop of Eagle emblems (3) which are borne

2. Assyrian Emblems.

by so many of the nationalities of the Europe
of the present day. The golden Eagle of the
Erench battalions, the black Eagle of Prussia,
the white Eagle of Poland, and the double-
headed Eagles of Austria and Russia, whose
two heads typify claim to sovereignty over
both the Eastern and Western Empires, are
all descended from the Imperial Eagle of
ancient Rome.

The Story of the Union Jack.

As these nationalities have been created,
the emblem of their subjugation has become
the emblem of their power ; just as the Cross,
which was the emblem of the degradation and

Aniitnan.
Prussian.

3. Eagle Emblems.
Roman.

Russian.
French.

death of Christ, has become the signal and
glory of the nations subjugated to the Chris-
tian sway.

As in the eastern, so in the western, hemi-
sphere. The rainbow in the heavens is, on all

The Instinct of Emblems. 13

continents, a perpetual memorial of the cove-
nant made between God and man — the sign
that behind the wonders of nature dwells the
still more wonderful First Cause and Author
of them all. Far back in the centuries of
existence on this continent of America, the
Peruvians had preserved a tradition of that
great event which had taken place on another
hemisphere ; and, tracing from it their
national origin, they carried this emblem as
sign of the hneage which they claimed as
"Children of the Skies." Thus it was that
under the standard of a " Rainbow " the
armies of the Incas of Peru vahantly resisted
the invasions of Cortez when, in the sixteenth
century, the South American continent came
under the domination of Spain.

National emblems were borne on this con-
tinent by another nation even yet more
ancient than the Peruvians. The buried
cities of the Aztecs, in Mexico, are the me-
morials of a constructive and artistic people,
whose emblem of the "Eagle with out-
stretched wings," repeated with patriotic
iteration in the stone carvings of their build-
ings, has thus come down to us as the mute
declarant of their national aspirations. The

14 The Story of the Union Jack.

nation itself has long since passed away, but
the outhnes of their emblem still preserve the
memory of the vanished race.

A living instance of much inter-
est also evidences the continuity
of national emblems. Long before
the invading Europeans first landed
on the shores of North America,
the nomad Ked Indian, as he travelled from
place to place through the fastnesses of the
forests, along the shores of the great lakes,
over the plains of the vast central prairies,
or amid the mountains that crown the Pacific
slope, everywhere attested the story of his
descent by the " Totem " of his family. This
sign of the Tortoise (4), the Wolf (5), the Bear,
or the Fish, painted or embroidered on his
trappings or carried upon his weapons, was
displayed as evidence of his origin, whether he
came as friend or foe, and in contest its pre-
sence nerved him to maintain
the reputation of his family and : "^^l^^^^^
his tribe. j%

To-day the Eed Man slowly l'"
yields to the ever -advancing
march of the dominant and civilizing white,
his means of sustenance by the chase, or

The Instinct of Emblems. 15

source of livelihood by his skill as a
trapper, has been destroyed, so that in his
poverty he is maintained on his restricted
"reservations" solely by the dole of the
people to whom his native country has been
transferred, yet his descendants still cling
with resolute fortitude and pathetic eager-
ness to these insignia of their native worth.
These rudely formed emblems, whose out-
lines and shape are mainly taken from the
animals and birds of the plain and forest, are
memorials of the long past days when their
Indian forefathers were undisputed monarchs
of all the wilds. They are their patents to
nobility, and thus are clung to with all the
pride of ancient race.

The instinct in man to attach a national
meaning to an emblem, and to display it as
an evidence of his patriotic fervour, is all-
pervading. The accuracy of its form may not
be exact, it ma}^ be well nigh indistinguish-
able in its outlines, but raise it aloft, and the
halo of patriotic meaning with which memory
has illumined it is answered by the flutterings
of the bearer's heart ; self is lost in the inspir-
ing recollection, clanship absorbing the in-
dividual, claims him as one of a mighty whole,

16 The Story of the UiMOK Jack.

and the race-blood that is deep within springs
at once into action, obedient to the stirring
call. The fervour of this manifestation was
eloquently expressed by Lord Dufferin in nar-
rating incidents which had occurred during
one of his official tours as Governor-General
of Canada, the greatest daughter- nation
among the children of the Union Jack.

"Wherever I have gone, in the crowded
cities, in the remote hamlets, the affection of
the people for their Sovereign has been bla-
zoned forth against the summer sky by every
device which art could fashion or ingenuity
invent. Even in the wilds and deserts of the
land, the most secluded and untutored settler
would hoist some cloth or rag above his
shanty, and startle the solitude of the forest
with a shot from his rusty firelock and a lusty
cheer from himself and his children in glad
allegiance to his country's Queen. Even the
Indian in his forest, and on his Eeserve, would
marshal forth his picturesque symbols of
fidelity in grateful recognition of a Govern-
ment that never broke a treaty or falsified its
plighted word to the Red Man, or failed to
evince for the ancient children of the soil
a wise and conscientious solicitude."*

An emblem or a flag is universally amongst
men the incarnation of intensest sentiment, and

* Lord Dufferin, Toronto Club, 1874.

The Instinct of ExMblems. 17

^when uplifted concentrates in itself the annals
of a nation and all the traditions of an Empire.
It, therefore, becomes of additional value in
pro])ortion as its symbolism is better under-
stood, and its story more fully known; for
although of itself a flag is nothing — yet in its
significance it is everything. So long, then,
as the pride of race exists among men, so
long will a waving flag command all that is
strongest within them, and stir their national
instincts to their utmost heights.

CHAPTER 11.

ORIGINS OF NATIONAL FLAGS.

With such natural emotions stirring within
the breasts of its people, one can appreciate
the fervid interest taken by each nation in its
own national flag, and understand how it comes
that the associations wdiich cluster about its
folds are so ardently treasured up.

Flags would at first sight appear to be but
gaudy things, displaying contrasts of colour or
variations of shape or design, according to the
mood or the fancy of some flag-maker. This,
no doubt, is the case with many signalling or
mercantile flags. On the other hand, there
is, in not a few of the national flags, some
particular combination of form or of colour
which indicates a reason for their origin, oi'
which marks some historic reminiscence. There
has been, j^erhaps, some notable occasion on

Origins of National Flags. 19

which they were first displayed, or they may
have been formed by the joining together
of separate designs united at some eventful
time to signalize a victorious cause or perpet-
uate the memory of a great event. These
stories of the past are brought to mind and
told anew each time their folds are spread
open by the breeze.

Before tracing the story of our own Union
Jack, some instances may be briefly mentioned
in which associations with tlnnr history are
displayed in the designs of some of the national
flags of other nations.

The national standard of united Italy (PI. ii.,
fig. 2) is a flag having three pai'allel vertical
stripes, green, white and red, the green being
next the flagstaff. Upon the central white
stripe there is shown a red shield, having upon
it a white cross, the whole Ijeing surmounted
by an Imperial crown. This flag was adopted
in 1870, when the uprising of the Italian people,
under the leadership of Garibaldi, had resulted
in the union of the jjreviously separated prin-
cipalities into one united kingdom under Vic-
tor Emmanuel, the reigning king of Sardinia.
The red shield on the Italian flag denotes the
arms of the House of Savoy, to which the

20 The Story of the Union Jack.

Eoval House of Sardinia belonged, and which
were gained by an ancient and notable event.
The island of Rhodes had, in 1309, been in
deadly peril from the attacks of the Turks.
In their extremity the then Duke of Savoy
came to the aid of the Knights Hospitallers of
St. John, who were defending the island, and
with his assistance they were able to make a

successful resistance. In record and acknow-
ledgment of this great service the Knights of
St. John sranted to the House of Savoy the
privilege of wearing the badge of the order,
a white cross on a red shield, upon their
royal arms.

So it happened, when the Sardinians came
to the aid of their southern brethren, and the
King of Sardinia was crowned as ruler over
the new Italian kingdom, the old emblem won
in defence of ancient liberties was perpetuated
on the l^anner of the new kingdom of liberated
and united Italy.

In 1828 the Greeks, after rising in suc-
cessful rebellion, had freed their land from
]\Ioliammedan domination and the power of
the Sultan of Turkey. The several States
formed themselves into one united kingdom,
<and seekino- a kino- from among the Koval

Origins of National Flags. 21

Houses of Europe, obtained, in 1832, a scion
of the ruliiitr house of Bavaria. The dynasty
then set upon the throne of Greece has since
been changed, the Bavarian has parted com-
pany with his kingdom, and the present king,
chosen after his withdrawal, is a member of
the Royal House of Denmark, vet the white
Greek cross' on a light blue ground in the
upper quarter, and the four alternate stripes
of white on a li^lit blue around in the field,
which form the national fiag of Greece (PI. ii.,
fig. 3), still preserve the blue and white colours
of Bavaria, from whence the Greeks obtained
their first king.

The colours of the German national banner
are l)lack, white and red (PI. ii., fig. 4). Since
1870, when a united German Empire was
formed at the conclusion of the French war,
this has been the general standard of all the
vStates and principalities that were then brought
into Imperial union, although each of these
lesser States continues to have, in addition, its
own particular flag. This banner of united
German}^ introduced once more the old Impe-
rial German colours, which had been displayed
from 1184 until the time that the Empire was
broken up by Napoleon I., in 1806. Tradition

22 The Story of the Union Jack.

is extant that these colours had their origin as
a national emblem at the time of the crowning
of Barbarossa as the first emperor of Ger-
many in 1152, on which occasion the pathway
to the cathedral was laid with a carpet of
black, red and gold. The story goes that
after the ceremony was over, this carpet
was cut up l:)y the people into pieces and
displayed l^y them as flags. Thus l)y the use
of these historic colours the present union
of the German Empire is connected with the
first union, more than seven centuries before.

The tri-color of the present French Eepublic
(PI. II.. fig. 5) has been credited with Avidely
diftering explanations of its origin, as its plain
colours of red, white and blue admit of manv
different interpretations. The present French
tri-color has no connection with the French
history of Canada. In fact, it did not make
its appearance as a flag until the time of the
revolution in France in 1789, or thirtv vears
after the French regime in Canada had closed
its eventful period, therefore there is no
French-Canadian alleoiance attached to it.

One story of its origin is, that its colours
represent those of the three flags which had
been carried in succession in the earlv cen-

Origins of National Flags. 23

turies of the nation. The early kings of
France carried the blue banner of St. Martin.
To this succeeded, in A.D. 1124, the flaming
red Oriflamme of St. Denis, to l)e afterwards
superseded, in the fifteenth century, by the
white " Cornette Blanche," the personal ban-
ner of the heroic Joan of Arc.

It was under this latter white flag, bearing
upon it the Fleur-de-lis of France, that Cartier
sailed up the St. Lawrence, and under this
flao- Canada was colonized and held by the
French until the capture of Quebec by Wolfe,
Avhen, in 1759, it was changed to the red-
crossed flag of England.

Accordino- to another stoiT, its creation is
stated to have arisen from the incident that,
when the Parisian guards were first assem])led
in the city of Paris under the revolutionary
leaders, they had adopted l)lue and red, the
ancient colours of the city of Paris, for the
colours of their cockade, to which they added
the white of the Bourbon supporters, who
subsequently joined them, and thus created
the "tri-color" as their revolutionary ensign.

Whether its colours record the colours of
the three ancient periods or those of the
revolution, the tri-color as a national flag, both

24 The Story of the Union Jack.

on land and sea, Avas not regularly established
for use by the French people until a still
later period, when, in 1794, the Republican
Convention decreed that the national flag
should be formed of the three national coloiu's
in equal bands, placed vertically, that next the
staff being blue, the centre white and the fly
red. This was the flag under which Napoleon
I. won his greatest victories, both as General
and Emperor, but long before it was devised,
or the prowess of its jDCople had created its
renown, the French-Canadian had been fight-
ing* under the Union Jack, and adding glory
to it by victory won in defence of his own
Canadian home.

In 1815, with the restoration of the Bourbon
dvnastv, the white flao- was restored in France,
and continued in use until the abdication of
Charles X., in 1830, when the tri-color once
more took its place, and has since then, not-
withstanding the various changes of form of
government, remained as the ensign of the
European French nation. In Canada it is
raised solely out of compliment to the French-
speaking friends in modern France. That it
has any acceptance with the French-speaking

* Defence of Quebec, 1775.

BRITISH

TALY

GREECE

GERMAN

FRENCH

* 1i * -k t * -k -^

UNITED

STATES

Origins of National Flags. 25

Canadian arises largely from the fact that, side
by side with the Union Jack, it jmrticipated in
all the struggles and glories of the Crimea, and
the two flags were raised together above
Sebastopol as a signal of the coml)ined success
of the allied armies of France and England.

These instances of the origin of some of
the European national flags show how they
record changes of rulers or perpetuate the
record of the men or the dynasties that domi-
nated the occasions.

A singularly similar origin is assigned to the
creation of the Stars and Stripes, the ensign
of the United States (PL ii., fig. 6).

Troubles had been brewing l^etween the
English Colonies in America and the Home
Goyernment in England, ever since the passing
of the obnoxious Stamp Act of 1765, but
although the antagonism had l>een great, there
was no intention on the part of the colonists of
severing their allegiance, and under later con-
ditions, there might, in all probability, have
been no breaking of the old home ties.

Forces, consisting largely of hired Hanover-
ian and Hessian soldiers, had been sent out to
enforce the objectionable enactments, and
hostilities had broken out in 1775 between

26 The Story of the Union Jack.

the resident citizens and these regular troops,
l^ut, even then, a change which was made in
the flag of the United Colonies was framed
not to indicate any change of allegiance, but
to evidence the union of the loyal colonies in
opposition to the ruling of an impracticable
home ministry. So early as October, 1775,
Washington had seen the necessity of having
some continental flag, which should identifv
the whole of the forces which had assembled
in arms, instead of the military detachments
from each colony continuing to use its own
individual colonial flag.

An existing colonial ensign was at first
suggested l:>y him for this purpose, having a
" white ground with a tree in the middle," and
the motto, " Appeal to Heaven."*

This was succeeded bv a new design for
the continental union flag (6), which, on ^nd
January, 1770, Avas raised by Washington over
the camp of his army at Cambridge, Massa-
chusetts, being the occasion of its first ap-
pearance.

This flag was called " The Grand Union "
(PI. III., fig. 1). It was composed of thirteen
stripes of alternate white and red, one for each

* "Washington Letters," Vol. I., p. 84.

Origins of National Flags. 27

colony, and in the upper corner was the British
Union Jack of that time having the two crosses
of 8t. George and vSt.
Andrew on a blue
ground.

The retention of the
Union Jack in the new
flag was intended to

signify that the col- C. Cambridge Ensigx, ITTO.

onies retained their allegiance to Great
Britain, although they were contesting the
methods of government.

The first flag then raised by Washington over
the armies of the United States displayed the
British Union Jack. The source from which
the idea of the sul^sequent design arose we
shall presently see.

On 4tli July, 1776, the Declaration of Inde-
pendence followed, but the Grand Union con-
tinued to be used. It was not until the 14tli
June, 1777, or almost a year after that event,
that a new national flag was finally developed.

The Congress of the United States, then
meeting at Philadelphia, approved the report
of a committee which had been appointed to
consider the subject, and enacted, " That the
flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen

The Story of the Union Jack.

if ^ ^

7. Arms of thk
Washington Family

stripes, alternate red and white ; that the
Union be thirteen stars, white in a bhie field,

representing a new constella-
tion." A further delay ensued,
l)ut at length this flag was
otticially proclaimed on Sep-
tember 3rd, 1777, as the Union
Flag of the United States (PI.
III., fig. 2), and was the first
national flag adopted by the
authority of Congress.
As Washington himself suggested the first
desion, and had introduced the second, it is
not improbable, and,
indeed, it is recorded
that he had something
to do with the design-
ino- of the final one.*
Howeyer this last re-
port may be, his friends
and admirers most cer-
tainly had, and the
similarity between the
•design of the new flag

1 >i - p , r^ ^f S. Washington's Book-Plate.

and the coat-oi-arms or

the Washington family points to the source

* "Ross Episode," Preble, p. 205.

Origins of National Flags.

of the design. Upon the tombstone in Sul-
grave Church, Northamptonshire, England, was
to be seen the shield (7) of the Weshyntons,
or Washingtons, an old English comity family,
who traced their lineage back into the fom^-
teentli century.

John Washington, a descendant of this
family, had been a loval cavalier, standing;
.staunchly Ijy his King, Charles I. When

9. Washington's Seai>s.

Cromwell and the Roundheads came into
power, the Royalist Washington emigrated to
Virginia, in 1657, bringing out his family and
with them his family shield, on which are
vshown three stars above alternate stripes of
red and white. Here settling upon consider-
able estates, he and his descendants maintained
the style and county standards of their English
forefathers.

30 The Story of the Union Jack.

George Washington, the subsequent Presi-
dent, was the great-grandson of the old loyal-
ist colonist. He, too, maintained the old family
traditions and hal^its in the same way, as did
all the " first families " of Virginia.

On the panels of his carriage was painted
the family coat-of-arms. It appeared on the
book j^lates (8) of the books in his library, and
the first commissions which he issued to the
officers of his continental army were sealed
with his family seal (9).

Thus it has occurred that the stars and
stripes of the coat-of-arms of the old loyalist
Enolish family, to which the successful Ecyo-
lutionary general belonged, formed the basis
of the design of the new American flag, and
through them the memory of the great leader
and first President of the United States is
indissolu1)ly connected with its national ensign.
(PI. III., fig. 3.)

United States 1777

United States 1897

CHAPTER III.

THE ORIGIN OF THE '' JACKS."

It is quite evident, then, that national flags
are not merely a haphazard patchwork of
coloured bunting, nor by any means " mean-
ingless things." Their comljinations have a
history, and, in many cases, tell a story, l)ut
of all the national flags there is none that
bears upon its folds so interesting a story, nor
has its history so plainly written on its parts
and colourings, as has our British " Union
Jack."

To search out whence it got its name, how
it was l:)uilt up into its present form, and
what each of its parts means, is an enquiry of
deepest interest, for to trace the story of our
national flag is to follow the historv of the
British race.

The flags of other nations have mostlv
derived their origin from association with a

32 The Story of the Union Jack.

personage, or with some particular epoch.
They are, as a rule, the signal of a dynasty or
the record of a revolution ; but our British
Union Jack is the record of the steady growth
of a great nation, and traces through centuries
of adventure and progress, the gradual estab-
lishment by its people of constitutional govern-
ment over a world-wide Empire.

The origin of the name "Union Jack" has
given rise to considerable conjecture and much
interesting surmise. The name used in most
of the earlier records is that of "Union Flag,"
or "Great Union." In the treaty of peace
made with the Dutch in 1674, in the time of
Charles II., it is mentioned as " His Majesty
of Great Britain's Flag or Jack," and in the
proclamation of Queen Anne, A.D. 1707, as
^'Our Jack, commonly called the Union Jack."

The most generally quoted suggestion for
the name is that, as the first proclamation
authorizino- a flag in which the national crosses
of England and Scotland were first combined,
was issued by James YI. of Scotland and I.
of England, the name was acquired from this
connection: the explanation being that King
James frequently signed his name in the
French manner as " Jacques," which was

The Origi.v of the "Jacks." 33

abbreviated into " Jac," and thus the new flag
came to be called a "Jack."

The derivation suggested is ingenious and
interesting, but cannot be accepted as correct,
for the simple reason that there were "Jacks"
long before the time and reign of James I. , and
that their prior origin can be clearly traced.

During the feudal period, when kings called
their forces into the field, each of the nobles,
as in duty bound, furnished to the king's cause
his quota of men equipped with complete
armament. These troops bore u})on their arms
and j^anners the heraldic device or coat-of-
arms of their own liege lord, as a sign of "the
company to which they belonged."

The kings also in their turn displayed the
banner of the kingdom over which each reigned,
such as the Fleur-de-lis, for France ; the Cross
of St. George, for England, or the Cross of
St. Andrew, for Scotland, and this banner of
the king formed the ensign under which the
combined forces of his adherents and sup-
porters served.

A survival of this ancient custom exists to-
day in our British military services, both in
the colonial and the imperial forces. Rifle
regiments do not carry " colours," but all

The Story of the Union Jack.

infantry regiments are entitled upon receiving
the Royal Warrant to carry two flags, which
are called "colours."* (10)

"The "First" or "Queen's Colour" is the
plain "Union Jack," in sign of allegiance to
the sovereign, and upon this, in the centre, is

10. Colours of 10th "Royal Grenadiers," Canada.

the number or designation of the regiment,
surmounted by a Royal crown. The "Second"
or "Regimental Colour" is of the local colour
of the facings of the regiment, and on it are
embroidered the regimental badge, and any

* Colours of Infantry measure (without the fringe) 3 feet 9
inches long, by 3 feet on the pike. (Perry, "Rank and Badges.")

The Origin of the " Jacks.' 35

distinctive emblems, indicating the special
history of the regiment itself, thns l)otli the
national and local methods of distinction are
to-day preserved in the same way as they
were originally.

In the earliest days of chivalry, long before
the time of the Norman conquest of England,
both the knights and foot of the armies in the
field wore a surcoat or "Jacque," extending
over their armour from the neck to the thighs,
bearing upon it the l)lazon or sign either of
their lord or of their nationality. Number-
less examples of these are to l^e seen in early
illuminated inanuscri])ts, or on monuments
erected in many cathedrals and sanctuaries.

In the eleventh and twelfth centuries, when
the Christian nations of Europe were com-
l)ined together to rescue Jerusalem and the
Holv Land from the rule of the Mohamme-
dan, the warrior pilgrims, I'ecruited from the
difterent countries, wore crosses of different
shapes and colours upon their surcoats, to
indicate the nationalities to which they be-
longed and the Holy cause in which they
were engaged. It was from these crosses
that they gained their name of "Crusaders"
or Cross-bearers.

36 The Story of the Union Jack.

The colours of the crosses worn by the dif-
ferent countries were : for France, red ;
Flanders, green: Germany, black : and Italy
yellow.

In the earlier crusades the cross w^orn by the
English was white, luit in later expeditions,
the red cross of St. George was adopted and
worn u])on the Jacque as the sign of England
in the same way as shown in the accompan}-
ing knightly figure. (11)

The continued use of this cross, and the
reason for wearing it is well shown in the fol-
lowing extract from the "Ordinances," issued
to the army, with which Richard 11. , of Eng-
land, inyaded Scotland in A.D. 1386:—

** . . . Also that every man of what estate,
condicion or nation they be of, so that he be of
oure partie, bear a sign of the armes of Saint
George, large, bothe before and behynde upon
parell, that yf he be slayne or wounded to deth,
he that has so doon to hym shall not be putte
to deth for defaulte of the crosse that he lacketh,
and that non enemy do here the same token of
crosse of Saint George, notwithstandyng he
prisoner upon the payne of deth. — Haileiau
MSS.

11. A Red Cross Knight.

38 The Story of the Union Jack.

The sailors of the Cinque Ports, on the
south-east coast of England, by whom the
royal navies were in early days princii)ally
manned, are recorded to have worn as their
uniform, in 1.313, *' a cote of white cotyn,
with a red crosse and the amies of ye ports
underneathe." These surcoats or "Jacques"
came in time to be known as the "Jacks" of
the various nationalities they represented, and
it was from the raising of one of them upon a
lance or staff, in order to show the nationality
of those on board, when troops were l^eing
conveyed by water, that the single flag bearing
on it onlv the cross of St. George, or the cross
of St. Andrew, came to be known as a "Jack,"
and from this origin, too, the small flag-pole
at the bow of a ship is still called the "Jack

This custom of wearing the national Jack
at the l)ow became early established, and was
officially recognized. On the great seal of the
first Lord Admiral of England, in 1409, under
Henry lA^., a one-masted galley is shown. At
the stern of the ship is the Royal standard,
and at the l)ow a statt' l^earing the square St.
George's banner, the sign of England.*

* "

The National Flag," Bloomfield.

The Origin of the "Jacks." 39

Such was the origin of the name, and it is
from the coml^ination of the three national
''Jacks" of England, Scotland and Ireland,
in successive periods, that the well-known
" Union Jack " of our British nation has
gradually grown to its present form.

CHAPTER IV.

THE ENGLISH ''JACK:'
A. D. 1194-1606.

The original leader and dominant partner in
the three kingdoms which have been the cradle
of the British race throughout the world was
England, and it was her flag that formed the
groundwork upon Avhich the Union Flag has
been built up.

The " English Jack" is described, in plain
language, as a white flag having on it a plain
red cross (PI. iv., fig. 1).

This is the banner of St. George (1:2), the
patron saint of England, and in heraldic lan-
guage is described as ''Argent^ a cross gules" \
"A silver (white) field, on it a red cross."

The cry of "St. George for Merrie Eng-
land " has re-echoed through so many cen-
turies, that his place as the jmtron saint of the
kingdom is firmly estaljlished. Wherever ships

The English "Jack." 41

have sailed, there the red cross of St. George
has beeen carried by the sailor-nation, who
chose him as their hero. The incident of his
adoption as patron saint is thus narrated in
the early chronicles. In 1190, Eichard Coeur
de Lion of England had joined the French,
Germans and Franks in the third great crusade
to the Holy Land; but while the other
nations proceeded overland, Richard built and
engaged a great fleet, in which he conveyed
his English troops by c
sea to Palestine. His
armament consisted of
'' 254 tall shippes and
about three score gal-
liots." Arriving with
these off* the coast, he
won a gallant sea-fight over the Saracens near
Beyrut, and by his victory intercepted the re-
inforcements which their ships were carrying
to the relief of Acre, at that time being
besieged by the combined armies of the
Crusaders. About three miles north along
the shore from the city of Beyrut (Beyrout),
there was then, and still remains, an ancient
grotto cut into the rock, and famous as being
the traditional spot where the gallant knight

12. St. Georoe.

42 The Story of the Union Jack

St. George slew the monstrous dragon which
was about to devour the (hiughter of the king
of the city.

" Y cladd with mightie armes and silver shielde,
As one for knightly jousts and fiei'ce encounters fitt,'

Tlie Faerie Queen — Spencer.

This knioht was born, the son of nol)le
Christian parents, in the kingdom of Cappa-
docia, and this St. George of Caj^padocia is
the acknowledged patron saint of England.

The Christian hero St. George is stated to
have suffered martyrdom during the reign of
the apostate Roman Emperor Julian, and from
his having been l:)eheaded for his faith on the
23rd April, A.D. 361, the day has since been
celebrated as "St. George's day." His memory
has always been oreatlv revered in the East,
particularly by the Greek Church : and one of
the first churches erected by Constantine the
Great was dedicated to him.

The form of his cross is known as the Greek
cross, and is displayed in the upper corner of
the national Greek ensign. (PI. ii., fig. 3.)

It is to be noted, however, that St. George
has never been canonized, nor his name j^laced
by the Roman Church in its calendar of sacred
saints. His name, like those of St. Chri.sto-

The Exglish "Jack." 43

plier, St. Sebastian and St. Nicholas, was only
included in a list of some declared by Pope
Gelasius, in A.D. 494, as being those "whose
names are justly reverenced among men, l)ut
whose actions are known only to God."*

St. George, the redresser of wrongs, the
protector of women, and the model of Chris-
tian chivalry, was not a sea-faring hero, but
it was after the sailors' victory near the scene
of his exploits, that a sea-faring nation adopted
him as their patron saint.

The emblem of St. Georg-e is said 1:)V some
chroniclers to have l:)een at once adopted
by Richard I. who immediately placed himself
and his army under the especial protection of
the saint, and introduced the emblem into
England after his return in 1194. In 1222 St.
George's Day was ordered to be kept as a
holiday in England. Others aver that the
emblem was not generally accepted until, by
Edward I., 1274. This prince, before his
ascension to the throne, had served in the last
of the (Jrusades, and during that time had
visited the scene of the victorv and the grotto
of the saint. In support of this latter date,
it is pointed out that this visit of Prince

* "

Sacred and Legendary Art," Jameson.

44 The Story of the Union Jack.

Edward to Palestine coincided Avitli the
change made in their badge by the Enghsh
order of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem
from an eight -pointed Maltese cross to a
strais^ht white Greek cross, and with this
appearance upon the English l^anners of the
St. George's cross, but of the English national
colour, red* ; and that therefore the intro-
duction of the emblem in the flag may have
been of Edward's initiation. The same form
of cross was placed by Edward I., in 1294,
upon the monumental crosses which he raised
at Clieapside, Charing Cross and other places,
in memory of his loved Queen Eleanor.

Erom this last date onward the St-
George's cross and the legend of St. George
and the dragon are in plain evidence. An
early instance is that found in the borough of
Lyme Kegis, in Dorset, to which Edward I.
granted its first charter of incorporation and
its official seal. A photo reproduction of an
impression of this seal (13) is here given.
The flao- of St. Georo-e is seen at the mast-
head, and below it the three-leopards stand-
ard of Eichard I. and Henry III., carried by
Edward in Palestine during the life time of

*(Bloomfield, "The National Flag")

The English "Jack." 45

his father. At the bow of the ship is the
hgure of the saint represented in the act of
slaying the dragon, and having on his shield
the St. George's cross.

"And on his breast a bloodie Crosse he bore,
The deare remembrance of his dying Lord,
For whose sweete sake that glorious badge he wore,
And dead, as living, ever him ador'd :
Upon his shield the like was also scor'd.
For soveraine hope which in his helpe he had.
Right faithfull true he was in deede and word."

The Faerie Queen — Spexser.

Around the edge of the seal is the rude
lettering of the inscription in Latin, " 8IGIL-
LUM :^ COMMUNE : DE : LIM," (" The
common seal of Lyme "). Near the top may
also l:)e seen the star and crescent badge of
Richard I., adopted l)y him as a record of
his naval victory, and which is still used as
an "Admiralty l^adge " upon the epaulettes
of admirals of the British navy.

This seal of Lyme Regis is said to be the
earliest known representation of St. George
and the dragon made in England.

Another instance of a later date exists on a
■" sepulchral brass " (14) placed to the memory

46 The Story of the Union Jack.

of Sir Hugh Hastings, in Elsyne Church, Nor-
folk, and dated 1347.

In the upper part of the architectural tracery
on the brass is a circle S^ inches in diameter,

13. The Seal of Lyme Regis.

in which St. George is shown, this time
mounted upon horseback, and piercing not
the fiery dragon of the ancient legend, l;)ut
the equally typical two-legged demon of vice.

The English "Jack.

The photo reproduction is from a "rubbing"
recently taken from the brass, and shows, so
far as the reduced scale Avill permit, the St.
George's cross upon the surcoat and on the
shield of the knight.

14. Brass ix Elsyne Church, A.D. 1347.

It was under this St. George's cross that
Richard the Lion-hearted, after proving their
seamanship in victory, showed the mettle of

48 The Story of the Uniox Jack.

liis English Crusaders in the battles of the
Holy Land, and led them to within sight of
Jerusalem. A¥ith it the fleets of Edward I.
claimed and maintained the " Lordship of the
Harrow Seas." lender this single red-cross
flag the French l^attlefields resounded with
the cry of "England and St. George I" and
the undying glories of Cressy, Poictiers and
Ao'incourt were achieved. Lender it, too,
Cal)ot discovered Cape Breton, Drake sailed
around the world, Raleigh founded Virginia,
and the navy of Elizal^eth carried confusion
into the ill-fated Spanish Armada.

This is a glory-roll which justifies the name
of England as " The Mistress of the Seas."
Her patron saint was won as a record of a
naval victory. With this red-cross flag of St.
Georo-e flvino- above them, her Enolish sailors
swept the seas around their white-clififed
coasts, and made the ships of all other nations
do obeisance to it. With it they penetrated
distant seas, and planted it on previously
unknown lands as sign of the sovereignty of
their king, making the power of England and
England's flag known throughout the circle of
the earth.

The English "Jack." 49

All this was done before the time when the
other sister -nations joined their flags with
hers, and it is a just tribute to the sea-faring
prowess of the English people, and to the
victories won by the English Jack, that in its
simple form it is the Admiral's flag and flies
as the l)adge of rank ; that it is in all the
Admirals' jiennants, and that the English flag-
is the groundwork of the white ensign of the
British navv.

This "White Ensign" (PI. i., Fig. 2) is the
Enolish Jack, bearino- the lar^e red St.
George's cross, upon its white ground, and
having in this jDresent reign a three-crossed
Union Jack placed in the uj^per quarter or
canton, next the staff. It is the " distinction
flao- " of the British navv, allowed to be carried
only l)y Her Majesty's ships of war, and is
restricted solely to those bearing Her
Majesty's royal commission.*

Thus has the memorv of Eichard I. and his
men been preserved, and all honour done to

* ' ■ A penalty of £500 may by law be imposed for hoisting on
any ship or boat belonging to any of Her Majesty's subjects
any flag not ])erniitted in accordance with the Admiralty
Regulations." (See Ai't. 86, "Admiralty Instns.")
4

50 The Story of the Union Jack.

the "Mariners of England," the sons of St.
George, whose single red-cross flag has wor-
thily won the poets praise :

" Ye mariners of England !

That guard our native seas;
Whose flag has braved a thousand years,
The battle and the breeze.

" The meteor flag of England
Shall yet terrific burn ;
Till danger's troubled night depart,
And the star of peace return."

— Campbell.

CHAPTER Y.

THE SUPREMACY Of THE ENGLISH JACK.

A.I). 871-1606.

While it is true that flags had grown u])
on land from the necessity of having some
means of identifying the knights and nol)les,
whose foces were encased and hidden from
sight within their hehnets, yet it was at sea
that they attained to their oreatest estima-
tion. There the flag upon the mast became
the ensign of the nation to which the vessel
belonged, and formed the very embodiment
of its power. To fly the flag was an act of
defiance, to lower it, an evidence of submis-
sion, and thus the motions of these little
coloured cloths at sea became of highest im-
portance. The supremacy of one nation over
another was measured most readily by the
precedence which its flag received from the
ships of other nationalities. National pride

52 The Story of the Union Jack.

therefore became involved in the question of
the supremacy of the flag at sea, and in this
contest the Enghsh were not behindhand in
taking their share, for the supremacy of the
sea meant something more to Enghmd than
the mere precedence of her flag. It meant
that no other power should l)e allowed to
surpass her as a naval power, not that she
desired to carry strife against their countries,
but more for the protection of her own shores
at home, and the preservation of peace along
the confines of her island seas.

Alfred the Great of England (871-901) was
the first to establish the supremacy of the
English flag, and to him is attributed the first
gathering together of a lioyal navy, the crea-
tion of an efficient force at sea being a portion
of that i^olicy which he so early declared,
and which has ever since been the ruling
guide of the English people. The defence of
Britain lay, he considered, in the maintaining
of a fleet of sufficient power to stretch out
afar and prevent invasion before it came too
near, rather than in providing sufficient capa-
city for effective resistance when the enemy
had reached her shores. The bulwarks of
England were, in his time, as they are still

The Supremacy of the English Jack. 53

considered to be, her ships at sea, rather
than the parapets of her forts on land.

" Britannia needs no bulwarks,
No towers along the steep;
Her march is o'er the mountain-waves,
Her home is on t^e deep."

Introducing galleys longer and faster than
those of the Danes,* Alfred kept his enemies
at respectful distance, and, dwelling secure
under the protection of his fleet, was thus
enabled to devote himself with untram-
melled energy to the establishment of the
internal government of his kingdom.

His successors followed up his ideas, and
under Athelstane the creation of an English
merchant navy was also developed. Every
inducement was off'ered to merchants wdio
should engage in maritime ventures. Among
other decrees then made was one that, "if a
merchant so thrives that he pass thrice over
the wide seas in his own craft, he was hence-
forth a Thane righte worthie."t Thus honours
were to be won as well as wealth, and the
merchants of England extended their energies
in traffic on the seas.

*"Shx. Chron.," 122. f "Canciam" IV., 268.

54 The Story of the Union Jack.

King Edgar (973-75), by virtue of lii.s navy
assumed the title of " Supreme Lord and
Governor of the Ocean Ivino- around al)out
Britain," but Harold, the last of the Saxon
kings, instead of maintaining his ships in
equipment and fitness to protect his shores,
allowed them to V)e dispersed for want of ade-
quate provisions from their station behind the
Isle of Wight, and so forgetting the teachings
of Alfred, he left his southern coasts unguarded
and let the Xorman invader have opportunity
to land, an opportunity which was promi)tly
availed of.

The Xorman monarchs of England held to
the supremacy which the early Saxon kings
had claimed for her flag at sea.

When the conquest of England in 106(i had
been completely eftected by the Xorman forces,
both shores of the "narrow seas" between
England and X^ormandv were combined under
the rule of William the Conqueror, communi-
cation by water increased between the two
portions of his realm, and the maritime in-
terests of his people were greatly extended
and estal)lished.

Eichard I. showed England to the other
nations, during the crusades, as a strong mari-

The Supremacy of the English Jack. 55

time power. King John followed in his foot-
steps, and in 1200, the second year of his
reign, issued his declaration, directing that
ships of all other nations must honour his
Eoval Flag.

" If any lieutenant of the King's fleet, in any naval
expedition, do meet with on the sea any ship or vessels, laden
or unladen, that will not vail and lower their sails at the
command of the Lieutenant of the King or the King's
Admiral, but shall fight with them of the fleet, such, if
taken, shall be reported as enemies, and the vessels and
goods shall be seized and forfeited as the goods of
enemies."

The supremacy which King John thus
claimed his successors afterwards maintained
and extended, so that under Edward I., Spain,
Germany, Holland, Denmark and Norway,
being all the other nations, except France,
which bordered on the adjacent seas, joined
in according to England " possession of the
sovereignty of the English seas and the Isles
therein,"* together with admission of the
right which the English had of maintaining
sovereign guard over the seas, and over all
the ships of other Dominions, as well as their
own, which might be passing through them.

* Southey, " Naval History of England," 213.

The Story of the Union Jack.

During the internecine wars of the Koses,
another nationality grew up into maritime
power. AVhile the EngHsh were so busily-
engaged in fighting amongst themselves, the
Dutch of the Netherlands, under the Duke of

15. The Henri Grace d Ditu, 1515.
(From the Pepvsian collection.)

Burgundy, developed a large carrying trade,
and so increased their fleet that in 148.3, at
the accession of Henry VII., they had be-
come a formidalile shipping rival of England
and a thorn in the side of France. (3ver the

The Supremacy of the Exglish Jack. 57

ships of this latter country the Dutch so
lorded it on the narrow seas, that to quote
Philip de Commines, their " Navy was so
mighty and strong, that no man durst stir in
these narrow seas for fear of it making war
upon the King of France's subjects and
threatening' them everywhere."

Two flags, the striped standard of the Dutch
and the red-cross Jack of the Enolish, were
now rivalling each other on the Atlantic
and the adjacent seas, and thereafter, for
nearly two hundred years, the contest for
the supremacy continued. A drawing in the
Pepysian Library gives the details of the
Henri Grace a Dieu (15), built in 1515 by
order of Henry VIII. , which was the greatest
war ship up to that time built in England,
and has been termed " the parent of the
British Xavy." At the four mastheads fly
St. George's ensigns, and from the bowsi^rit
end and from each of the round toi3S upon
the lower masts are long streamers with the
St. George's cross, similar in form to the
naval pennants of the present day.* The

* These masthead pennants (with the St. George's cross at
the head) are worn by Her Majesty's ships in commission.
They vary in length from 9 to 60 feet, and in width from 2i
inches to 4 inches.

58 The Story of the Uxiox Jack.

castellated building at the bow and the hooks
with which the yards are armed, tell of the
derivation of the nautical terms "forecastle"
and "yard arm" still in use.

With such armament the cross of St. George
continued to ruffle its way on the narrow seas,
and widened the scope of its domain. Cal)Ot
had carried it across the Atlantic under
the license which he and his associates re-
ceived from Henry VII., empowering them
"to seek out and find whatsoever isles, coun-
tries, regions, or provinces of the heathen and
infidels, whatsoever they might be ; and set up
his banner on every isle or mainland by them
newly found."

With this authority for its exj)loits the
red cross of St. George was planted, in 1-1:97,
on the shores of Newfoundland and Florida,
and the English Jack thus first carried into
America, formed the foundation for the sub-
sequent British claim to sovereignty over all
the intervening coasts.

The supremacy maintained for the English
Jack never lost anything at the hands of its
supporters, and an event which occurred in the
reign of Queen ^lary, l.').)4, gives a vivid
picture of the boldness of the sea-dogs by

The Supremacy of the English Jack. 59

whom it was carried, and of how they held
their own over any rival craft.

The Spanish fleet, of 160 sail, bringing Philip
II. the King of Spain to esj^ouse the English
Queen, was met off Southampton by the Eng- •
lish fleet, of twenty-eight sail, under Lord
William Howard, " Lord High Admiral in the
" Narrow Seas." The Spanish fleet was fly-
ing the royal flag of Spain, and King Pliilij)
would have passed the English ships without
paying the customary honours, had not the
English admiral fired a shot at the Spanish
admiral's ship, and forced the whole fleet to
strike colours and lower their topsails in
homage to the English Hag. Not until this
had been properly done would Howard permit
his own squadron to salute the Spanish King.*

The defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588,
under Queen Elizalieth, was one of the crown-
ing glories of the supremacy of the English
Jack, but it would almost seem as though the
glorious flag had kept for its closing years the
grandest of all the many strifes in which it
had been engaged in the never-to-be-forgotten
action of the undaunted Revenge.

- Preble, " Flag of the United States."

60 The Story of the Union Jack.

England and Spain were then still at open
war. The English fleet, consisting of six
Queen's ships, six victuallers of London, and
two or three pinnaces, as riding at anchor
near the island of Flores, in the Azores, wait-
ing for the coming of the Spanish fleet, which
was expected to pass on its way from the
West Indies, where it had wintered the pre-
ceding year. On first September, 1591, the
enemy came in sio-ht, amounting to fifty-three
sail, " the first time since the great Armada
that the King of Spain had shown himself
so strong at sea."* The English had l)een
refitting their equipment, the sick had all
been sent on shore, and their ships were not
in readiness to meet so oyerwhelminy- an
armament. On the approach of the Sj^an-
iards five of the English ships slipped their
cables, and together with the consorts sailed
away, but Sir Richard Grenville of the Be-
vetige choosing to collect his men, and not
aljandon the sick, remained behind with his
ship to meet the enemy alone. Rather than
strike his flag, he withstood the onset of
the whole Spanish fleet, and thus this latest

* Mon.son.

The Supremacy of the English Jack. 6i

century of the red cross Jack closed with a
sea-fight worthy of its story, and which has
been ])reserved by a Poet Laureate in undying
A'erse.

" He had only a hundred seamen to work the ship and to

fight,
And he sailed away from Flores till the Spaniards came

in sight,
With his huge sea-castles heaving up on the weather bow.

" ' Shall we fight or shall we fly ?
Good Sir Richard, tell us now,
For to fight is but to die !
There'll be little of us left Ij}- the time
this sun be set.'

"And Sir Richard said again: 'We be all good English
men.
Let us bang these dogs of Seville, the children of the

devil,
For I never turned my back upon Don or devil yet."

" And the sun went down, and the stars came out far over

the summer sea,
But never a moment ceased the fight of the one and the

fifty-three.
Ship after ship, the whole night long, their high-built

galleons came.
Ship after ship, the whole night long, with her Imttle

thunder and flame.

62 The Story of the Union Jack.

" Ship after ship, the whole night long, drew back with

her dead and her shame.

For some were sunk, and many were shattered, and so

could fight us no more —

God of battles, was ever a battle like this in the world

before."

" The Revenge." — Tennysox.

In such way, audacious in victorv and un-
conquered in defeat, the Enghsh sailors held
mastery of the oceans for 700 years, from
Alfred to Elizabeth, beneath their English flag,
and laid the foundations of that maritime
spirit which still holds for Great Britain the
])roud supremacy of the seas.

CHAPTER YI.

THE SCOTCH ''JACK:'

From a very early period St. Andrew has
been esteemed as the patron samt of Scotland,
and been held in a veneration qnite as strong
as that entertained in England for St. George.
The "Saltire," or cross of St. Andrew (16), is
attributed to the tradition that the saint had
been crucified with legs and arms extended
upon a cross of this shape, and, therefore, it is
accepted as the emblem of his martyrdom.

How St. Andrew came to be adopted as
the patron saint of Scotland is a subject of
much varying conjecture. It is said that in
the early centuries some relics of the apostle
St. Andrew were being brought to Scotland,
and although the vessel carrying them was
wrecked and became a total loss, the sacred
bones were brought safe to shore at the port
since called St. Andrews. The most favoured

The Story of the Uniox Jack

tradition as to the time of his achjptiou is that
it occurred in A.D. 987. Hungus, king of the
Picts, was being attacked l\y Athelstane, the
king of the West Saxons,* when Achaius,
king of the Scots, with 10,000 of his Scottish
subjects, came to his reHef, and the two kings
joined their forces to repel the invader. The
Scotch leaders, face to face with so formidable
a foe, and, finding their followers somewhat
intimidated, were passing the night in prayer

to God and to St. An-
drew, when, upon the
l)ackground of the blue
sky, there appeared
formed in white clouds
the figure of the white
cross of the martyr
saint. Reanimated by this answering sign the
Scottish soldiers entered the frav with enthusi-
astic valour, and beset the English with such
ardour as to drive them in confusion from the
field, leaving their King, Athelstane, dead be-
hind them among the slain. Since that time
the white Saltire cross, upon a blue ground,
the banner of St. Andrew, has been carried by
the Scotch as their national ensio-n.

16. St. Andrew.

Sir Harris Nicholas, "Hist, of Order of Thistle."

Jack of James I

The Scotch "Jack." 65

This "Scotch Jack" (PL iv., fig. '2), which is
described in heraldic language as "Azure, a
Saltire air/euf'' (on azure blue, a silver- white
Saltire), was the flag carried by the great
Scottish national hero, Robert -the -Bruce,
whose valour won for him the crown of Scot-
land, and Avhose descendants, the Earls of
Elgin, still bear his banner on their coat-of-
arms. At Bannockburn, in 1314, this emblem
of Bruce rose victorious over Edward II. and
his stolid Englishmen. Its use was continued
in 1385, when the Scots, stirred u]), and aided
by Charles VI., of France, invaded and de-
spoiled the border counties of England, when
both they and their French auxiliaries w^ore a
Avliite St. Andrew's cross u})on their Jacques,
both l)efore and l)ehind, in order that they
might distinguish the soldiers of their com-
bined companies from the forces of the foe. *

But St. Andrew's flag was not always
victorious. At Chew Chase and Flodden
Field it suffered defeat, but onlv in such wise
as to prove the truth of the warning motto of
the prickly Scotch thistle, ''Nemo me impune
lacessit.''' ("No one may touch me with im-
punity.") ^^^^

* Perry, "Rank and Badges," p. 330.

66 The Story of the Union Jack.

The "Scotch Jack," in all these early
centuries, unlike its English compeer, does
not appear to have been carried far afield,
nor in expeditions across the seas. On
land, the Scotch used it mainly as a sign
of recognition during the forays which they
kept up with unceasing vigour on the neigh-
boring kingdoms of England and Ireland ;
and at sea, its scene of action was measurably
near to their own shores.

Scotland, l^eing so for removed from the
fleets of the southern nations of Europe, did
not need a regular navy, and never had one ;
l)ut her far northern coasts, indented with
deep bays and bordered by wild fastnesses,
adapted themselves admiral:)ly to the use to
which they were mainly put, of being the lair
from which hardy, venturesome freebooters,
in those times called "sea rovers," sailed forth
in their " talle shippes" (17) and pounced
down upon the vessels of the passers-by.
The exploits of some of these sailors, under
the St. Andrew's Jack, crop out from time
to time with splendid audacity in the history
of the centuries. One "Mercer, a Scottish
rover," during the reign of Richard II. of
England, so harried the merchant shipping
of England that, in 1378, Alderman John

The Scotch "Jack."

17. Scotch "Tai.le Shippe" 16th Century.

(From a painting by Van Eyk.)

Philpot, "a worshipful citizen of London,"
equipped an expedition at his own expense,
and meeting Mercer and fifteen Spanish
ships, wdiicli were acting with him, brought
the whole fleet, "besides great riches which

68 The Story of the Union Jack.

were found on board," in triumi)h into port at
Scarborough. Philpot was haled before the
Enolish roval authorities for havino; dared
*'to set forth a navy of men-of-war without
the advice of the King's Council," but the end
justified the means, and the bold citizen, who
by his own action had put dovvn the annoy-
ance with which the officers of the realm
should have dealt, was let go free.

Sir Andrew Wood, of Leitli, who, lor a
long time, pillaged the English ships and
set the navv of Henrv A II. at defiance, was
another doughty champion of the St. An-
drew's Cross. I

Growing bolder in his defiance he chal-
lenged the English Royal Navy to a contest.
The challenge was accepted, and three chosen
ships were sent to meet him. These he over-
mastered, and carried oft' his prizes and their
crews to Dundee, from where, after caring
for the wounded and repairing the damages,
James IV. of Scotland returned the ships to
Henry, saying, "the contest had been for
honour, not for bootv."*

But the greatest hero of them all, the one
whose deeds have woven themselves into the

*Pinkertoii, " History of Scotland."

The Scotch "Jack." 69

folk-lore of the Scottish race, was Sir Andrew
Barton, who, in the time of Henry VIII., not
only plundered his English neighbours, l;)ut
ialso took toll of the ships of all other nations,
without regard to their flag, and made him-
self the terror of the North Seas. An old
ballad tells in quaint style what an English
merchant of Newcastle, whose ships had fallen
into the hands of Barton, reported among
other things to the English Admiral who was
in charge of the narrow seas :

" Hast thou not herde, Lord Howard bold,
As thou has sailed by day and by night.
Of a Scottish rover on the seas ?

Men call hym Sir Andrewe Barton, Knyte ?

" He is brasse within and steel withoute,
With benies on his toppe-castle strong,
And eighteen pieces of ordinaunce
He carries on each side along.

" And he hath a pinnace derely dight,
. St. Andrew's Crosse yat is his guide ;
His pinnace bereth nine score men
And fifteen cannons on each side.

" Were ye twenty ships and he but one,
I swear by kirk, and bower and hall.
He would overcome them everyone
If once his hemes they do doMm fall."

— Extract from an Anciente Ballade.

70 The Story of the Union Jack.

Sir Andrew was the last of the freel^ooters,
as the rise of the navv of Henry YIII. and
the union of the two kingih^ms of England
and Scotland, by James I., under one crown
put an end to these reprisals by the subjects
of the one nation on the other; yet it was
the remnants of these yery riyalries thus en-
gendered between the crosses of St. Andrew
and St. George which led to the national
Jacks of the two nations being afterwards
joined together to form one flag.

CHAPTER VII.

TEE '^ ADDITIONAL JACK" OF JAMES I.—
A. D. 1606-1649 1660-1707.

The kingdoniH of England and Scotland had
passed through these centuries of dissension and
conflict when at length, in March, 1603, James
YL of Scotland, upon the death of his second
cousin Elizabeth, Queen of England, succeeded
to her throne, and became also King James I-
of England. The nations were now brought
into closer contact, and the movement of ship-
ping along their shores increased, as each was
relieved from fear of attack by the other. The
Koyal standard, which bears on it the arms of
the kingdoms, is the special flag of the sov-
ereign. And James at once, upon ascending
the throne of England, issued a proclamation,
instructing a change to be made in its then
existing form. Into the flag of Queen Eliza-

The Story of the Union Jack.

betli he introduced the red lion of Scotland
and also the haip of Ireland, which had not

previously l)een included in
the royal arms (18), but no
change was instructed to be
ff^JI made, nor was evidently con-
sidered necessary, in the Eng-
lish national flag of St. George,
which continued to be used as
18. Royal Arms of previouslv. Tlius, in the carlv

James I., 1603. o \i • r- t

vears oi the reion oi James,
the English and Scotch ships continued to
use their red cross and white cross " Jacks,"
exactlv as they had done prior to his acces-
sion.

Each nation, no doubt, retained a predilec-
tion for its own national flag — a preference
which its adherents expressed in their own
way, and most probably in terms not untinged
by caustic references to controversies and con-
tentions of previous days.

Thus it occurred that in 1606, three years
after the joining of the two thrones, the king,
finding that difliculties kept arising between
the subjects of his two adjacent kingdoms,
considered it advisable to issue his proclama-
tion declaring the manner in Avhich they were

The "Additional Jack" of James I.

19. Jack OF James I. , 1606.

in future to display their national Jacks, and
also authorizing a new flag which was to be
used in addition to
them. This flag was
the "additional Jack"
of James I. (19).

It is probable that
the English sailor had
objected to seeing the
Scotch cross raised on the mast above his
English flag, and the Scotchman, on his part
too, did not like to see St. Andrew l^elow
St. George. The additional flag was designed
for the purpose of meeting this difticulty, and
Avas ordered to be raised by itself upon the
mainmast. As a further precaution, particular
instruction was given that each ship should fly
onlv one national cross, which was to be raised
by itself on another mast, namely, on the fore-
mast of the ship, and was to be- only the cross
of its own nation. All controversy as to
precedence of the respective Jacks was thus
intended to be brought to an end.

This proclamation, as copied from an original
issue, in the British ^Museum, reads as fol-
lows : —

74 The Story of the Union Jack.

A ProcIa?nation declaring what
Flagges South and North Bri-
taines shall heave at sea.

" BY THE KING :

" Whereas some difference hath
arisen between our sabjects of South
and North Britaine travelling l^y
Seas, about the bearing of their
Flagges : For the avoyding of all
such contentions hereafter wee
have, with the advice of Our Coun-
cell, ordered : That from hence-
forth all our subjects of this Isle and
Kingdome of Great Britaine, and
all our memliers thereof, shall l.^eare
in their viauie toppe the Red
Crosse, commonly called St. George's
Crosse, and the White Crosse, com-
monly called St. Andrewe's Crosse,
joyned together according to the
forme made by our heralds, and
sent by us to our Admerell to l^e
published to our subjects ; and in
their fore-toj^pe our Subjects of
South Britaine shall weare the red
crosse onely as they were wont, and
our Subjects of North Britaine in
their fore-toppe the white crosse
onely as they were accustomed.

" Wherefore wee will and command

The "Additional Jack" of James I. 75

all our subjects to be conformable and
obedient to this our Order, and that
from henceforth they do not use to
beare their flagges in any other sort,
as they will answ ere to contrary at
their peril.

" Given at our Palace of Westmin-
ster, the twelfth day of April, in the
fourth yere of our lieine of Great
Britaine, France and Ireland, etc.
God save the King.

" Imprinted at London l^y Robert
Barker, printer to the King's Most
Excellent Majestic, 1606."

This Jack, which sul)sequently came to be
known as the " Union Flagge," was, it will
be noted, not intended to supersede the
existing national Jacks, for it was directed
to be raised on another mast, and to be dis-
played in addition to, and at the same time
with the Jack of each nation. The reason
for this use of two flags may be pointed out,
a reason which is fully confirmed by the
changes made in subsequent reigns.

When James ascended the throne of Eng-
land, it was his great desire to be styled
'* King of Great Britain," as well as of France
and Ireland. He caused himself to be so pro-

76 The Story of the Union Jack.

claimed, and used the phrase in his proclama-
tions, but without due authority. During; the
first year of his reign opinions on the j^oint
were asked of the judges of the courts, and
also of the Lords and Commons of England,
but the replies of all were unanimously against
his right to the assumption of any such title
which might seem to indicate a fusion of the
kingdoms.

The feet was, that although the two king-
doms of Scotland and England had been joined
in allegiance to the same soyereign, who was
equally king of both, yet as each kingdom
still retained its own se^^arate j^arliament,
their union had not been made adequately
complete. The king had particularly desired
to complete this union. In a proclamation
he issued he states he had found among the
"better disposed" of his subjects

" a most earnest desire that the sayd
happy union should be perfected, the
memory of all j^reterite discontent-
ments abolished, and the inhabitants
of both the realms to be the subjects
of one kingdom."

He says he will use eyery diligence himself
to haye it perfected,

The "Additional Jack ' of James I. 77

" with the advice of the states and
parhament of both the kingdoms,
and in the meantime till the said
union l)e established with due sol-
emnitie aforesaid, His Majesty doth
repute, hold and esteem and com-
mands all His Highness's subjects
to repute, hold and esteem l)oth the
two realms as presently united, and
as one realm and kingdome, and the
subjects of both the realms as one
people, l^rethren and memljers of
one body."

But charm he never so wisely, the king could
not get his subjects to see matters in the same
light as himself To temporize with their
quarrellings, he was obhged to issue the pro-
clamation concerning their flags, but with all
his endeavours he could not get their parlia-
ments to unite, and thus it was that each
nation continued to retain its own distinctive
national cross, which it flew on the flag-staff
as the sign of its own particular nationality,
and which was, therefore, not displaced by
the king's newly created flag.

The construction of the flag itself presents
some peculiarities.

In this "additional Jack" (PL iv., fig. 3)

78 The Story of the Union Jack.

of James, the red cross of St. George and its
white ground was ordered to be united with
the white cross of St. Andrew and its bkie
ground, the two flags being ''joyned togetlier
according to a form made hy our Jieralds."
In this joining the white ground of the St.
George's flag was reduced almost to a nullity.

As the form was the creation of heralds, it
was made aecordino- to the strict heraldic rules
of their craft. In herald v, a narrow border
of white or gold, termed a " fimbriation," is
always introduced for the purpose of keeping
colours separate, where they otherwise would
touch, the technical statement of the rule
Ijeing, " metal cannot be placed upon metal,
nor colour upon colour." The white of the
St. Georo-e was therefore reduced bv the
herald so as to become only a small narrow
margin of white, just sufficient to keep the
red cross* of St. George from touching the
blue of St. Andrew u])on which it was laid,
or, to be simply "a fimbriation to the red
cross of St. George."

The union of the fla^s resulted in the
Scotchman getting, as he usually does, a
smart share of all that was going. It is
true the two crosses were given an equal

The "Additional Jack" of James I. 79

display, but the white ground of the St.
George's Enghsh Jack has entirely dis-
appeared, while the blue ground of the
St. Andrew has been spread oyer all the
remaining space. Xo wonder that an Eng-
lish admiral of the Narrow Seas, hankering
after his old St. George's Jack, says a few
years afterwards of this new flag: "Though it
may l)e more honour to both the kingdoms to
be thus linked and united together, yet, in
view of the spectators, it makes not so fair
a show if it would please His Majesty."*

This additional Jack of lOOO continued in
use, with the exception of the changes made
under Cromwell, for oyer a century. During-^
its term the British kingdom, which had
already colonized the mainland of America,
from Massachusetts to Virginia, became more
than eyer an American power; for, under this
Jack, the islands which surrounded the coast ^
namely, the West Indies, Barbadoes, Bermuda,
the Bahamas, Antigiia and Jamaica, were
added to the British crown. On the continent
of Europe as well the yictorious moyements
of the flag did not slacken, for under it Gib-
raltar was stormed, and Blenheim, the master-

* Sir William Monson.

80 The Story of the Union Jack.

victory of the great INIarlliorongh, was won.
This was a record on both the continents,
worthy of the two races which had joined
their forces at its creation.

There were, however, dnring its century,
changes made in its position, which it is well
to note.

CHAPTEli VIII.

THE ENGLISH JACK RESTORED.
A. D. 1649-1660 and 1649-1707.

The new two-crossed tlag of 1606 had been
authorized to be used by the shijxs of all the
subjects of the king, l:)y the merchantmen as
well as by men-of-war. This order caused
many heart -))urnings among the admirals
of the Royal navy, and especially to the
Admiral of the Narrow Seas, whose particular
right it was to tly His Majesty's ensign on
these much-frequented waters, and whose
principal prerogative it was to maintain from
the ships of other nations the privileges due
to the English flag in its claim to the sover-
eignty of the seas. Under this new arrange-
ment others as well as the Royal ships
were carrying the Union Jack at the main,
and the officers of the navy felt that their

82 The Story of the Umon Jack,

official prominence was thereby much dimin-
ished, for how were foreigners to distinguish
a merchantman from a man-of-war? Sir John
Penington, Narrow Seas Admiral, in 1633,
pressed for the "altering the coullers, whereby
His Majestie's own ships may bee known from
the subjectes." This, he considered, "to bee
very materiale and much for His Majestie's
honour ; and, besides, will free dispute with
strangers ; for when they omitt doing theyr
respects to His Ma"*"^ shippes till they be
shott att, they alledge they did not know itt
to bee y^ King's shippe."

The Royal navy kept up a constant agitation
for the repeal of the order, until at length, in
1634, the thirty-eighth year of the flag from its
establishment by James, their claim was
acceded to by Charles I. , and a proclamation
issued.

BY THE KING.

II ^ Proclamation appointing the
fiags as ivell for our Navie
Royall as for the ships of our
subjects of South and North
Britaine.

" We taking into our Royal Con-
sideration that it is Meete for the

The English Jack Restored. 83

honour of Oure Sliipps in our Navie
Royall and of such other shipps as are
or shall be employed in Our imme-
diate service that the same bee, by
their flags distinguished from the
shipps of any other of Our Subjects
doe herebye straitly prohil^ite and for-
bid that none of our Subjects of any
of our Nations and Kingdoms shall
from henceforth i)resume to carry
the Union Flagge in the maintoppe
or other part of any of their shipps
that is the St. George's Crosse and
the St. Andrew's Crosse joyned to-
gether upon pain of Our High dis-
pleasure ; but that the same Union
Flagge be still reserved as an orna-
ment proper for Our Owne SJiipps
and shipps in our immediate service
and pay and none other. And like-
wise Our further will and pleasure is
that all the other shipps of Our sub-
jects of England or South Britaine
bearing flags, shall from henceforth
Carry the Red Crosse commonly
called St. George his Crosse as of olde
time hath been used ; and also that
all the other shii)ps of Our Subjects
of Scotland or North Britaine shall
from Henceforthe carry the White
Crosse commonly called\Sf. Andrezv's

84 The Story of the Union Jack.

Crosse. WlierelDv the several shippes
may bee distinguished and wee there-
l)y better discerne the numlier and
goodness of the same ; Wherefore
wee will and straitly command all Om*
Sul^jects foorthwithto be conformable
and obedient to this Our Order, as
they will answer the contrary at their
l^erill.

" Given at Our Court at Greenwich
this 5th day of May in the tenth
yeare of Oure Reigne of England,
Scotland, France and Ireland, De-
fender of the Faith, etc. God Save
the King. Imprinted at London by
Robert Barker, printer to the King's
Most Excellent Majestic, and bv the
Assignees of John Bill, 1634."

This proclamation of Charles I. made a very
great change in the position of the " Union
Flagge " of James, by restricting its use to one
class of ships. That it 'had never been intended
at that time to serve as a national flag is again
clearly evidenced Idv the renewed declaration
of its being the special signal of the sovereign,
to be used exclusively on the ships of the Royal
navy. Further, the merchant vessels losintr
the " Additional Jack " were ordered to con-
tinue to use, as of old, their distinctive national

The English Jack Restored. 85

flags. For the continued preservation of the
peace it was again required that each ship
should use only the flag of the nation to which
it belonged, namely, the St. George's cross, or
the old English Jack, on the English merchant
ships, and St. Andrew's cross, or Scotch Jack,
on the Scotch merchant ships.

The position of the three flags at this time
was thus clearly distinguished.

The Royal Navy The Union flag.

English mercliantinen. .St. George's cross.

ScotcJi merchantmen . . .St. Andrew's cross.

The battle ship Sovereign of the Seas (20),
built in 1637, was the glory of the fleet of
Charles I., and proved herself, during her
sixty years of active service, one of the best
men-of-war of the time, and " so formidable
to her enemies that none of the most daring
among them would willingly lie by her side."*

The drawing from a painting by Vander-
velt, shows the royal standard of Charles I. at
the stern, ensigns with royal ciphers on the
two masts, and the two-crossed "Union flagge,"
which, from 1634, was to be the "ornament pro-
per for our own ships," flying at the bow. After
fourteen more years had passed away, this royal

*Phineas' Pett. "Journal," 1696.

The Story of the Union Jack.

standard of tlie king had disappeared from
the stern of the gallant vessels, and another
Jack was flying at the bow, while even so
early as January, 1(345, the headings of the

20. The Suvereiijii of the Sea><, 1G37.
((•'rom a painting: by Vandervelt.)

official lists of the ships of the navy had been
altered so that the ships were termed " The
Parliament's Ships" instead of being described
"His Majesty's Ships."* In Fe1)ruary, 1(348, the

*Hallam.

The English Jack Restored. 87

Eevolutionan Parliament of England abolished
the office of king, and by this and the sul)se-
(|uent execution of King Charles, cancelled the
allegiance of Scotland and dissolved the con-
nection l^etween the kingdoms. A further
change was now introduced. The Parliament
did not consider the Stuart kingdom of Scot-
land to be a portion of their State, and ordered
that its insignia should be removed from the
national flags. An order of the Council of
State was therefore passed on February '2'2i\d,
1(3-1:9, directing that " the ships that are in the
service of the State shall beare the red crosse
oiilif in a white flag quite through the flag,"
and referring to the carvings of the royal arms,
which up to that time had been carried on the
sterns of all royal ships, the order directed that
these should be altered, and that "upon the
Sterne of the shippes there shall be the red
cross in one escutcheon and the harpe in the
other, being the amies of England and Ire-
land." The form of these escutcheons is well
shown in the twenty-shilling piece (21) issued
during the Commonwealth. The Parliament
also created another flag, called the Common-
wealth Ensign (PI. v., fig. 1), to l)e carried on
their men-of-war. This was a blue flag, hav-

The Story of the Union Jack.

ing in the fly a yellow Irish hari), and in the
upper corner next the staff the St. George's
cross uj^on a white ground.

Thus the Union Jack of James disappeared,
and the single red-cross Jack of England was
restored to its position as the only Jack car-
ried on the men-of-war of the State.

The merchant vessels of England continued
to use their respective national Jacks as before,

21. Commonwealth 20 Shilling Piece.

but the Scotch ships were specially warned
that they must not carry either the king's arms
or the red cross of St. George, and in case any
ships should be met so doing, the State's
admirals were ordered to " admonish them not
to do it in future."

- Cromwell, after he had been raised to the
position of " Protector," and had dragooned
Ireland and Scotland into sul)mission, put out

Commonwealth Ensign.

^CromwelCs
''Great Union'!''

En SIC

;n Red

The Englisx Jack Restored. 89

another flag as the "Great Union" (PL v., fig. 2)
or banner of the Commonweakh, in which the
crosses of St. George and St. Andrew were
shown for England and Scotland, and the
harp, on a blue ground, for Ireland; but they
were all placed in separate quarters of the flag
instead of being joined together, while on a
lilack shield of pretence in the centre, he had
displayed a lion rampant, to represent his own
coat-of-arms and himself

The great Union of Cromwell did not enter
into much use, although certainly it was dis-
played at his funeral, nor did it take the
place of the St. George's Jack, which, thus re-
stored, continued to be used as a single flag
until 1660, when, at the Restoration of Charles
II., the Union Jacks returned, without any pro-
clamation, to where they had been before the
changes made by Parliament.

Pepys tells, in his diary, of how this was
begun. Being Clerk of the Acts of the Navy,
he had been deputed to read the proclamation
of Parliament, which declared the restoration
of the king, to the crews on the ships of the
navy, a]3pointed to cross over to the Hague
and bring Charles II. to England.

While lying at anchor in the Downs, waiting

90 The Story of the Union Jack.

for the high offieials who were to accompany
them, he records how the General* of the Fleet
went from ship to ship in a small l^oat, telling
them " to alter their arms and flagges."

On l:3th May, 1660, being on board the
London, one of the ships of this squadron,
he makes the following entries of his day's
doings, and tells how the changes were made :
"To the quarterdeck, at which the taylers
and painters were at work, cutting out some
pieces of yellow cloth in the fashion of a crown
and C. R. to be put up instead of the States
arms," and records that he had also attended
" in the afternoon a council of war only to
acquaint them that the harp must l^e taken
out of all their flags, it being very offensive to
the king."

After the Restoration, the subjects of the
king evidently began, in their enthusiasm, to
make indiscriminate use of the Union Jack,
for they needed, a few years afterwards, to be
reminded of the special instructions which
had been given in the previous reign, so that
m 1663, under Charles II., another proclama-

* Under the Commonwealth successful generals had been
api^ointed to commands as admirals in the navy, but they still
retained their militai'y titles.

The English Jack Restored. 91

tion was issued, from wliicli the following
extract is made :

" A jyroclamation for the regulating
the colours to he worn on mer-
chant ships. — Charles B.

''Whereas by ancient usage no
merchants' ships ought to ])ear the
Jack, which is for distinction ap-
pointed for His Majesty's ships.

"His Majesty strictly charges and
commands all his subjects, that from
henceforth they do not presume to
wear His Majestifs Jach, com-
monly called the Union Jack, on any
of their ships or vessels, without par-
ticular warrant for their so doing
from His Majesty, or the Lord
High Admiral of England. And His
Majesty doth further command all
his loving subjects without such
warrant they presume not to wear
on board their ships or vessels any
Jacks made in imitation of His
Majesty's, or any other flags. Jacks
or ensigns whatsoever, than those
usually heretofore worn on mer-
hants' ships, viz., the flag and Jach
white, with a red cross, commonly
called St. George's cross, passing
quite through the same, and the En-

92 The Story of the Union Jack.

sign red with the Kke cross in a
canton white at the upper corner
thereof next to the staff."

The distinctive order of the flags was this
time arranged to be :

lioijal Navy —

The "Commonly Called" Union Jack.
Mercliantinen —

I. The 'Mack White," or plain St.

George's Jack.
II. The "Ensign Red," or red flag, with
the "Jack White" in the upper
corner.

From the time of this proclamation of
Charles II. the Jack of James regained a
partial position, but only as a single flag,
and even then was ordered to be used only
on the royal men-of-war. The merchant
ships, however, began again so frequently to
fly it, instead of their single cross Jacks, that
in the reign of William III., and again in the
reign of Queen Anne (prior to the creation of
her own three-cross Jack) it was found neces-
sary to issue special proclamations reiterating
the official restriction of this Jack of James to
the ships of the royal navy, and forbidding any
other ships to use it.

The English Jack Restored. 93

Haying traced the Jack we may note the
changes in the standard. Under James I. and
Charles I. the flag flown at the stern of the men-
of-war had been the royal standard of the king
(see Sovereign of the Seas). At the time of
the Commonwealth the ships of the nayy were
no longer the ships of the soyereign, but were
the ships of the State. It was to take the
place of this standard at the stern that the
"Commonwealth ensign" had been designed.
In this paramount flag Parliament placed the
St. George's cross, in 1649, when they ordered
the single English Jack to take the place of
the two crossed " additional " Jack of James I.

The ensign is stated to haye been at first
intended only as an admiral's flag, to lie flown
by the Admiral of the lilue. The colour
of the field upon which the Irish harp was
first placed was blue, but afterwards it was
more generally adopted in the red flags, as
well as in the blue,* red being the colour of
England. When, therefore, the harp had
been remoyed from '* all " their flags there
remained the simple "ensign red," haying the
St. George's cross in the upper white canton.

* Laughton, " Heraldry of the Sea."

The Story of the Union Jack.

The drawing of the Naseby (22), on which
Charles II. came to England at the time of his
Restoration, in 1660, shows this red ensign
flying at the stern. There was not snflicient
time for the making of new flags and standards,

22. The Naseby. Charles II.
(From a painting by Vandervelt.)

therefore those which they had in use were
altered on board the ships, as Pepys has told,
before crossing over to the Hague, and this
flag is most probably a Parliamentary "Ensign
Red," with the Irish harp cut out (PL v., fig. 3).
A very great deal of dependance cannot be

The English Jack Restohed, 95

placed on the foi'iii of the flags introduced into
their pictures by artists even of highest rank.
When painting flags more attention is given
to the colour eff'ect desired to be produced
than to the accurate drawing of their details.

Some instances of unworthv errors in na-
tional flao-s mav l)e mentioned. On one series
of the national bank-notes issued by the
United States Government a representa-
tion is shown of " Washington crossing the
Delaware," on December 25, 1776. In this
the flag with stars and stripes is prominently
shown, although no such flag had any exist-
ence until a year and a half afterwards. In
the Capitol of the United States there is a
picture of the "Battle of Lake Erie," fought
in 181-1:, in which the flag on Commodore
Perry's boat has only thirteen stars and thir-
teen stripes, although the United States flag
had l)een changed twenty years before,
in 179-1, to have fifteen stars and fifteen
stripes. On the walls of the " Commons
Corridor" in the British Houses of Parlia-
ment at Westminster, is a fresco representing
the landing of Charles II., in 1660, in which
the Union Jack is depicted as having three
crosses, the red cross of St. Patrick being

96 The Story of the Union Jack.

included, although it was not entered in the
flao- until 1801, or 140 years afterwards.

In each of these instances the artist was
painting from imagination, but the picture
from which our illustration of the Naseby is
taken, was painted l^y Yandervelt, who was
himself present on the occasion he recorded,
and, seeing that he was the most celebrated
marine artist of his day, the details of the
flags may be taken to be correct.

The proclamation of 1663 shows that not
only royal ships, but also all merchant ships
w^ere flyino- the "ensign red" at the stern in
the same way as on the Nasebjj, and thus this
flag became established as the national ensign.

The place of distinction at the stern had
been occupied, as under Charles I., by the
royal standard of the reigning king ; to this
position the Commonwealth ensign had been
installed as being the ensign of Parliament,
and then by the unpremeditated transition at
the " Restoration" the red ensign succeeded to
the post of honour as the ensign of the nation.

The story of this flag exemplifies the same
peculiar genius as is shown in the British con-
stitution, for it attained to its position, not by
a single yerbal enactment, but by the force of

The English Jack Restored. 97

unwritten usage and the gradual acceptance
of the will of the people.

The St. George's cross had been placed in
the upper corner of the Commonwealth ensign ;
from here it had passed into the ensign red of
C'harles II., thereafter borne at the stern on
both merchantmen and men-of-war. In the
paramount ensign of the nation, the single
cross English Jack was therefore carried un-
changed from 1649 to 1707, when its place in
the national ensign was taken for the first
time by a two-crossed Jack, and then only by
the first real Union Jack, the Jack of Queen
Anne.

In all these series of changes it is directly
evidenced that the commonly called "Union
Jack" of James was only an " additional "
flag, that it was " exceptional," and had not
officially superseded the local national Jacks,
and that it had never been introduced into the
paramount or national ensign of the nation.

CHAPTER IX.

THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE SEAS.

At the close of the first historic period of
the St. George's Jack we have seen it reigning
supreme upon the seas around the shores of
England. The great Armada had, in 1588, been
met and shattered, and its squadrons so relent-
lessly pursued around the British Isles that
but a remnant remained to struggle l)ack to
Spain, and tell the story of their defeat.

After such a victory as this, the red cross
flag of the " Navie Royall," sailed the Narrow
Seas with more assurance than ever, claiming
and receiving the obeisance of all vessels that
were j^assing by. The ancient policy of Alfred
and of John had been as much esteemed dur-
ing this Elizal^ethan period, and its principles
adhered to for the same reason as in the ear-
liest days, but the increase of merchant shijj-
ping and the rise of the business fleets of

The Sovereignty of the Seas. 99

England now gave a new reason for its being
maintained beyond the old one of self-defence.
Riches were now to be found beyond the
confines of these narrow seas. Sir Walter
Raleigh stated the new reason with a terse-
ness which four centuries of phrasemaking
has not since excelled. Said he : " Whoso-
ever commands the sea, commands the trade ;
whosoever commands the trade of the world,
commands the riches of the world, and con-
sequently the world itself"

The sovereignty of the seas had in this way
develoi^ed a monetary value ; yet, whatever
may have been their underlying causes, the
contests for the supremacy which, for the next
hundred years, kept simmering between the
nations, l)ursting out now and then into blasts
of open war, arose ostensibly from disputes
between the guardians of the fleets regarding
the precedence of their respective flags.

The sea rovers of Elizabeth had developed
into something very like " gentleman-bucca-
neers." They ranged the oceans, preying upon
the Spanish and Poi'tuguese ships wherever
they were to be found, and returned in joyous-
ness, 1 wringing home their booty. The maritime
eagerness of the people was whetted by these

100 The Story of the Union Jack.

prizes, and it is said that even the Queen her-
self was not averse to accepting from her good
subjects, Drake and Hawkins, a share of the
proceeds of their prowess. The reign of the
Jack of James I. had scarce begun, when a
neighliouring maritime rival arose to assume
formidalde proportions. Nurtured in the
hardy school of their fishing fleets, the Dutch
merchantmen not only copied tlie English
methods of preying al^road on the ships of
other nations, but also beg-an to employ them-
selves actively in cariying the business of
their own merchants, and next, which was an
intrusion much more objectionable, to enter
into competition with the English ships in
carrying the merchandise of the other nations
of Euro2)e. Thus the passage of their fleets
along the coasts of England greatly increased.
As soon as the Spanish war was over, Sir
William Monson, the Admiral of the Narrow
Seas, demanded that the ships of all other
nations should, as of old, lower their flags in
the presence of his own, " a courtesy which
could not," he said, " be challenged by right,
but now that the war was ended. His Majesty,
James I. demanded the full recognition of
such rights and duties as belonged to his i)re-

The Sovereignty of the Seas. 101

decessors."* These rights he accordmgly pro-
ceeded to enforce. • The "rufflings" mcreased
in frequency, and the contest went merrily on,
as the Dutch, increasing in enterjirise and
vohime of shipping, chafed under the domina-
tion of the EngHsh admirals. In this restless-
ness they were encouraged by the differences
raging in the next reign lietween King Charles
I. and his Parliament. These latter thwarted
the king's efforts at sea, and refused to con-
tribute any ship-money, declaring it to be an
insufferable tax ; while he, without their con-
currence, was attempting to strengthen the
navy he had created for the protection of his
shores, by maintaining the old English policy.
The king's sailors felt keenly the increasing
insolence of the passing Dutch ships, as wrote
one old salt : " What affront can be greater,
or what can make a man valianter, than a
dishonour done to prince and country, especi-
ally by a people that was wont to know no
more than how to catch, pickle, and feed fish.t
Notwithstanding the Parliament's objec-
tion, a navy was at one time collected of
sufficient strength that, when the Dutch and
French fleets joined together with the avowed

* Miinson's " Naval History of England." t Monson.

102 Tee Story of the Union Jack.

intention of contesting the command of the
sea, its simply sailing out to meet them over-
awed their forces, as reports Monson : "It is
to be observed that the greatest threateners
are the least fighters; and so it fared with
them; for they no sooner heard of our readi-
ness to find them, but they plucked in their
horns and quitted our coast, never more
repairing to it."

The King's opponents said the quarrels with
the Dutch over the honour due to the flag
were fomented only for the purpose of form-
ing an excuse for extorting money by the
objectionable tax, whose proceeds, they
alleged, were expended for other purposes.
So the people resisted while the King in-
sisted, and meanwhile the Dutch maritime
power continued to grow. The struggle be-
tween the Parliament and the King resulted
in the defeat and execution of Charles, and
the weakening of the fleet brought on the
humiliation of the English flag, by Van
Tromp, who, daring the first Dutch war,
triumphantly carried a broom at his mast-
head, as a sign that the Dutch had swept
the English flag from the Narrow Seas.

Under Cromwell, in 1653, the St. George's
cross had been restored.

The Sovereignty of the Seas. 103

The Council of State took heart, and showed
by their actions that once more the homage
due the national flag was held by them in as
great esteem as it had been by the King and
his party in the royal days. The orders to
their naval commanders were explicit:

" And w4iereas the dominion of
these seas has, time out of mind,
undoubtedly belonged to this nation,
and the ships of all other nations, in
acknowledgment of that dominion,
have used to take down their flags
upon sight of the Admiral of Eng-
land and not to bear it in his pres-
ence, you are, as much as in you
lies, to endeavour to preserve the
dominion of the sea, and to cause
the ships of all other nations to
strike their flags and not to bear
them up in your presence, and to
compel such as are refractory there-
in by seizing their ships and sending
them to be punished, according to
the Laws of the Sea, unless they
yield obedience and make such repair
as you approve."*

Yon Tromps' glory was of but short dura-
tion, for the Roundhead dragoon Blake,

* Bloomfield, "The National Flag," p. 186.

104 The Story of the Union Jack.

nicknamed "the cavalryman at sea," soon
clipped his wings. In return for the compli-
ments of the previous year, Blake, after his
victory, ran a pennant up on his mast, long
and narrow like a whip-lash, to show that he
had in his turn driven the Dutchman oif the
seas. Peace followed in 1654. In this treaty
of peace the Dutch agreed that :

" The ships of tho Dutch, as well
in ships of war as others, meeting
any of the ships of war of the Eng-
lish Commonwealth in the British
seas, shall strike their flags and
lower their topsail in such manner
as hath ever been at any time here-
tofore practised under any form of
government."

Thus had the old sea supremacy of the
nation of England, claimed by King John,
been again acknowledged, but on this occasion
was, for the first time, accorded to England
by the terms of a formal treaty.

It was the red-cross Jack of St. George
introduced by Richard I., and raised as his
"Royal Flag" by King John, which had in
previous times received the honour of the
" Sovereign Lordship of the seas." We have

The Sovereignty of the Seas. 105

seen how, for a while, its place had been
shared by the additional two-crossed Jack of
James, but now, by the incident of the tem-
porary dissolution with Scotland under the
Commonwealth, the English Jack was once
more reigning in sole possession of the flag-
staff, to receive by the terms of this treaty the
renewal of that proud homage which its single
red cross had received four centuries before.
It was a happy coincidence which the flag of
the sea-faring Englishman most fully deserved,

23. Whip-Lash Pendant — British Navy.

and the whip-lash masthead pendants with
the St. George's cross in the w^iite ground at
the head (23) borne on all Her Majesty's
ships in commission preserve the story of
this exploit to the present day.

Notwithstanding this check, the marine
power, both naval and merchant of the Dutch
kept on increasing. They had challenged the
English merchantman, and become the general
carriers for all Europe. The Commonwealth
of England, in self-defence, enacted a naviga-

106 The Story of the Union Jack.

tion law that all produce imported into the
kingdom of Britain, should be carried either in
English ships or in those of the country whence
the cargo was obtained.

It was the contest for the money value of
the " command" of the sea which was really
being waged, and the commerce of distant
-continents was the prize which would fall to
the victors' share. Vessels of the Dutch
and other nations were ordered to heave
to, or were stopped by a shot across their
bows, not only to compel observance of the
supremacy of the flag, but also to search their
holds for goods which the searchers might
consider should have been carried in English
ships.

Soon another Dutch war blazed out under
Charles II., 1665-67. De Euyter sailed up
the Thames to Tilbury, but again the success
was but temporary, for at the close of the
war "New Amsterdam," in America, and the
•command of the Hudson Eiver, was ceded
to the English. The name of the new terri-
tory then obtained, was changed to Xew
York, in honour of tne Duke of York, the
King's brother, which English and royal name
it still retains, although now forming the

J, <.i.j.ui.j^'iif,i.i xivy.. iv^ix^^i^Q

The Sovereigntv of the Seas. 107

principal maritime city of the Eepublic of
the United States. With the boot}^ came,
in the articles of peace, the old-time ascrip-
tion of sovereignty to the British flag. It
was again agreed by one of the ariicles :

((

That the ships and vessels of
the so United Provinces, as well
men-of-war as others, meeting any
man-of-war of the said King of Great
Britain in the British seas, shall
strike their flag and lore the topsail
in such manner as the same hath
been formally observed in any times
wdiatsoever."*

But the rivalry betw^een the flags was too
intense to continue much longer without com-
ing to a definite climax. The " command "
foreseen by Baleigh w^as at stake. Both
nations had the maritime instinct, and both
the genius of colonizing power, so that one
or the other of them must give place, and
leave to the survivor the supreme possession
of all that this command implied. Thus the
third and final war came on (1672-74).

The lighting flag of the English navy of
the day, the red ensign, was flying at the

* Treaty of Breda, 1667.

108 The Story of the Union Jack.

fore on the men-of-war as the signal to
" engage the enemy," and at the stern of
both men-of-war and merchantmen as the
national ensign. \Yhile the Eoj^al uryj was
battling with its gnns, the merchant navy of
England was cutting into the carrying trade
of the Dutch. So that at the close of the
war the British merchant ships had captured
the greater part of the foreign business of
the enemy, and by thus exhausting the earn-
ings, and reducing the fighting resources of
the Dutch, contributed to the final victor}^
almost equally with the exploits of the men-
of-war.

The contest, although short, was sharp.
The strife had been for the merchant carry-
ing trade of the world, and when it was. won
whole colonies were transferred with it to the
victorious English.

During the interval which had followed
the previous war the English had given Xew
York to the Dutch in exchange for Guiana,
but now they took both of them back.*
These countries formed only a portion of the
victor's spoil. Above all these and other

* The boundaries of the territories then transferred formed
the subject of the recent Venezuela excitement.

The Sovereignty of the Seas. 109

great money results, the old sea spirit again
asserted itself, and setting into inferior posi-
tion the additions to the realm, or the com-
pensations exacted for the expenses of the
war, the final treaty declares among its first
clauses the lordly renewal of the centuries
old right of the respect and salute due -to
the nation's flag !

"In due acknowledgment on their
part, the King of Great Britain's
right to have his flag respected in
the seas hereafter mentioned, shall
and do declare and agree, that what-
ever ships or vessels belonging to
the said United Provinces, whether
vessels of war or others, or whether
single or in fleets, shall meet in any
of the seas from Cape Finisterre to
the middle point of the laud Yan
Staten, in Norway, with any ships
or vessels belonging to His Majesty
of Great Britain, whether these ships
be single or in great number, if they
carry His Majestj^'s of Great Britain
flag or Jack, the aforesaid Dutch
vessels or ships shall strike their flag
and lower their topsail in the same
manner and with as much respect as
hath at any time, or in any place,

110 The Story of the Union Jack.

been formerly practised towards any
ships of His Majesty of Great Britain
or his predecessors, by any ships of
the States General or their prede-
cessors."*

The Jack of His Majesty Charles II. was
the two-crossed "additional" Jack of his
father, restored to the navy at the Eestora-
tion, and is shown on the Naseby (22).

The Jack flies at the bow, and on the
mizzen ; the admiralty flag is at the fore ;
the royal standard at the main, but at the
stern is the sign of nationality, the "ensign
red " with the St. George's cross.

This red ensign was the flag which the ships
of that royal navy bore when they won the
final supremacy of the sea from the navy
of Holland. It was the flag of the British
merchant navy of the time, and above them
signalled that other command, which was
then won from the Dutch "the command
of the trade, which is the command of the
riches of the world." To this victory the
merchantman, by his seamanship and energy,
had done his full share, and therefore at this
present day the merchant ships of Britain

* Treaty of Westminster, Charles II. and Holland, 1674.

The Sovereignty of the Seas. Ill

bear the red ensign on every sea and in
every clime, in rightful acknowledgment of
the part he played in gaining the supremacy
of the sea.

This supremacy, and still more the spirit
of supremacy, has ever since remained domi-
nant in the British heart. I he British navy
and the British merchant marine, each of
them surpass in number and in power the
combined navies and ships of any other
nations on the globe, and thus with lusty
throats her children boldly sing,

^^ Rule Britannia ;
Britannia rules the ivaves9^'

CHAPTEK X.

THE JACK OF QUEEN ANNE, 1707.
THE FIRST UNION JACK.

In the year 1707, being the sixth year of
the reign of Queen Anne, the parKaments of
England and Scotland were at length brought
into union in one parliament. Up to this
time there had not been one distinctive

" Union Jack " to re-
present both the king-
doms, no one flag tak-
ing the place of the
separate national Jacks
of St. George and St.
Andrew, which the
English or Scotch sub-
jects of the sovereign had alwa3's continued
to use, according to their nationalitj^ Im-
mediately after the union of the two parlia-
ments, Queen Anne issued her proclamation

24. Uxiox Jack of Anne,
1707.

Reid Ensign of Anne

The Jack of Queen Anne, 1707. 113

creating " Our Jack " as the sole ensign
armorial of the now completely united king-
doms of Great Britain and of the dominions
nnder its rule. The flag thus authorized was
the first Union Jack (24).

EOYAL ARMS.

With three fleur-de-lis quartered in the seconds, and the
motto " Semper Kadem."

BY THE QUEEN.

A Proclamation — Declaring ivliat
ensign or colours shall he worn at
sea in merchant ships or vessels
belonging to any of Her Majesty's
subjects of Great Britain and, the
Dominions tJiereunto belonging.
— Anne B.

'' Whereas, by the first article of
the Treaty of Union, as the same
hath been ratified and approved by
several Acts of Parliament, the one
made in our Parliament of England,
and the other in our Parliament of
Scotland, it was provided and agreed
that the ensigns armorial of our King-
dom of Great Britain be such as we
should appoint, and the crosses of
Saint George and Saint Andrew con-
Joyned in such manners as we should

114 The Story of the Union Jack.

think fit, and used in all flags, ban-
ners, standards and ensigns, both at
sea and land, we have therefore
thought fit, by and with the advice
of oar Privy Council, to order and
appoint the ensign described on the
side or m argent hereof, to be worn
on board all ships or vessels belong-
ing to any of our subjects whatso-
ever, and to issue this, our Royal Pro-
clamation, to notifie the same to all
our loving subjects, hereby strictly
charging and commanding the mas-
ters of all merchant ships and vessels
belonging to our subjects, whether
employed in our service or otherwise,
and all other persons whom it may
concern, to wear the said ensign on
board the ships or vessels."

After creating the ensign which was to be
used by all ships, warning was given against
the using of any of the distinctive flags of the
royal navy without permission.

"And whereas divers of our sub-
jects have presumed on board their
ships to wear our flag. Jacks and
pendants, which according to ancient
usage, have been appointed as a dis-
tinction for our ships, and have worn
flags, Jacks and pendants in shape

The Jack of Queen Anne, 1707. 115

and mixture of colours so little dif-
ferent from ours, as not without diffi-
culty to be distinguished therefrom.
We do therefore, with the advice of
our Privy Council, hereby strictly
charge and command all our subjects
whatsoever, that they do not presume
to wear in any of their ships our
Jack, commonly called the Union
Jack, nor any pendants, nor any such
colours as are usually worn by our
ships without particular warrant for
their so doing from us."

The proclamation then stated that no other
ensign was to be used, and that the new ensign
was to take the place of the ensign up to that
time used by merchant ships.

''And do hereby further command
all our loving subjects that without
such warrant as aforesaid they pre-
sume not to wear on board their ships
any other ensign than the ensign
described on the side or margent
hereof, which shall be worn instead
of the ensign before this time usually
worn on merchant ships.

" Given at our Court at Windsor,
the 28th day of July, in the sixth year
of our reign.

" God Save the Queen.'"

116 The Story of the Union Jack.

Here, then, we have the establishment of a
new flag in accordance with the intention of
the Treaty of Union, which had received the
separate approval of the Parliament of Eng-
land, and of the Parliament of Scotland, before
either had passed out of existence and become
merged in the new " Union " Parliament,
in this flag the crosses of St. George and
St. Andrew were conjoined, the new flag was
called " Oiir Jack" (PI. vi., fig. 1), which, as
a "Union Jack," was to be used as part of all
flags, banners and ensigns, both at sea and
land, but in its simple form, as a simple
Jack, was not to be used afloat on anv other
ships than Her Mnjesty's royal navy without
23articular warrant.

We have seen how, in 1660, the two-crossed
Jack of James had come back into use only
in addition to the two national crosses, and
how the St. George's cross had been left in
jDOssession of the upper corner of the " red
ensign."

A notable change was now made. Although
the St. George's cross remained, as it still
does, in the admiral's pendant, its place in
the upper corner of the red ensign was now
taken by the new " Union Jack," in the form
as shown " in the margent " (PI. vi., fig. 2).

The Jack of Queen Anne, 1707. 117

The "red ensign" thus formed, was there-
after to be worn by all ships, whether mer-
chantmen or in Her Majesty's service ; and,
finally, this red ensign, with the new Union
Jack in the upper corner, was to take the
place of and be worn instead of the separate
national Jacks previously used in the mer-
chant ships of the subjects of the sovereign,
and no other ensign was to be worn.

Here, then, ended the official authority of
the separate crosses of St. George and St.
Andrew, and began the reign of the "First
Union Jack" of the kingdoms of England and
• Scotland. Then, too, was first raised the Union
British ensign. The '•^meteor flag''' of the
realm, to be worn by all subjects of Britain's
Queen on land or on sea, on merchant ships, or
men-of-war, so that wherever the blood-red
flag should fly, the world would know the
nation to which its bearer belonged. In this
red ensign (PI. vi., fig. 2), the paramount flag
of the nation, the new "Union Jack," was
placed, a position which, although granted to
the English Jack, had never been occupied
by the "additional" Jack, whose term was
then closed.

The proclamation and the drawing of the

118 The Story of the Union Jack.

flag, as here shown, are taken from the unique
collection in the British Museum, London.

A very noticeable difference will be seen
to exist between "our" new Jack of Queen
Anne, of 1707, and the "additional" Jack of
James, of 1606.

The white border surrounding the St.
George's cross has been enlarged, and is no
longer a mere margin or " fimbriation."

It has been objected by those versed in
heraldry that this alteration is not in exact
accordance with strict heraldic restrictions.

There is, however, another view which it is
fair to entertain, namely, that it was inten-
tional.

In the Jamesl. flag the crosses were ^' joyned.
according to a form ynade hy our heralds^''
in the Queen Anne flag they are to be " con-
joyjied in such manners as we should thin Jc fit."
Most probably the Queen consulted her sailors,
and this time the designers were not think-
ing so much of heraldry and ancient heraldic
rules, as of making a flag, and, while combin-
ing the two crosses, of making two flags into
one.

When the flag-makers broadened the white,
they did it to restore to the Union flag a part

The Jack of Queen Anne, 1707.

119

of the white ground of the St. George's Jack,
which had previously been entirely effaced,
but which was now given a place in the
^' Union," in company with the blue ground of
the St. Andrew's.

A confirmation of this will be found in the

25. Fort Niagara, 1759.
(Reproduced from an old print.)

annals of the next change, which was made
almost a century afterwards, in the Union
Jack.

It may have been that some of the designers
were sailors who had carried the red cross of

120 The Story of the Uxiox Jack.

St. Greorge, and now that it was being replaced
in the fighting flag of the nation by the new
comer, felt that it was but due to its centuries
of glorious service evidence of the whole Eng-
lish flag, its white ground as well as its red
cross, should be retained in the new national
emblem.

Whether heraldically correct or not, there
the broad white band first appeared, and has
ever since remained, showing the red cross and
white ground of St. George's Jack, combined
with the white cross and blue ground of the
St. Andrew's Jack, into one "Union Jack,"
which was thereafter to be the " sole ensign "
of British rule.

It was this two-crossed Union Jack of
Queen Anne which was raised at Plassey, when
Clive won India, and at Pondicherry and at
Seringapatam. Sir Wm. Johnson raisSd it
above old Fort Niagara* (25) when

" The last day came, and Bois le Grand
Beheld with misty eyes
The flag of France run down the staflF,
And that of England rise."

— Spina Christi. Kerby.

*The artist would appear to have altered the flag in a sketch
which he had made the previous year. An "escutcheon" will
be noted in the centre of the Union.

§ >
- f.

r=:

''•^

J^i^

^-'

-"'

H-

-J

:,T

122 The Story of the Union Jack.

Under it Wolfe stormed Lonlsbicrg, the key
fortress of Cape Breton, and following up his
victory climbed the Heights, and died victor-
ious on the Plains of Abraham (26), when in
1759 Quebec was gained and Canada came
under the realm of British law.

The youthful Nelson saw it fly aloft when
he served as a middy on a British man-of-war,
searching for the North Pole, and twenty-five
years later when in glorious action he won his
title as Baron Nelson of the Nile.

The West Coast of Africa, New South
Wales and Vancouver Island were all added
under its display, showing how the mariners of
Britain were carrying it far across the distant
seas, more distant than now, for those sea-
dogs of the sceptred Isles had raised their
new Union Jack upon the mast, and braving
the unknown oceans, were sailing their ships
wherever billows rolled or winds could waft
them.

CHAPTER XI.

THE UNION JACK— THE EMBLEM OF
PARLIAMENTARY UNION.

The kingdom of England had for centuries
its own St. George's Jack and the kingdom of
Scotland its cross of St. Andrew. These red
and white crosses had been the accepted sym-
bols of their separate nationalities. Each of
the kingdoms had its own separate parlia-
ment, differing, it is true, from one another in
methods and in many details, but representing
the constitutional machinery adopted in each
community for consultation between the king
and his subjects who, through their represent-
atives, advised upon matters connected with
the government of their country, whether in
its internal laws or in its relations with foreign
powers. In course of time the same per-
sonage, in the person of James I., had by virtue
of his birth succeeded to the throne of England

124 The Story of the Union Jack.

as well as to that of Scotland. The kingly
office m both the kingdoms had thus been
merged in the hands of one and the same king.
A new flag had been created representing the
allegiance which had now been joined in the
one sovereign. In this the crosses of the
two kingdoms had been joined together in
one design, but the separate national Jacks of
each had still been retained and their use con-
tinued in force.

These separate national Jacks were certainly
intended to evidence the continued separate
national existence of each kingdom, while the
new personal Jack or banner of the King would
seem to have been intended to evidence the
union of tlie thrones in one person, and to
represent the united fealty offered to the one
king. Yet it is fairly open to question as to
whether this Union Jack of James I. was ever
intended to mean as much as this, or whether
it was not after all introduced with the pur-
pose of avoiding trouble between the sailors
of the two nations, and only intended at first
to be a local convenience for the preventing
of dissensions.

The new Union Jack certainlv did not
represent a union of the nations, else why did

Emblem of Parliamentary Union. 125

the two national Jacks still remain ? If it had
been intended to represent the fealty of his
subjects to their king, why was not the red
cross of the Irish included as well as the
crosses of England and Scotland, for the Irish
were equally subjects of James I. ?

The Irish had, in fact, been subjects of his
predecessors for many centuries. In 1171,
after the conquest of the island had been
effected by Henry II. of England, the native
princes of Ireland had owned fealty to the
prince not in his capacity as king, but in
evidence of his position as having become by
conquest the "Lord of Ireland." The country
had from very early days been governed by its
own parliaments, whose meetings are recorded
as having taken place as early as 129-3. It
was not, however, until 152-2 that Ireland
was raised to the rank and designation of a
kingdom. In this year an Act was passed by
the Parliament of Ireland declaring Henry
A'lIL, the king' of England, to be also the
king of Ireland. It was by virtue of this
Act that the title King of Ireland was as-
sumed by the king. The flag of England
was at this same time the single St. Greorge's
Jack, yet, although the crowns were thus

126 The Story of the Union Jack.

formally united, the cross of St. Patrick was
not added to the red cross of St. George as a
Union Jack in sign of the fealty to the one
sovereign.

After this, the kingdom of Ireland owed
fealty to three sovereigns of England in suc-
cession Edward VI., Mar}^, and Elizabeth,
yet under none of them were the crosses of
the two national flags joined together. It
was not until a Scotch king, the great-grand-
son of Henry VIIL, became King of England,
that any of the three national crosses were
combined. In 1603, James I, became King
of Ireland and England, as well as of
Scotland, yet notwithstanding that the three
sister kingdoms were thus united in alle-
giance under his united crown, the then sepa-
rate crosses of the national Jacks of each
were not united in one flag. Although James
I. at his accession at once added the Irish
harp to the quarterings of his royal standard,
being the first time that this emblem of
Ireland had been inserted in the royal arms
of Great Britain, yet three years passed be-
fore he entered the red cross of St. George
in the additional Union Jack which he then
created. All these incidents point, evidently,

Emblem of Parliamentary Union. 127

to the view that the union of the crosses
of St. George and St. Andrew in the new
flag of 1606 was not, nor could it be, an
emblem of the union of thrones, but was
mainly devised, as the King's proclamation
distinctly stated, for the special and local
purpose of keeping the sailors of the two
nations most interested in shipping at peace,
and so to prevent their crews from quarrelling
with one another as they sailed their ships
along the shores of Great Britain.

It required something more than a mere
union of allegiance to create a real Union Jack,
and to entitle the national crosses of the king-
doms to be entered upon its folds.

The history of the entry of the St. Patrick's
cross into the Union flag enables us to see
even yet more clearly what this requirement
was. It will be remembered that a change in
the additional Jack of James had been made
in the sixth year of the reign of Queen Anne,
and that the occasion of this change was
coincident with the union of the separate
parliaments of England and Scotland into
one British parliament.

It was so soon as this occurred, but not
until then, that the flag in which the two

128

The Story of the Union Jack.

national crosses were blended was made the
sole national ensign.

It was in 1707 that this first Union Jack

27. Fort George and the Port of New York in 1770.
(From an old print.)

was created. Queen Anne was at the time
Queen of Ireland as well as Queen of Eng-
land and Scotland. She had quartered the

Emblem of Parliamentary Union. 129

harp of Ireland in her royal standard five
years previously, at the time when she had
commenced her reign, yet the Queen when
forming her new flag did not join the cross
of St. Patrick in her Union Jack any more
than had King James when forming his.

For ninety-four years longer the red cross
Irish Jack continued in its separate existence.
The reign of Queen Anne had come to its
close, and three more sovereigns in succession
had ascended the united throne of Great
Britain and Ireland, yet in all these reigns
the Union Jack, in the red ensign, which had
been declared to be the only flag^of the realm
to be worn by their subjects, contained only
the crosses of St. George and of St. Andrew,
representing but two of the kingdoms in-
cluded under its rule (27).

At last, in 1801, during the forty-first year
of the reign of George III., the Irish parlia-
ment was united with the Union parliament
of England and Scotland, and then, and not
till then, was the red cross of St. Patrick
blended with the other two national crosses.

The emblem of Scotland had not been
blended with that of England in one Union
Jack until their parliaments had been united,

130 The Story of the'Uniox Jack.

so the emblem of Ireland was not added to
the other two until her parliament had also
been joined with theirs. So soon, then, as
the three kingdoms were joined in union
under one parliament, then for the first time
the three crosses of the three national Jacks
were united in one Union Jack. We thus
have learned what was the necessary qualifi-
cation to entitle a national cross to be entered
in the union ensign.

It needed a union of parliaments to create
a real Union Jack, one in which the three
national crosses should each continue to
retain their national significance and be
still accorded the same precedence, when
joined together in union, which had pre-
viously attached to each when separately
displayed.

The histor}" of these successive blendings
shows most plainly that the triune flag arose
not from union under one sovereign, but from
legislative union under one parliament. The
Union Jack therefore has become the emblem
of the British Constitution. It is the signal
of the existence of G-overnment under British
parliamentary Union, and therefore, wherever
it is displayed, indicates the presence of
British rule and British law.

CHAPTEE XII.

THE UNION JACK AND PARLIAMENTARY
UNION IN CANADA.

In addition to its harmony witli the story
of union in the Motherland, tliis Union Jack
has also a most interesting connection with
the extension of the powers and advantages
of the British Constitution to Canada, and
particularly with the establishment of respon-
sible parliamentary government among its
people.

In 1759, the seeds of the new^ nationality
had been sown upon the Plains of Abraham,
where the blood of Wolfe and Montcalm had
mingled to enrich the soil.

The French forefathers of the new subjects
had come very largely from those very por-
tions of old France whose people had crossed
over to England with William the Conqueror
and given the British their king.

132 The Story of the Union Jack

As saj's one of our French-Canadian his-
torians :

" The immigration of the French, extending
from 1634 to 1720, was almost entirely from
among the Normans of Dieppe and Eoiien, so
that the settled portion of Canada was to all
intents and pm-poses a reproduction of a Nor-
man province. The subsequent settlers were
mainly selected in Eochelle, Poictou, Paris
and Normandy, to the exclusion of persons
from the south and east, and coming out
single, they married the daughters of the
settled Normans. This accounts for the
marked absence of any but the Norman
accent and form of speech throughout the
French-speaking communities of Canada at
the present day."*

Thus the new French-speaking subjects in
Canada were only returning in allegiance to"
the sovereignty of a king whose ancestors had
been placed upon his English throne by their
Norman forefathers; upon whose royal arms
(28) were displayed three fleur-de-lis as sign of
his claim, through his ancestors, to the throne
of France ; upon whose crown was the motto
in French " Dieu et Mon Droit,"! and who by

* Benjamin Suite, "The Origin of the French-Canadians."
+ First used at Gisors, in Normandy, in 1198.

AND Parliamentary Union in Canada. 133

the retention of old customs still gave his
consent to the laws enacted in his British
parliament in the same old
Norman phrase, " Le Eoi le
veult " (" The King wills
it"), which had been used
by his Norman forefathers.*
The French Habitant
felt how easy was the re-
newal of that old relation-
ship, and accepted the
change in the way so well expressed in his
Canadian voyageur patois.

28. Royal Arms of
George II.

" An' dat was de way we feel, w'en de ole regime s
no more,

An' de new wan come, but don't change moche ;
w'y its jus' lak' it be before,

Spikin' Francais lak' we alway do, an' de Eng-
lish dey mak' no fuss.

An' our law de sam', wall, I don't know me, 'twas
better mebbe for us."

— ''Tlie Hahitanf," W. H. DRUiniOND.

There now commenced on this continent
an evolution of internal government of the

*The custom is still continued, and the consent of Queen
Victoria to Acts passed by Parliament is given in Norman
French, "La Reine le veult."

134 The Story of the Union Jack

people similar to that which had taken place
in the old land of England, but under reversed
conditions. An eminent French authority*
has stated his belief that England owed her
liberties to her having been conquered by the
Normans, and to this we may add the state-
ment of a no less important English author,!
that " assuredly England was gainer by the
conquest." As the advent of Norman rule to
England had resulted in such privileges to the
English people, so assuredl}^ the cession of
Quebec and the introduction of English gov-
ernment into Canada brought equal blessings
to the descendants of those self-same Normans.
The French-Canadian found that under the
Union Jack his property was secure. Under
the old regime the French-Canadian had prac-
tically no voice in the government of his
country. There was no elective municipal
government, no freedom for public meetings,
all the legislative and executive power, even
to its extremest details, being centralized
through the Governor and Intendant in the
person of the king of France, who was two
thousand miles awa}'. Finding his religious
faith untrammelled, his freedom unimpaired,

* Guizot, " Essais sur I'Histoire cle France." t Gibbon.

AXD Parliamentary Uniox ix Canada. 185

his lantruage preserved, he soon settled down
without objection, to his new sovereignty.

In 1774, the British parliament passed the
Act known as the " Quebec Act," which
granted an increased share of local govern-
ment to the people of the great Province
comprising Canada wdiich was then set apart,
and the greater portion of which is now with-
in the present Dominion. This measure of
self-government still further assured the
French-descended Canadians of the protec-
tion of their liberties, so that when the
English-descended colonists of the thirteen
English state colonies to the south of them,
revolted from their allegiance in 1775, Canada
stood firm by the British crown. The de-
scendauts of the Normans were true to the
form of government which their forefathers
had helped to create.

The granting of separation to the thirteen
United States in 1783, was followed by the
immigration to Canada of those loyal souls
whose hearts revolted at the action of their
colonies in taking down the Union»jJack, and
who refused to separate themselves from the
United Empire, in whose ultimate justice
they had unwavering faith.

136 The Story of the Uniox Jack

These ''' United Empire Loyalists " settled
mainly in the western parts of Canada. Of
the quarter of a million souls who then
formed the total population, about a hundred
and forty thousand were of French lan-
guage and descent, living in the countries
adjacent to the St. Lawrence River, and of
the forty to fifty thousand Loyalists who, it is
estimated, reached Canada during or imme-
diately after the rebellion, over twenty-five
thousand had, by 1786, settled along the
Western lakes.

Government in Canada had hitherto been
conducted by a Governor and a Legislative
Council appointed by the Crown. A further
advance in constitutional self-government was
now considered desirable, and the Act of 1791
was passed. The ancient Province of Quebec
was divided into two provinces, called Lower
and L^pper Canada, very fairly representing
the localities occupied, the one by the older or
French-speaking subjects of His Majesty, and
the other by the new coming English-speaking
loyalists, who were following their fiag into
the forests of the north-land.

This ''Constitutional Act of 1791" gave
the right of parliamentary government to the

AND Parliamentary Union in Canada. 137

people of Canada. A Legislative Council and
a House of Assembly were created for each
province, the members of the latter House
being elected by the people in the counties
and towns of each.

The Legislature of Upper Canada held its
first session at Newark (now Xiagara-on-the-
Lake) in 1792, summoned, as said G-overnor
Simcoe in his opening speech, " Under the
authority of an Act of Parliament of Great
Britain, passed in the last year, which has
established the British Constitution in this
distant country." To this he added :

" The wisdom and beneficence of our Most
Gracious Sovereign and the British parlia-
ment have been eminently proved not only in
imparting to us the same form of government,
but in securing the benefit of the many pro-
visions which guard this memorable Act, so
that the blessings of our invulnerable Con-
stitution, we hope, will be extended to the
remotest posterity."

As a sign of this self-government under the
Crown, the King issued his warrant from the
Court of St. James on March 4th, 1792, author-
izing a ^^ Great Seal for the Province of Upper
Canada'' (29), to be used in sealing all public

138

The Story of the Uxiox Jack

29. The Great Seal of Upper Canada, 1792.

instruments. The plate shows the details
of the parts being, as described in the Eoj^al
warrant, " an anchor and a sword crossed on
a calumet of peace, encircled by a wreath of

AND Parliamentary Union in Canada. 139

olives, surmounted by an Imperial crown and
the Union of G-reat Britain."

This "Union," which will be seen in the
upper right-hand corner of the seal, was the
Union Jack of Queen Anne. In drawings of
the arms of the Province of Ontario (the
new^ name given to the Province of Upper
Canada at the time of Confederation, in 18G7),
the Jack is frequently shown as containing
three crosses. A reference to the impres-
sions made#by the seal itself upon the huge
pieces of white wax, four and a half inches
broad b}^ three-quarters of an inch in thick-
ness, which have been attached by bands
of parchment or of red tape to official docu-
ments, show that the "Union" contained
two crosses only, namely, the cross of St.
George and the single cross of St. Andrew.

The United Empire Loyahsts sought their
loved two-crossed Union Jack in Canada.
They found it not only flying on the flag-
staff, but also impressed on the seals of the
grants of land which w^ere made to them in
recognition of their loyalty. On these it came
to them as a sign of the surety of their legal
rights under British law and their full pro-
tection under the administration of British
justice.

140 The Story of the Union Jack

The introduction of this Union Jack had
been the result of an Act passed by the British
Parliament, that mother of parliaments, which
continues to this day to have vested in it the
ultimate political sovereignty of every local
parliament which it has created.

This Union Jack on the great seal is thus
the emblem of parliamentary union between
Great Britain and Canada, and the sign of the
spread of the British constitutional govern-
ment to the continent of America.

But the French-Canadian had also an inter-
est in this same Great Seal, for on its obverse
side it bore the royal coat-of-arms of the reign-
ing sovereign, George III., and in this were
still shown the three lilies of France, in the
same way as in the arms of his predecessor
George II. (28). What the Union Jack on the
one side was to the English-speaking Cana-
dian, the fleur-de-lis on the other, was to
the French-Canadian a visible sign of his own
personal connection with the glories of his
forefathers, and the evidence of his glad
allegiance to the sovereign who was repre-
sented by them.

This Union Jack was also shown in the
arms of the Department of Education of Upper

AXD Parliamentary Union in Canada. 141

Canada, from 1844 to 1876, during the regivie
of Dr. Ryerson as Superintendent. In these
the design was the same as on the great seal,
bui; the Union Jack was removed from the
upper corner and placed upon a shield in the
centre, upon which the two crosses of Queen
Anne are plainly shown.*

A further adoption of the national emblem

30. Upper Canada Penny.

is shown in the design on the early currency,
which was coined for use in the province.
The " penny" of the Bank of Upper Canada
(bO) shows on the one side St. George and
the dragon, and, on the other, the arms of

* In the earlier stained glass windows placed in the Normal
School, Toronto, the head offices of the Department of Educa-
tion of Ontario, the three-crossed flag had been shown, but this,
on the suggestion of the writer, has been corrected in the new
windows placed in the library in 1896.

142 The Story of the Union Jack.

the great seal, having on it the Union Jack.*
These were two good national emblems which,
no doubt, made the money that he earned
acceptable to the Canadian Loyalist, for on
the coins with which he w^as paid for his daily
labour, and on the seal of the deed of the
grant of land which his Loyalist father had
received for his new home, there w^as the
imprint of the Union Jack, placed there by
the Act of the Union Parliament of Great
Britain, as the sign of his parliamentary
union with that United Empire which com-
manded his allegiance.

* The design of this Bank of Upper Canada penny was made
by F. W. Cumberland, the father of the writer.

CHAPTER XIII.

THE IRISH JACK.

The lineage of the Irish Jack is not so
clearly defined as is that of the other Jacks.
Although " Paddy " has always been so ready
for a shindy, that fighting has come to be con-
sidered his "natural divarsion," he has never
been considered particularly fond of the water.
It is on land that he has found play for his
fierce delight in mingling where the fray is
thickest. It is as a soldier that the Irishman
has always excelled. Wellington and Wolse-
ley attest his power in command, and in many
a forlorn hope the wild energy of the Irish
blood has scaled the breach and carried the
stormers past the anxious moments of the
attack, displaying that same " eager, fierce^
impetuous valour" with which, in the charge
of the Heavy Brigade at Balaclava, " the

31. St. Patrick.

144 The Story of the Union Jack.

Inniskillings went into the massive Russian
column with a cheer."*

It may be, as Ireland
was at no time distin-
guished as a maritime
nation, and its local
shipping therefore not
developed to any great
extent, that the display
of her national Jack was not so much in evi-
dence among the sailors of the early days as
were the Jacks of the two sister nations.

The banner of St. Patrick (31) is a white
flag, having on it a cross of the same saltire
shape as St. Andrew's cross, but red in colour,
the heraldic description being, " Argent, a
saltire gules,'" a red saltire cross on a white
ground (PI. vi., fig. 3).

St. Patrick was the apostle of the Irish, and
thus became their traditional patron saint.
The story of his life is that he was born in
Scotland, at Kilpatrick, near Dunbarton on
the Clyde, and being taken prisoner by pirates
when a child, was carried into Ireland and sold
there as a slave. Having acquired the native
language, he escaped to the continent, and

*Kinglake, " Invasion of the Crimea."

The Irish Jack. 145

afterwards becomiDg a Christian, and having
been ordained to service in the church, re-
turned to Ireland for the purpose of convert-
ing the people. The British name said to
have been given him in his youth was Succeath,
"valiant in war," a temperament which he
certainly impressed upon the Irish, although
he does not seem to have been quite so suc-
cessful in transmitting his own power of re-
fraining from hitting back. This name was
afterwards, when he returned to Ireland,
changed to Pafricius, in evidence of his noble
family descent, and to add importance to his
mission.*

The legends of the saint date back to
A.D. 411, when he is reported to have com-
menced his mission, and to have afterwards
devoted his life to the increase of the well-
being of the people and the spread of Chris-
tianity throughout Ireland. The tradition is
that the saint suffered martyrdom upon a cross
of the shape of this red cross, and thus, when
he became the patron saint of Ireland, it
was held in recognition as his emblem, and for
that reason was adopted as the Irish cross.

Another emblem of Ireland, the green

* Smith's "Religion of Ancient Britain."
10

146 The Story of the Union Jack.

shamrock, is also connected in legend with St,

Patrick, as having been used by him, through

the lesson of its three leaves

joined in one, in explaining the

doctrine of the Trinity, and

thus both the shamrock and the

red saltire cross form the salient

features of the insignia of the

"Alost Illustrious Order of St.

-r^ . . , , , . , T • 1 T r, S2. Labarum of

Patrick, the Irish order or cwstantine.
knighthood.

On the other hand, some people declare
that St. Patrick never had a cross, and that
the cross of the saltire shape is sacred only to
St. Andrew.

The Irish saltire, and also that of St.
Andrew, are derived, they suggest, from the
Labarum (32), or Sacred Standard, which was
raised by Constantine the Great, the first
Christian emperor of Eome, as the imperial
standard of his armies. On this he had
placed a monogram composed of the first two
greek letters X E (A Piaros) of the sacred
name of Christ, and the saltire cross is re-
puted, to be the repetition of the X of the
Christian emblem.

The Labarum was the official banner of the

The Irish Jack.

147

33. Harp of Hibebnia.

emperor of Rome, upon it were embroidered,

or set out, the insignia of the emperor of

the day. These Constan-

tine, on his conversion, had

changed to the Christian

emblem.

Should this latter sug-
gestion of the origin of the
cross of the saltire shape
be accepted as the prefer-
able, the saltire cross has
yet a still more interesting and particular
connection with the early history of Ireland,

Constantius CJdorus, the father of Constan-
tine the Great, was the Roman governor of
Britain in the reign of the Emperor Diocle-
tian, and had, about .\.D. 301, completed the
pacification of Ibernia, as Ireland was then
called. The pagan goddess of the island
was the goddess Hibernia,* and the harp was
her emblem. This Hibernian Irish harp (33)
Constantius adopted as his insignia. After
the resignation of Diocletian, Constantius
Chlorus and Galerius were created joint
emperors of Rome, and dividing the Empire

* Surely I Did the English add their h's in those early, as
well as in later days ?

148 The Story of the Uniox Jack.

between them, Galerius took the East and
Constantins the AVest.

The death of Constantius occurred soon
afterwards in England, at the city of York
(Eboracum), and there he was succeeded as
emperor of Eome by his son Constantine.

The persecution of the Christians in Britain,
which had raged under Diocletian, and during
w^hich Alban the first British martyr had met
his death at Yerulam, now called St. Albans,
had been in some degree restrained by Con-
stantius, but was now completely suppressed
by the new emperor. Carrying with him the
germs of Christianity which he had learned in
Britain, Constantine removed to the continent
to engage in the contest for the command of
of his Empire, and in the battle of the Milvian
Bridge near Eome, in A.D. 312, he defeated
Maxentius, and entered into undisputed pos-
session of the throne. It was just before this
engagement that Constantine is reported to
have seen a cross shining in the heavens
at midday, having on it the inscription
ENTOrniNIKA ("In this conquer," Latin, "I?i
Jioc signo vmces,'') and, therefore, he adopted
the Christian cross as his standard and placed
the sacred monogram upon his Labarum. This

The Irish Jack. 149

victory resulted in the official recognition of the
Christian religion, and the attaching to it of all
the political power of the emperor of Eome.

Constantius had lived, and Constantine the
Great had been brought up, in that part of
England which, during the Eoman occupation
had been converted by the old northern coun-
try from which St. Patrick afterwards also
came, and as it was to Constantine that they
owed their rescue from persecution, his insignia
would, therefore, be heartily received. It is
very possible that the early Christianity of
Ireland may, through this source, have adopted
the X, the lower part of Constantine's Chris-
tian monogram, as their emblem, and in its
single cross form it had become associated
with the Christian labours of their apostle and
patron saint. In this " story of the Irish
Jack" it is a happy concejotion that the
Labarum of Constantine the son should have
given origin to the form of the Christian red
cross of Ireland in return for the former em-
blem received from the island by his father.

Whichever may have been the source of
its origin, the saltire cross is by both lines
of descent intimately associated with the his-
tory of Ireland, and is rightfully claimed as its
national emblem.

rso The Story of the Union Jack.

The origin of the Irish harp, on a blue
ground, displayed in the royal standard of
G-reat Britain, has also an ancient story,
although much more modern than that of St.
Patrick's cross. The arms of Ireland, before
the time of Henry YII. of England (1485-1509),
had consisted of three golden crowns set
upon a blue ground. These ancient arms of
Ireland are now worn on the helmet plate
and glengarry of the Royal Munster Fusileers
regiment of the British army.

Henry YIII. was the first English king
who used an Irish emblem. When he was
proclaimed king of Ireland, he placed the harp
of Hibernia upon the coinage which he then
issued, but he did not introduce either the
harp or the red cross of St. Patrick into his
royal arms, nor upon his banners.

The first English sovereign to use an Irish
emblem in the official insignia was Queen
Elizabeth, who introduced one in the design
of her "great seal." Instead of using the
three Irish crowns, she inserted a harp as the
emblem of the nation. James L, her suc-
cessor, was the first king to introduce an
Irish emblem into the royal standard, and
QY^y q-ince then the golden harp of Hibernia,

The Irish Jack. 151

on the ancient blue ground of the three Irish
crowns, has been shown in one of the quarters
of the British standard as the emblem of
Ireland. In the arms of all the sovereigns,
from James I., 1603, to and including WiUiam
lY., 1837, the front of the harp was formed
by a female figure, intended most probably to
represent the goddess Hibernia. During the
early Victorian period a change has been
been introduced in the shape of the harp,
which has been altered to that of the ancient
Irish harp, connected in form and in legend
with King Brian Boru (Boroimhe).

The exploits of this most noted of the early
kings of Ireland had been mainly devoted to
the defence of his kingdom against the inva-
sions of the Danes during the period when,
under Canute, they had well nigh conquered
all England.

Although in the main successful, he was
slain in battle w^ith them, according to some,
in 1039,* or, as others report, in the hour of
victory over the Danes, at Clontarf, near
DubHn, in 1014. f

That the king had accepted Christianity is

* Kin'^, "National Anns."
t "Hayiln's Iiidux."

152 The Story of the Union Jack.

is attested by his having, in 1004, presented
a golden votive offering upon the altar of the
church at Armagh, and here, in accordance
with his dying request, his body was buried
after the battle of Clontarf.*

This city of Armagh is reputed to have been
founded about A.D. 445, by St. Patrick, and
to this account is accredited the ecclesiastical
pre-eminence which has always enshrined the
city, for the Bishop of Armagh is the " Arch-
bishop and Primate of all Ireland " of the
Protestant Church, and it is the see city also
of the Primate of Ireland of the Eoman
Catholics.

The minstrelsy of the Irish harper has held
sway and been cherished through all the ages
by the Irish people, whose temperament may
have been affected, or else has been most
touchingly expressed by its strange and mystic
cadences. The sweet pathos of these ancient
melodies has given tone and inspiration to
most of the Irish songs, markedly to those of
the sweet singer Moore, whose music has
installed in affectionate memory

' ' The harp that once through Tara's halls
The soul of music shed."

* "Ulster Journal of Archaeology," Vol. I., September, 1894.

The Irish Jack. 153^

Of all the traditional patrons of music, King
Brian Bora was the most renowned, and thus
in poetry and song his name
became identified with the
Irish harp. In the old
seal of Carrickfergus (34),
granted by James I., the
form of this ancient harp
of Brian Boru is excellent-
ly displayed. x\round the
margin is the Latin in- •^^- ^^^^ '^'^ Carrick-

. ^ . FERGUS, 1605.

scription :

" SiGILL . CVSTVM . PORTVS . CaRIGFEEGI . AnO,"

w^ithin the circles are the initials of the King,
I. R. (James Rex), and the date, 1605, and
on the shield in the centre are three Irish
harps, having the rounded front pillar and
the curious upper sweep of the neck, termed
the harmonic curve, of the type known as
that of Brian Boru.

Although this Irish harp was introduced in
the seal of the Irish city during his reign, the
emblem placed in his royal arms by James I.
as the emblem of Ireland was the angelic harp
of Hibernia, and in this shape it remained
on the royal standards of all the succeeding

154

The Story of the Uniox Jack.

35. Arms of Quee>^
Victoria.

sovereigns until Queen Victoria, in whose
arms (35), and on whose banner, it is fre-
quentl}^ displayed.

As the pagan emblem had, through the
banner of Constantine, been changed to the

Christian cross of St. Patrick,
so now centuries afterwards,
the Hibernian harp in the
royal standard was changed to
the Irish harp of the Christian
king, Brian Boru, and through
the grave at Armagh again
connected with Ireland's pat-
ron saint. Thus, whether it
be cross or harp, the emblems of Ireland
are associated w4th St. Patrick.

During one period in the story of our flag,
Ireland had been represented on its folds, as
shown in Cromwell's Jack, and in the Com-
monwealth ensign, but it was not by a cross,
as were the other nationalities, but by the
gold harp of Hibernia upon a blue ground.

The Irish red cross on a white ground had
been the banner of the Fitzpatricks at the
time of the conquest > f Ireland under Henry
II., and it still appears in the arms of their
family ; but does not seem to have been

The Irish Jack. 155

formally recognized as the general national
emblem for Ireland until about the close of
the seventeenth century.

Though the kings of England had, since
Henry II., in 1771, been "lords paramount,"
and since Henry YIII. been "kings of Ire-
land," the national Jack of Ireland had not
been joined with the other Jacks. When the
crosses of St. George and St. Andrew were
combined in the " additional Jack " of James,
in 1606, it was not included, nor was it after-
wards in the first Union Jack of Queen
Anne, in 1707 ; so that for all these centuries
the red cross of St. Patrick had continued
alone. At length, the time had come when
another change was to be made in the Union
Jack, and in 1801, under George III., the red
saltire cross first joined the two sister crosses.
For the immediately previous two hundred
years the Irishman had gallantly contributed
his prowess to the glories won under the two-
crossed Jack, in which his nation was not
represented ; but from this time onward his
own Irish cross entered into its proper place
in the national Jack, and received its acknow-
ledged share as the emblem of his kingdom.

CHAPTER XIY.

THE JACK OF GEORGE III.—1801.
THE SECOND AND PEESENT UNION JACK.

We come now to the formation of the three-
crossed Jack, the " Red, white and bkie " of
story and of song, being the second Union
Jack (36).

In the forty-first year of the reign of George
III. the three kingdoms had been brought into
complete union, whereupon proclamation was
issued by the king, of which the following
extracts are given :

EXTRACTS.

From a Pi-oclamation hij the Kiiif/ dated
St. James' Palace, Januarij 1st, 1801.

Declaring His Majesty's pleasure concern-
ing the royal style and titles appertaining to
the Imperial crown of the united kingdom

The Jack of George III.— 1701.

157

of Great Britain and Ireland and its depend-
encies, and also the ensigns armorial, flags and
banners thereof.

. "And that the arms or
ensigns armorial of the said United
Kingdoms shall be quarterly ; first
and fourth England, second Scotland,
third Ireland, and it is our will and
pleasure that there shall be borne
therewith on an escutcheon of pre-
tence the arms of our Dominions in
Germany."

The result of this clause was that the lilies
of France, wdiich had been quartered in the
royal arms since Ed-
ward III., 1327, were
altogether removed,
and the whole four
quarters w^ere appropri-
ated, two quarters to
the three golden lions
of England, and one
quarter each to the red lion of Scotland and
the golden harp of Ireland, and upon a small
shield on the centre was to be placed the
white horse of Hanover, to indicate the other
country over which the king also reigned.

36. Union Jack of Geokge
III.. 1801.

158 The Story of the Union Jack.

"And it is our will and
pleasure that the standard of the
said united kingdoms shall be the
same quarterings as are hereinbe-
fore declared to be the arms or
ensigns armorial of the said united
kingdoms."

The royal standard is ordered to have in it
only the arms of the three united kingdoms
of England, Scotland and Ireland.

" And that the anion flag shall be
azure, the crosses saltires of St. An-
drew and St. PatricJi, quarterli/ per
saltire con nt er changed , argent and
gules; the latter fimhriated of the
second, surmounted hi/ the cross of
St. George of the third, fimbriated as
the saltire.'"

• • • • •

In making the Union Jack, the instructions
were that the white cross of Scotland and
the red cross of Ireland were to be joined
together quarterly and " counterchanged,"
and that the red cross of St. George was to
" surmount," that is, to be laid upon the
surface of them both.

The designers of this new Union Jack of
1801 had this time to join tliree flags together,
instead of as in 1707 only joining two. The

The Jack of George III.— 1701.

159

problem set before them being the union of
the three national Jacks of the sister nations
into one grand Union Jack (PI. vn,, fig. 1).

The construction of the new flag presents
some important details, which teach some
very interesting lessons. The construction
was in the hands of the flag-makers, and the
regulations for the making of the new flag

.izofR

R&d-'/s o/ A B

37. Outline Jack. The Pkoper Proportions of the Crosses..

were issued at the same time as the pro-
clamation, and are the same as those of our
Admiralty regulations of the present day.

From these directions, it is clearly evident
that the recognition which the white ground
of St. George's Jack had been given in
the flag of 1707 was intended to be con-
tinued, and a striking confirmation is given

160 The Story of the Uniox Jack.

of the correctness of the suggestion which
was offered as being the reason for that broad-
ening of the white border to the red cross of
St. George which had occurred in the making
of the Union Jack of Queen Anne.

An outh'ne drawing (37) of the flag is given
for convenience of comparison. The propor-
tions of the several crosses and borders are
directed to be made as follows, the measure-
ment of the "width of the flag" being the
measurement on the "halliard" or "hoist,"
being the side next to the flagstaff :

Red cross of St. George, - i of width of the flag.
White border to St. George, J of red of St. George.
Red cross of St. Patrick, - i "
White border to St. Patrick, i "
Broad White of St. Andrew, h "

The paramount cross of St. G-eorge is made
the factor by which the measurements of
all the other parts are to be regulated, and
its own width is to be one-fifth of the width
of the flag on the flagstaff.

The crosses of the other two Jacks, to be
joined, are each allotted a proportion of one-
third the width of the cross of St. George.
The divisions of the parts for the Irish Jack

Present Union Jack

1 P^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H

1 Jack w

i
1

RONG

LY MADE

Jack wrongly placed.

The Jack of George III.— 1701. 161

are stated separately as one-third for the red
cross of St. Patrick, and one-sixth for its
white border, the two measurements, when
added together, amounting to a proportion
of one-half.

The proportion of one-half allotted to the
^' broad white of St. Andrew," comprises the
due share of one-third for the Scotch cross,
and one-sixth for its border, being an exact
equality to the proportions given to the Irish
cross and its border.

The measurements of the " cross " and its
^'border" of the Scotch Jack are stated in
one ligure, because their colours are the same,
while those of the Irish Jack are given sepa-
rately, because the colours are different, the
cross being red and its border white.

The national banners of St. Patrick and
St. Andrew are thus given each a proportion
of one-third for each cross, and one-sixth for
its border or " fimbriation."

In complying with the instruction of the

blazon respecting the red cross of St. George,

that it should be "fimbriated as the Saltire,"

that is, for what in other words is stated "for

the white border to the cross of St. George "

there is allotted, not simply the one-sixth
11

162 The Story of the Union Jack.

proportion due to a '^fimbriation,''' but the
full proportion of one-third, equivalent to
that of a national cross.

The width of the border cannot this time
be said to be the result of the "careless-
ness of a draughtsman,"* for it is made
with premeditated carefulness, and more
than that, the measurements are set down
in exact figures.

Thus the surmise for the broadening of the
border in the flag of 1707 has been amplified
in the flag of 1801, as this broad white
border, given to surround the red cross of
St. George, and now clearly established in
its equality of representation with a national
cross, is not only the formal recognition of
the white ground of the English Jack, which
had been restored to the flag in 1707, but is
also a recognition of the white ground of the
Irish Jack, which was now for the first time
entering the Union Jack.

In this Union Jack of 1801, we have then
plainly displayed a complete representation of
the three separate crosses and of the white
and blue grounds of the three national Jacks

* MacGeorge, "Flags."

The Jack of George III.— 1701. 163

which were then combined together to form
the Union Jack.

No participation in this division of the
space may, however, be attributed to the
" Officers of Arms " of the dav, for it has been
expressly put on record that "m this allot-
ment they ivere not allotued the exercise of
their own judgmejit,'' and that in their opinion
the ^^ science of heraldry lias been set at
defiance.'"*

In fact, ever since this flag first appeared,
there have been perrenial uprisings of heraldic
bile and many learned arguments about the
correct interpretation to be given to the
" blazon," and in the explanation of the
wording ^'fimbriated as the saltire.'" The
person who made the drawings of the first
flag has been termed " either careless, or
ignorant, or stupid, most probably all three."

To one objector, during this present reign,
answer was oflicially returned by Garter King
of Arms, that " The flag was made according
to the drawing, and it was exhibited in the
same wav on the colours of the Queen's in-
fantry regiments." There was, in fact, noth-

* Naval and Military Magazine, 1827, p. 182.

164 The Story of the Union Jack.

ing more to be said, and thus both on sea and
on land all the official flags are made in the
same way. There is no doubt that the flag-
makers whose minds were occupied in joining
three flags were not at the time much ham-
pered by the niceties of armorial restrictions
or aesthetic traditions. If the heralds are not
exactly satisfied with the way the divisions
were made, due honour has at least been done
to each of the Jacks of the three kingdoms,
while at the same time the historical value
of the " Union " is greatly enhanced and its
beauty as a flag most certainly increased.

In the heraldic and traditional interpreta-
tion of colours, red indicates courage, white is
the emblem of purity, and blue the emblem of
truth.

By this better and more equal division of
the colours in the flag much additional em-
phasis is given to the story which those
colours tell :

" Red, white and blue.
Brave, pure and true."

Lessons which, as well as the other lessons
which it bears, should be deeply inpressed
upon the minds of our children, so that they

The Jack of George III.— 1701. 165

may endeavour to live lives worthy of the
ideals of their national flag, and frame the
character of their nation by its teachings.

Since 1801, no change has been made in
this Union Jack of George III., which was the
second of its race, and is, in 1897, om' present
Union Jack.

CHAPTER XV.
THE LESSONS OF THE CROSSES

The combinations of the Jacks have at
length been completed, and the three crosses
been placed together in the one flag of 1801.

That it is a beautiful and easily distin-
guished flag is admitted on all hands, but it
has a still further quality of immeasurable
value in a national flag, that its parts and
colours tell the history of the nation whose
emblem it is. To those who know the story
of the three separate national flags, the Union
Jack, with its three crosses, its white borders
and eight blue triangles, tells how the present
Empire has been formed upon the three king-
doms which were combined to make it. Laid
broadly npon the whole combination, and
^'surmounting" it, and also forming the basis
for all its measurements, is the plain red cross
of St. George, indicating in such a way that

The Lessons of the Crosses. 167

the simplest mind can understand the pre-
dominant share which the English nation
has borne in the creation of the union, and
the powerful position which it holds in its
councils.

Under this cross, and supporting it, are
the white and red crosses of the two junior
nations, which are themselves, in their turn,
supported on the white and blue grounds,
which form the basis foundations of the Hag.

Thus clearly does the position of the crosses
teach the lesson of how England had taken the
leading part among the three sister nations in
the creation of their British Empire, and how,
supporting each other, they all are united by
couraae to build their Eealm on the sure
foundations of puriti/ and truth.

But there is another lesson of the relations
betw^een the Scotch and Irish nations them-
selves, which the crosses also plainly tell.

The flag is divided by the cross of St.
George into four quarters, in all of which the
saltire crosses of St. Andrew and St. Patrick
are, as the heraldic blazon of the proclamation
says, " quarterly per saltire counterchanged."

Fierce and endless have been the discussions
between heraldic experts as to whether the

168 The Story of the Union Jack.

word in the blazon should be "counter-
charged" or " counterchanged." The latter
is the word given in this proclamation, and
although the flag may, in the opinion of some
of the heralds, be an ' ' extraordinary amalgama-
tion"* and the blazon " not only very obscure
but a positive jumble of terms " f yet the
intention of the designers has been carried out
in the flag itself.

The cross of Scotland occupies the higher
position in the first and third quarters, and
the cross of Ireland in the second and fourth.
The relative positions of the Irish and Scotch
crosses, as they are placed in the first and
second quarters, which are next the flagstaff,
are reversed in the third and fourth quarters,
which are the quarters at the end of the flag.

It wdll be noted (36) that, in the first and
second quarters, the broad w^hite of the cross
of St. Andrew is placed above and the red
cross and its border are beneath ; while in
the third and fourth quarters, the red cross
of St. Patrick and its border are above, and
the broad white is underneath.

That is to say, the positions of the crosses

* Geidleman's Magazine, January, 1801.

t Naval and Military Magazine, March, 1827.

The Lessons of the Crosses, 169

are alternately changed about, or " counter-
changed."

The quarters of the flag next the flagstaff
are considered to be of higher importance
than the others, and in these more important
quarters the cross of St. Andrew is given
precedence over the cross of St. Patrick.

The lesson intended to be taught by the
position of the crosses is plain. The kingdom |
of Scotland had entered into the union with
England before the kingdom of Ireland, and,
therefore, the white cross of St. Andrew is
given the precedence over the red cross of St.
Patrick.

These important and intentional divisions of
the space in the flag were plainly devised, but
unfortunately are often omitted to be followed.

Flags are sometimes to be seen (PI. vii.,
fig. 2) in which the white border around the
red cross of St. George is reduced to the same
narrow size as the border of St. Patrick, and
thus the white grounds of the Jacks of Eng-
land and Ireland are displaced.

Still more often the red cross of St. Patrick
is set full in the centre of the transverse cross,
and thus the cross of St. Andrew is completely
expunged, for its white is reduced to only two

170 The Story of the Union Jack.

narrow white margins in equal size on both
sides of the Irish red cross. The broad white
of St. Andrew has thus been entirely lost.

Sufficient care, too, is not taken in setting
the flag upon the flagstaff. When the red
ensign, or any similarly quartered flag, is
reversed on the flagstaff", that is to say,
displayed with the Union down, it becomes
a signal of distress. Union Jacks are often
seen hoisted upside down (PI. tit., fig. 3).
No more distressful act can be done to the
Union Jack than to reverse its crosses b}^
putting the wrong end next the staff", with
the broad white saltire down ; nor greater
indignity be done to its people than by de-
stroying the position of their national Jacks.

Such eiTors cannot be too greatly lamented,
or be too carefully avoided, for by them dis-
honour is done to the memory of the nations
whose prowess has ennobled their national
emblems, and the beautiful " Story of the
Union Jack" is utterly marred, for the posi-
tions of the crosses and the borders cease to
tell the consecutive history of the Empire
nation whose combined union emblem they
form.

From 1801 onward dates our present Union

if)

(/)

flJLfl

flJLffl

-I-

z
o

.in

z
o
en

_i
u

The Lessons of the Crosses. 171

Jack, in which all three nations are repre-
sented. It was born when the power of Great
Britain seemed to be almost wrecked. Ee-
verses had accumulated upon her. In America,
thirteen of her longest established and most
populous colonies had revolted from her sway,
and foresworn their allegiance. In Europe,
the nations of France, Spain and Holland
were united in arms against her, and she was
battling almost single-handed against the
power of the great Napoleon ; yet, undaunted
by these trials, the sons of the united nations
ran their new Union Jack up aloft, and started
out to frame that marvellous career which it
has since achieved.

This second Union Jack rejoiced at Aboukir
in 1802, when Abercrombie crushed Napoleon
out of Egypt ; with it were won the triumphs
of Wellington, from Assaj^e in India, through
Badajoz and Spain, to the crowning victory
at Waterloo. It was the flag which floated
in the ''white ensign" on all the ships at
Trafalgar, and on the main topgallant head
of the Victory* when Nelson sent aloft his
British watchword :

" England expects every man will do his duty."

-(Fl- I- fig- !)•

* As the flagship of the Admiral of the fleet.

172 The Story of the Union Jack.

The halo of that watchword shone around
it at Balaclava, when the heroes of the valley
charge proved it was

" Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs not to make reply, '~^
Theirs but to do and die."

And again at sea, above the BirJienhead, when
five hundred steadfast men went down beneath
its folds, inspired by its duty call.

In x\frica, at Isandula, Melville and Coghill
wrapped it around their bodies and won death
to save it from the foe ; and for it the forty
mounted riflemen of Matabeleland died in
their tracks, singing, " God save the Queen ";
and on this continent of America the im-
petuous Brock, facing enormous odds, gave
up his life for it on the cedar-clad slopes of
Queenston Heights, and beneath it the
French-Canadians of Beauharnois knelt on
the battle-field, and, rising, won with De
Salaberry and his Voltigeurs the victory of
glorious Chateauguay.*

* Captain Langtin caused his men of the Beauharnois Militia
to kneel, went through a short prayer with them, and then,
rising, said, "Now that they had fulfilled their duty to their
God, they would fulfil that to their King." — Lightall, " T/ie
Battle of Chateaugnay."

The Lessons of the Crosses. 173

If those crosses could but speak, what glories
they could tell ! and yet the outlines of the
flag, when they are properly displayed, signal
the story of the crosses as plainly and as elo-
quently as if they told it in burning words.

CHAPTER XYI.

THE UNION JACK, THE FLAG OF CANADA.
UNDER THE TWO CROSSES.

Although the Union Jack has been con-
structed from the local Jacks of the three
island kingdoms, its greatest glories have been
won in expeditions sent across the seas to
other lands. The natives of the parent isles
have never needed to raise it as their signal
in driving invaders from their shores, and in
this waT it does not bear to them that added
vitality which it bears to the resident Cana-
dian, of being associated with brave defence
of home and native land. To the English-
man, Irishman or Scotchman, in his own
island home, it is the emblem of foreign
conquest ; to the emigrant or the Canadian
born, it is much more, as being the patriot
signal of national defence.

The Union Jack, the Flag of Canada. 175

After the contest of 1759, Canada had
settled down into the paths of peace, soldier
and habitant had vied in binding up one
another's wonnds, and evidencing all the
pleasantries of reconciliation.*

A memorial, the like of which has never
been known elsewhere, either in history or
the world, has been erected in the square
of Quebec to the two heroes, Montcalm and
Wolfe, equal in valour, equal in fame. An
united sentiment raised this single monument
to their united memory, bearing upon it the
noble inscription :

MOETEM, VIRTUS, COMMUNEM.
FAMAM, HISTORIA
MONUMENTUM, POSTEEITAS, DEBIT. t

As the glory of their champions was thus
intertwined, so the patriotism of the old occu-
pants and the new^-comers to Canada began
from this splendid beginning to blend more
closely in fraternal union.

* The nuns of the convents of Quebec sewed together blankets
to make trousers for the 78th Fraser Highlanders, who other-
wise would have had no protection against the snows during
the first winter of their occupation of the citadel of Quebec.

t "Valour gave them a common death, history a common
fame, posterity a common monument."

176 The Story of the Union Jack.

The Treaty of Paris, in 1763, confirmed
the Union Jack in its position of being the
successor on the continent of America of the
fleur-de-lis over all the territory stretching
from Labrador southward, along the Atlantic
coast to Florida, and inland, westward as
far as the waters of the Mississippi.

In pursuance of this treaty, King Greorge III.
issued his proclamation (October, 1763,) creat-
ing four provinces and governments, named
Quebec, East Florida, West Florida and
Granada, this last consisting of the islands of
the West Indies. Of these four provinces
Quebec was the territory lying adjacent to the
St. Lawrence river system, extending from
the river's mouth to the head waters on the
watersheds of the farthest inland lakes.

B}^ this proclamation French Canada ceased
to be a conquered country, and became a colony
of the king. It was to be governed by a
governor and an assembly, entitled to arrange
its own taxation, having control of its own
internal welfare and good government, and
empowered to institute its own courts of law ;
but to ever}' subject, new or old, of the king,
there was reserved the right of appeal to the
foot of the throne itself in the Privy Council

v<^

fSb^

--gins

^ftw-^ ----- .-^

Canadian

Red Ensign

nr'

pvll^^

Vi^l^

Canadian Blue Ensign

Suggested Canadian Ensign.

The Union Jack, the Flag of Canada. 177

of Great Britain, should any person think
themselves aggrieved by the decision of their
own locally appointed courts.*

The French-Canadian subject soon began to
find for himself the beneficent character of
British rule. He was no longer harried by an
irresponsible Governor or a grasping Intendant
for the enrichment of a foreign court, but was
assisted in every way in the local development
of his country. His personal property was
secure, and he soon became sensible of the
certainty of English law.

An Act of Parliament followed, formally and
still further guaranteeing to the French-
speaking subjects the quiet continuance of
their most cherished customs, t

The Quebec Act of 1774 confirmed the
habitant in the free exercise of his Koman
Catholic religion, and restored to him his old
French civil law, but provided that in all
criminal matters the law of England which
had been found so satisfactory was to remain
in force. This Act was passed by the British
Parliament at Westminster, and thus its
powers were under the two-crossed Jack of

* Royal Proclamation under Treaty of Paris, 1763.
t Quebec Act, 1774, Sec. XI.
12

178 The Story of the Union Jack

Queen Anne, the ensign of parliamentary
rule, formally extended to the new world.

Content with his lot, secure in his home,
and sure that good faith would ever be kept
with him, the French-Canadian proved loyal
to the trust confided to him.

In 1775, after having been for sixteen years
an English colony, Canada was invaded by
the forces of the thirteen older English col-
onies to the south, which had consorted
together in revolution against their parent
state. After entering Montreal, which had
been abandoned to them, they concentrated
around the ramparts of Quebec, for an assault
upon the Citadel. Below were the rebels
against the British crown, above upon the
Queen's bastion of Cape Diamond flew the
two-crossed Union Jack of Queen Anne, and
within the fortress, under Sir Guy Carleton,
the friend and fellow-soldier of Wolfe, was a
garrison of 1,800 men, one-third of whour were
French-Canadian militia, headed by Col.
Lecompte Dupre. The invaders from Xew
York were, however, reckoning without their
host. They had expected to find the French-
Canadians dissatisfied with their lot, and as
restless as themselves, but instead, they

The Union Jack, the Flag of Canada. 179

found them standing firm side by side with
their British friends, who were joined with
them in common defence of their native
Canadian land.

The assault commenced on the night of
December 31st, 1775. At the pomt of attack
at Pres de Ville, in lower town, the guard was
under the command of Captain Chabot and
Lieutenant Picard of the French- Canadian
militia, and the guns were served by sailors
from the British ships with Sergeant Hugh
McQuarters of the Royal Artillery in charge.
The attack was boldly met, General Mont-
gomery, the leader of the United States forces
was killed. General Arnold, his second in com-
mand wounded, and the whole invading force
was put to rout.

Thus once again were the historic heights
and w^alls of old Quebec crowned with a
British victory, but this time with one in
which the French-Canadians themselves were
the brave defenders of the Union Jack.

No wonder the French-speaking Canadian
looks upon this flag with pride, and as one
of his compatriots, Sir Adolphe Chapleau, the
present Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec, has
so well said, " is French in n itioualitv, but

180 The Story of the Union Jack.

British in patriotism," for beneath the Union
Jack he dwells secure in possession of his
dearest rights, and under it has victoriously
driven the United States invaders back each
time they have ventured to attack his loved
Canadian soil.

While such loyalty to the national flag was
shown in eastern Canada, so was it also later
on in the country farther west.

The thirteen southern colonies had com-
pleted their revolution in 1783. Immediately
thereafter the ^' coming of the Loyalists " had
commenced in the districts of Xova Scotia
and New Brunswick, but was principally
directed to the western province of Upper
Canada, all three of these provinces being
now included in the Dominion or Union of
Canada.

These western lands were then uninhabited,
save by the native Indian tribes and a few
white settlers, who had been attracted to the
districts by the chances of trapping for furs
or of trading with the Indians.

The gallantry of the French-speaking Brit-
ons at Quebec, in 1775, had kept the Union
Jack flying above Canadian soil, and to Cana-
da's unbroken forests in the western province

The Union Jack, the Flag of Canada. 181

these English - speaking loyahsts therefore
came, hecanse there they would have their
old loved flag once more continuing above
them.

Never does history anywhere relate sucli
loyalty to a flag as was shown by this migra-
tion of the U. E. Loyalists,* that men should
give up homes, farms, companionship and
wealth, and taking up their wives and little
ones, should follow a flag for conscience' sake
into an undeveloped and almost unknown
land !

" Right staunch and true to the ties of old,

They sacrificed their all,
And into the wilderness set out,

Led on by Duty's call.
The aged were there with their snow-white hair,

And their life-course nearly run,
And the tender, laughing little ones,

AVhose race had just begun."

— " The Lion and the Lilies," Jakeway.

It was enough for them that the Union
Jack w^as the flag of Canada ; so they followed
it to the far north. Here they lived out the

*" United Empire Loyalists," so-called because they pre-
ferred to remain united with the parent Empire rather than
become citizens of another State.

182 The Story of the Union Jack.

balance of their days, and, dying, have been
buried in the sacred soil beneath its folds.
Certain it is that their descendants will ever
prove true to their loyal faith that no other
realm shall possess their bones nor other
nation's flag fly above their graves.

Such, then, was the esteem in which Cana-
dians held the two-crossed Union Jack, even
before this present century had commenced.
In eastern Canada the French-speaking loyal-
ist had laid down his life in its defence, and,
preserved by this loyalty to the country
farther west, the old English-speaking loyalist
there sought his new home in the far-ofi"
forest, so that he and his loved ones might
continue to live beneath its sway.

Truly was this two-crossed Union Jack the
flag of Canada, and as truly is its three-crossed
successor, the native and national birthright
of the sons of these patriot pioneers.

CHAPTER XYII.

THE UNION JACK, THE FLAG OF CANADA.
UNDER THE THREE CROSSES.

In 1801 the "new" three cross union had
entered mto the upper corner of the red ensign
of British rule. The Canadians, hoth French
and English, had been faithful to its two-
crossed predecessor, and now again their
patriotism was to be put to the test.

The parent kingdom of Great Britain had
been for nineteen years engaged in its mighty
struggle with the great Napoleon for the
supremacy of Europe, and the time seemed
opportune to the envious people of the
United States for gaining an advantage over
the nation from which they had separated
their allegiance, and also, though covertly, for
striking a blow at the neighbouring people who
had so successfully resisted their previous
invasion.

184 The Story of the Union Jack.

The quarrel was none of Canada's making,
nor one in which she had any share, and
although the ostensihle reason which had been
alleged by the United States as cause of
offence was repealed before hostilities had
been commenced, yet war was declared by
them on the iHth of June, 1812.*

The population of the United States at that
time amounted to no less than eight millions,
while in Canada, from end to end, there were
but four hundred thousand souls all told.

Yet the Canadians did not quail, their
country was to be the scene of war, their
homes to be stake for which the nations were
to strive. Aid they could not expect from their
British friends across the sea, already strained
to the utmost in their long conflict with the
armies of Europe, their reliance must be upon
their own stout hearts and strong right arms,
but this was enough, for

"Odds lie not in numbers, but. in spirit, too."

Only four thousand five hundred regular
trained soldiers, were in Canada in 1812, and

*The British Orders-in-Council respecting the "right of
search," to which the United States made objection, and had
been given as their reason for war, had been repealed in Eng-
land the day before war was declared.

The Union Jack, the Flag of Canada. 185

in them are included men of the Newfound-
land and Glengarry regiments, recruited locally
in the colony, and thas the brunt of the defence
was to fall upon the stalwart but untrained
militia of the country-side.

The tide of invasion advanced north against
Canada from the United States. For three
years, from 1812 to 1815, the contest went on.
Our Frenchmen again bravely took up th^ir
arms, and this time, under their new three-
crossed Jack, again drove the United States'
invader back, making the names of Chateau-
guay and Chrystler's Farm ring down through
history in token of the victories which they
won beneath it in defence of their Canadian
liberties and homes. So, too, their English-
speaking brothers of Upper Canada won equal
victories for this same Union Jack. AX> the
capitulation of Fort Detroit, in the State of
Michigan, the American soldiers laid down
their arms before it. At Queenston Heights,
under the glorious Brock, at Stoney Creek
and Beaver Dams,- Niagara and Lundy's Lane,
the American invader was sent in quick re-
treat from Canadian soil, and at the conclusion
of the three years' war, after all the varying
success, there was not one foot of Canada,

186 The Story of the Union Jack.

from end to end, which was occupied or
suUied by the foot of the foreign foe.

Thus all along their frontier shores, from
Mackinac to far St. John, the Canadians stood
shoulder to shoulder in one bold united line,
and held the larger half of North America for
the British crown.

" Since when has a Southerner placed his heel
On the men of the Northern Zone 1"

Shall the mothers that bore us bow the head

And blush for degenerate sons 1
Are the pati'iot fires gone out and dead 1

Ho ! brothers stand to the guns !

Let the flag be nailed to the mast,
Defying the coming blast !
For Canada's sons are as true as steel,

Their metal is muscle and bone,
The Southerner never shall place his heel

On the men of the Northern Zone.

Oh, we are the men of the Northern Zone,

Where the maples their branches toss ;
And the Great Bear rides in his state alone,
Afar from the Southern Cross.
Our people shall aye be free,
They never shall bend the knee,

The Union Jack, the Flag of Canada. 187

For this is the land of the true and leal,
Where freedom is bred in the bone —

The Southerner never shall place his heel
On the men of the Northern Zone.

■ — The Men of the Northern Zone,

Kernighan (The Khan).

Again, when Fenian hordes and restless sol-
diers, who had been disbanded from the armies
of the American civil war, were assembled and
drilled under the protection of the govern-
ment of the United States, and launched hi
raids against Canadian homes, the Canadian
volunteers rahied under their Union Jack,
and, in 1866, along the Niagara Frontier, and
in 1870, at Eccles Hill, in the Province of
Quebec, again drove the southern invader
back, and held their native soil inviolate be-
neath its three-crossed folds.

The Union Jack was now to include another
parliamentary union in the story of its career.

Up to 1867 the Eastern British Provinces
in North America had remained under separate
local governments, such as had been established
in the previous century ; but in this year Nova
Scotia, New Brunswick and Upper and Lower
Canada were all united in the one Dominion
of Canada, then extending only as far as Lake

]88 The Story of the Union Jack.

SiiDerior. This "Act of Confederation" was
passed in London, at Westminster, by the par-
liament of Great Britain, and thus the union
parhament of the Union Jack was parent to
the new union parliament established in
United Canada. Each province continued to
have its own " Provincial Assembly," in which
legislation is conducted on matters pertaining
to its own local or Home Rule, but all general
powers are centered in the one parliament
of Canada. Hitherto the spirit of the flag
had been solely that of union with the Mother-
land, thereafter it had an added and wider
meaning, for it became the symbol of Cana-
dian union as well, the patriot flag of the
new Daughter Nation wliich had thus been
brought into existence in the outer British
realm. Inspired by this union, the older
provinces thus united began to extend their
borders, and soon Manitoba and the Hudson
Bay Territories of the central prairies were
added (1869), and British Columbia joined
(1871), followed by Prince Edward Island
(187-)), to make the one great Dominion of
Canada, now stretching across the continent
of .America irom sea to sea.

Difficulties, of course, were met in this con-
solidating of the territories, but the sign of

The Union Jack, the Flag of Canada. 189

union was flying from the flagstaff, and the
new born patriotism surmounted tlrem all. In
March, 1885, wlien the spirit of discontent

arose aujoug the Metis of
the North-West, and a re-
bellion broke out, the cour-
age of the united Canadians
was aroused
with electric
flash, and the
volunteer bat-
talions from
the far Atlan-
tic shores,
from French-
speaking Que-
bec, from the
great Ontario
Lakes, and from all parts of the Dominion,
vied with one another in bearing the priva-
tions of forced marches across the frozen
lakes, or over the pathless prairies, to reach
the scene of action, and join in maintaining
the supremacy of their new-born union.
The rebellion was quickly suppressed; but
the events at Fish Creek, Batoche, and on
the banks of the Saskatchewan left gaps in
the loyal ranks.

38. The War Medal, 1793-1814.

190 The Story of the Union Jack.

" Not in the quiet church -yard near those who loved them

best,

But by the wild Saskatchewan they laid them to their
rest ;

A simple soldier's funeral in that lonely spot was theirs,

Made consecrate and holy by a nation's tears and
prayers,

Their requiem, the music of the rivers singing tide ;
Their funeral wreaths, the wild flowei-s that grew on
every side ;

Their monument, undying j^raise from each Canadian
heart.

That hears how, for their country's sake, they nobly bore

their part."

Two medals* gTaiited by their sovereign
commemorated the gallantry of the Canadians
who fought beneath the Union Jack in 1812-13,
for union with the Motherland (38), and in
1885 for union within Canada itself (39).

These are some of the causes which have
given rise to the stirring patriotism evinced
by Canadians for their national flag, and have
kept aflame the passionate fervour of their
loyalty.

Four times within the century — in 1776,
1812, 1866 and 1870— has their flag been raised
in defence of home and native land; and once,
in 1885, for maintenance of union within
themselves.

*See Appendix " Canadian War Medals."

The Union Jack, the Flag of Canada. 191

'1 —

! ',^

'^^

1 Sa.£ZA/TCEE7.^7 1

As Canadians see it waving above their
school-houses and over their homes, they read

in its crosses the story that
they tell, and remember that
the deep red
folds have been
freshened and
coloured in the
heart -blood of
Canada's sons,
poured out on
their own loved
soil. The sons
of the parent-
nations have
carried it in many a far-off strife, but in their
own island homes, ^^ compassed b/j the inviolate
sea,'' they sleep secure, and never have had
to fight beneath it in defence of native land.
It is in this regard that Canadians can cherish
it even more than they w4io first carried it,
and may now^ rightly wear it as their very
own, for the three-crossed Union Jack is so
bound up with love of countr}^, defence of
home and all that is glorious in Canada's
history, that it is the flag of Canada itself.

39. The North-West Canada Medal.

CHAPTEE XVIII.

THE UNION JACK OF CANADA THE FLAG
OF LIBERTY IN AMERICA.

There is something more than mere valor-
ous devotion which should be aroused in the
expression of loyalty for a flag. This devotion
might be found even under a despot's sway,
for the race or native sympathy of its up-
holders jnight cause sentiment, even under
the most adverse conditions to overpower all
sense of judgment, and reckless valour take
the place of thoughtful allegiance.

The stor}' of an ideal flag should declare a
supreme idea, an idea which has been so well
expressed as being the ^^ divine right of liberty
in man. Not lawlessness, not license, but or-
ganized institutional liberty — liberty through
laiv, and laws for libert//."*

When a flag records by the unmistakable

* Henry Ward Beecher.

The Flag of Liberty in America, 193

story of its life, how this desired hberty has
been, not simply talked about, but granted in
actual fact to all who have reached the lands
of its dominion, and, further, tells how the
amplest dream of self-government is realized
by those who dwell beneath its sway, then
indeed is that flag to be cherished with the
most passionate devotion and valued in the
most critical estimation.

The folds of such a flag become an inspira-
tion, not only to the heart, but to the mind,
and men may well be willing to risk their all,
and even life itself, for the maintenance of its
unsullied honour.

Such a flag is the Union Jack of Canada.

This Jack in Canada is not only the national
ensign of the British race, but it is more, for
as upheld by Canadians, it has ever been the
real "■ flag of liberty " in America.

The greatest pride of the Union Jack is
that

" Though it may sink o'er a shot-torn wreck,
It never flies over a slave."

This fact is true of the Jack of to-day
throughout all the British territories, but it
has not always been so. It has been the

194 T6e Story of the Union Jack.

happy lot of the Motherland, the cradle of
the liherties of the earth, that freedom has
been enjoyed for many centuries on her own
home-soil, but even there the legal doctrine
was not judicially established until 1772,
when the notable decision of Lord Mansfield
declared that, " on the soil of the British
Isles the slave is free." The abolition of
slavery under the Union Jack was not
declared by statute of the British parlia-
ment until 1811 ; and even after that, slavery
continued in the outer realms, so that in 182(>
there were no fewer than 340,000 slaves under
British rule in the island of Jamaica alone.

At last, in 1833, the glorious Act of Eman-
cipation was passed by the British parliament,
and the same freedom which had existed on
the soil of the parent-kingdom was extended
to all races who lived anywhere under the
Union Jack. The people of the parent-isles
then gave further proof that this was done,
not solely in the pursuit of an ideal, but
out of real good-will, for they not only pro-
claimed the blessings of freedom to the
slave, but also purchased his emancipation
by themselves paying $100,000,000 to his
owners in those colonies in which slavery had.

The Flag of Liberty in America. 195

up to that time, existed with their consent.
In the true spirit of British fair-play, they
thus scouted the idea of exercising their
Christianity at other people's expense.

Number Indemnity

of Slaves. Paid.

*Jamaica ...: 311,700 £6,152,000

Barbadoes 83,000 1,721,000

Trinidad 22,300 1,039,000

Antigua, etc 172,093 3,421,000

Guiana 84,900 4,297,000

Mauritius 68,000 2,113,000

Cape of Good Hope 38,400 1,247,000

Total 780,993 £20,000,000

Such has been the story of freedom on
other continents under the Union Jack. Let
us see how its story compares with that of
other flags upon the continents of America.

The stories of the flag of Mexico and of the
republics of South America are so changing
and unsettled that they may not be counted
in the consideration, and the flag of Spain in
Cuba has not yet become an exponent of free-
dom. The sole competitor for the title of
"the flag of the free " is the Stars and Stripes
of the United States of North America.

The colonies in North America were, at the

* Extract from Dictionary of . Statistics, p. 541, "Abolition
of Slavery" :

196 The Story of the Union Jack.

time of Lord Mansfield's decision, in 1772,
colonies of the British cro^Yn, and moved, no
donbt, by emitlation with their brothers in
Great Britain, and desiring to follow their
example, the representatives of those colonies
met at Philadelphia, on 27th September, 1774,
and in " Continental Congress declared against
the slave-trade, and forbade further importa-
tion into British America." They were then
loyal supporters of the Union Jack, and, fol-
lowing its ideals, made a step in the right
direction.

It was, no doubt, in imitation of this spirit
of British freedom that their Declaration of
Independence (4th Jnty, 1776), -stated, "We
hold these truths to be self-evident, that all
m.en are created equal ; that they are endowed
by their Creator with certain unalienable
rights ; that among these are life, liberty and
the pursuit of happiness."

Yet, at the very time when they claimed
that all men were born equal, well nigh a
million blacks were held by them in bondage,*
and this sounding "declaration of liberty"
did not bring freedom to a single slave.

'■'■ In 1780, there were 1,191,000 slavesnn the United States,
and, as late as 1860, more than 4,000,000.

The Flag of Liberty in America. 197

Indeed, when eleven years afterwards, in
1787, the representatives of the thirteen States
met* in federal convention, and adopted the
Constitution of the United States, the exist-
ence of slavery under their flag was recognized
and its continuance guaranteed.

They were evidently conscious of the fact
that the statements of their " Declaration "
were not in harmony with their actions, and
therefore the provisions in their " Constitu-
tion " concerning slavery were stated in a
veiled and subtle way, the words " slave" and
"slavery" being carefully excluded. In this
way the clauses of the American constitution
were intentionally framed to be capable of a
different interpretation from that w^hich their
wording would apparently convey. f

In the article^ which regulated the ap-
portionment of representation between the
several States, a basis of enumeration is
arranged.

" Representatives shall be apportioned
among the several States which may be in-

* 25th May, 1787, at Philadelphia.

t A peculiarity which has reappeared in many subsequent
treaties of the United States.

i Article I., Section 3, Constitution of United States, 1787.

198 The Story of the Union Jack,

eluded within this Union according to their
respective numbers, which shall be determined
by adding to the whole number of free persons,
including those bound to service for a term of
years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-
fifths of all other persons."

By the words "all other persons" were
meant the slaves, who, although they were
not given votes, were counted in determining
the number of representatives to be elected
by the State in which they were held.

The leaven of English freedom had con-
tinued to work among some of the States
after their separation from the Crown, and
emancipation had been begun in Vermont
in 1777, in Pennsylvania in 1780, and was
impending in some of the others, but had by
no means been accepted in all.*

As slavery was legal in some of the States
and illegal in others, it also became necessary,
in order to gain the acceptance of the union
by these latter States, that a clause guaran-
teeing the rendition of fugitive slaves should
be embodied in the constitution. It was
therefore enacted :

* Emancipation was effected in New Jersey, 1804; New
York, 1827.

The Flag of Liberty in America. 199

" No person held to service or labour in one
State under the laws thereof, escaping to
another, shall, in consequence of any law or
regulation therein, be disharged from such
service or labour, but shall be delivered up on
claim of the party to whom such service may
be due."*

It is stated on the authority of Madison, f
'' the father of the constitution," that the
word used in each case in the original draft
was " servitude," but it w^as changed to the
word " service."

The expulsion of the words, although it
might appear better to the eye, did not alter
the fact that the whole of the United States,
which then framed their union, although they
did not all practise slavery, yet every one of
them then consented to its perpetuation, and
thus it existed legally under the Stars and
Stripes from 1787 until 1865, when happily
it was terminated.];

Such is the story of the slave's "freedom"
under the flag of the United States.

* Article IV., section 2, Constitution of United States, 1787.

t James Madison, subsequently twice President of the
United States, 1809 and 1813.

:|: Constitutional amendment abolishing slavery, 31st January,
1865.

200 The Story of the Union Jack.

What has been the story of his freedom
under the Union Jack in Canada ?

We have seen that slavery, excepting on
the soil of Great Britain, was not abolished
in all other parts of the British Empire until
1833, and not in the United States until 1865,
In 1792 self-government had been granted to
Canada, and, under the two-crossed Jack, at
the first meetings which were held by the
parliament in Upper Canada, slavery was
abolished on 9th July, 1793.* This was be-
fore the creation, in 1801, of our present
Jack.

In Canada alone, of all the outer American
lands over which the flag has been displayed,
beginning from the very day on which it first
was raised, this three-crossed Jack has always
proclaimed freedom to the slave.

Canada in such way has added honour to
this flag, and made it more particularly her
own; for on the continent of America, whether
he came from the British West Indies, from
the southern continent, from Cuba or the
United States, in. all of which he was still

* There are some isolated instances of slaves who continued
in the possession of their previous owners, but after this date
any slave brought to the country, and every child born, was
free.

The Flag of Liberty ix America. 201

the chattel of his owner, so soon as the slave
reached the soil of Canada, and came under
the colours of "our" Union Jack, that
moment he was free.

The deep significance which this early law of
Canada had given to the flag has often been
attested by coloured men before their fellow-
citizens and the world, and particularly by
Frederick Douglas, the great coloured orator
of the United States. While dilating upon
the great advantage which had come to his
own people since freedom had at last been
granted to them in the United States, he
would contrast their condition in the neigh-
bouring Canadian land, where the .black child
sat in the public schools by the side of his
little w^hite brother, or travelled with him
in the same carriage on the trains, and
w^here the law was administered with im-
partiality for both white and black alike.*

* Speaking in the Exposition Hall, at the Columbian Exhi-
bition, Chicago, on 25th Augu.st, 1893, Douglas said of his
people : "To-day we number 8,000,000 (coloured) people in the
United States. To-day a desperate effort is being made to
blacken the character of the negro and to brand him as a moral
monster. In fourteen States of this Union wild mobs have
taken the place of the law. They hang, shoot and burn men
of my race without law and without right."

202 The Story of the Union Jack.

In telliDg words he would revert to the time
when " there was but one flag in America
under which the fugitive slave could be secure.
When the slave had escaped from the control
of his owner and was making his way through
the intervening States to the free land of the
north, whether he gained the summit of the
highest mountains, or hid in the recesses of the
deepest valleys, the fugitive could find no safe
resting place. If he mingled in the teeming
throngs of their busiest cities, he feared detec-
tion ; if he sought solitude on their widest
prairies, beneath the silent stars, he was in
dread of being tracked; not until he had sighted
the red-crossed Jack and crossing the northern
lakes, had touched the strand of Canada's
shores, could the slave fall upon his knees and
know that at last he was a free man."

Thus pure, unsullied in its story, the three-
crossed Union Jack of Canada is the only flag
on the continent of America which has been
always a "flag of liberty" to the slave, and
the true "flag of freedom " by which all men,
as their birth-right, have been created equal
and free. What higher honour could Cana-
dians wish for its blood-red folds ?

CHAPTER XIX.

THE UNION JACK OF CANADA THE FLAG
OF LIBERTY TO THE PEOPLE.

There is yet the other ideal phase in which
the Union Jack of Canada reigns suj^reme,
that of "Liberty to the People." The in-
born hope which buds and blossoms in the
hearts of a growing people as their energies
evolve and circumstances advance, finds its
fruitage in the possession of mastery over
their own homes, and thus a nation's desire
for liberty is concentrated in the absorbing
dream of self-government.

It was this spirit which sj^oke in the old
English colonies in America, when they averred
in their address to King George III., that
they are "being degraded from the pre-em-
inent rank of English freemen."* The position

* Address to the King.

204 The Story of the Union Jack.

of the citizen in their old home-land was their
highest ideal of the liberties of a people, and
the only one, even in those times, with which
they considered comparison could worthily be
made.

The history of the Union Jack is connected,
as we haye seen, not solely with national
allegiance, but yet more with parliamentary
goyernment ; and its parts have been com-
bined to eyidence union under representative
institutions.

The creation of the constitution of England
was not confined to a single date, nor was it
the product of the men of a single period, its
growth has been spread, like that of its flag,
over century after century, as each successive
phase of the ideal dream has become har-
monized with the existing requirements of
its subjects. Formed largely upon precedent
and usage, this constitution reflects the cur-
rent views of the ]3eople, and, therefore, it
has never been restricted to fixed and invari-
able form of words.

There are milestones such as Magna Charta,
the Petition of Right, the Habeas Corpus Act,
the Act of Settlement, and other landmarks
that mark the way ; but as with the Union

The Flag of Liberty to the People. 205

Jack, so too with the liberties of the British
form of government, the story of the com-
binations is not the record of a revolution,
but the gradual process of an evolution.

When at the end of the last century our
neighbours in the United States framed their
separate constitution, which, with the excep-
tion of the amendment respecting slavery,
remains identicallv the same, thev based it
on the usages of that day when responsible
government was almost unknown. Creating
an elective king under the name of a presi-
dent, they endowed him with distinct and
extensive powers, which, as then, he still
exercises largely of his own private will, or
only in consultation with a cabinet which is
nominated by himself, and whose members
are not members of the House of Representa-
tives, nor are they elected by the people.

How entirelv he acts without the instruc-
tions or the initiation of Congress, was only
too evidently shown in the recent Venezuela-
Guiana incident, when President Cleveland's
message was promulgated with all the un-
bridled vehemence of an autocrat.*

The President of the United States having

* 1896.

206 The Story of the Union Jack.

been elected for a definite term of years,
represents the opinion prevailing at the time
of his election, Ijut no matter how much the
opinion of the nation may afterwards change,
he continues to rule, until his allotted term
shall have expired, even though he be in
absolute conflict with the expressed will of
the people.

It is true there are provisions in the consti-
tution for checking his course, or for his im-
peachment, but in cases in which this has
been attempted to be enforced, the trial has
lasted longer than his term. His appointment
having been the result of an election, the
President represents not the whole people,
but only the political party at the time of his
election in the majority.

Being then the party representative of a
definite i^olitical section, his acts are expected
by those who have elected him to be used
towards continuing their party in power, and
thus the person from time to time holding
the position of President becomes a distinct
vehicle for the exercise of party political
warfare.

This written constitution of the United
States, admirable though it may have been at

The Flag of Liberty to the People. 207

the time, and perhaps an improvement upon
the then existing state of things, was born
over a century ago in the times of autocratic
government, and though thus old and out of
date, it has remained ever since practically
unchanged.

During this same hundred years, as civiliza-
tion has advanced, education enlightened the
masses, and intelligence expanded among the
peojjle, there has grown up that marvellous
form of government under which we Cana-
dians live — the British constitutional mon-
archy. In this British Empire the Queen
represents the people, not a party, and is the
permanent chairman of the nation. Tempered
by her continuous counsel the will of j^arlia-
ment is her will. The ministers of the crown,
who form the Executive, are elected by the
people, and sit in the same House of Com-
mons with the other elected representatives.
Debating with them on the issues of the day,
they are responsible to their fellow-members
for the measures which they introduce, and
when they fail to carry these measures and
cease to secure the support of the majority
of the people's representatives, then the min-
istry resigns and is succeeded at the call of

208 The Story of the Union Jack.

the sovereign by a cabinet which shall repre-
sent that majority, or, should the matter be of
sufficient importance, the whole parliament is
forthwith dissolved by the sovereign as the
neutral and unl)iased centre of impartial
230 wer, and the question at issue is quickly
submitted for decision l:)v the ballots of the
electors. Thus the acts of the premier or
chief minister who is head of the executive
and of his cabinet, and also of the party of
which he is leader, are at once subject to
the opinion of the people, without waiting for
the completion of their term. *

The Governor-General of Canada does not,
as so many of the peoj^le of the United States
imagine, govern the country, acting with abso-
lute power under the direction of the govern-
ment of Great Britain, for in every way, except
for purposes of Imperial advice and the declar-
ation of war, Canada is practically an inde-
pendent Dominion. By virtue of his office
he represents the person of the Sovereign of
the Empire in the local government in this
portion of the British realm, and is the con-

* The life of a parliament in Canada is limited to five years,
and, unless it has been dissolved in the interval, must return
for re-election at the end of that term.

The Flag of Liberty to the People. 209

necting link between the Mother-parliament
in Great Britain and the parliament in the

Dominion. As

40. Flag of the Governor-
General OF Canada.

in the Parent-
kingdom the
sovereisj'n is
secured in im-
partiality by the
gi'ace of birth, so
in the Daughter-
realm the Gov-
ernor-General is
dissociated from
all local entan-
olements bv vir-
tue of being ap-
pointed from without by the central source of
honour and power. His distinctive flag (40)
is the "Union Jack," having on its centre
the arms of Canada surrounded l)v a wreath
.of maple leaves, the eml)lem of Canada,
the whole being surmounted l^y the Royal
crown.

The flag of the governor or administrator
in all other British colonies and dependencies
is the Union Jack, having upon it the arms or
badge of the colony, suri'ounded l^y a green

-•#

210

The Story of the Uniox Jack.

garland of laurel leaves on a white shield. In
1870, as a special honour, the Imperial sanction

was given to
Canada of plac-
ing a garland of
nia})le leaves, in-
stead of laurel,
upon the flag of
its Governor-
General.

The Lieuten-
ant-Governors
of the ]3rovinces
of Canada I^eing
appointed by the
government of
the Dominion, theii' Hags bear the arms of
their several provinces surrounded by a
similar garland of maple leaves but without
the crown (41).

In this Governor-General's flag, with its
Royal crown, its maple leaf and Canadian coat-
of-arms l^acked up by the Union Jack, is sym-
bolized the existence of British constitutional
government in Canada. In this the Queen is
the whole Canadian people, and the Premier
and his Cal^inet are the representatives of the

41. Flag of the Liex'texant-
GovERxoR OF Quebec.

The Flag of Liberty to the People. 211

political party for the time being in power.
The Cabinet is responsible to parliament for
the policy which they introduce, and for which
they, as well as all the other members of the
parliament, are immediately answerable to the
electors who are the original source of their
power.

This modern flexible system of constitutional
government in Canada, so closely in touch with
the people, in contrast with the age-stiffened
system in the United States, was neatly brought
out by Lord Dufferin during his term as Gov-
ernor-General of Canada, in a speech he
delivered at Toronto, in 1874, after his visit to
Chicago.

" More than once," said he, " I was addressed
with the playful suggestion that Canada should
unite her fortunes with those of the great
Republic." (Laughter). " To these invitations
I invariably replied by acquainting them that
in Canada we were essentially a democratic
people (great laughter), that nothing would
content us unless the popular will could exer-
cise an immediate and complete control over
the executive of the country (renewed
laughter), that the ministers who conducted
the government were but a committee of par-

212 The Story of the Union Jack.

liament, which was in itself an emanation from
the constituencies (loud ajiplause), and that
no Canadian would be al^le to breathe freely if
he thought the persons administering the
affairs of the country were removed beyond
the supervision and contact of our legislative
assemblies " (cheers).

It is, then, easily seen why Canadians love
their Union Jack. It is the signal of parlia-
mentary government by British constitutional
principles. It represents progress and modern
ideas. The rule of the people, for the people^
by the people, through their Queen; and, there-
fore, it is the evidence of their affectionate
and loyal allegiance to that monarchy under
whose benign sway Canada, above all other
countries on this continent of America, is the
land of the free.

CHAPTER XX.

THE UNION FLAG OF THE BRITISH
EMPIRE.

The story of the Union Jack as we have
thus followed it has told how its allegiance
travelled beyond the little islands which
it first had claimed as its territory and
naturalized its affections upon the soil of this
great north land of America.

And not over Canada alone, but also to
every colonist in the outer continents, in Aus-
tralasia and the islands of the sea, and to all
the Potentates of mighty India, it bears the
same glad story of brotherhood and United
Realm.

The Union Jack flying by itself has its
special significance. Upon the bowsprit of a
ship it is local, at the mast head it is the evi-
dence of the rank of the admiral who bears it,

212 The Story of the Union Jack.

liament, which was m itself an emanation from
the constituencies (loud aj)plause), and that
no Canadian would be able to breathe freely if
he thought the persons administering the
affairs of the country were removed beyond
the supervision and contact of our legislative
assemblies " (cheers).

CHAPTER XX.

THE UNION FLAG OF THE BRITISH
EMPIRE.

And not over Canada alone, but also ta
every colonist in the outer continents, in Aus-
tralasia and the islands of the sea, and to all
the Potentates of mighty India, it bears the
same glad story of brotherhood and United
Realm.

The Union Jack flying by itself has its
special significance. Upon the bowsprit of a
ship it is local, at the mast head it is the evi-
dence of the rank of the admiral who bears it,

214 The Story of the Union Jack.

or on shore of the officer who displays it,
but combined in the upper corner of a larger
ensign it is the flag of the nation, and thus
environed becomes the Union Flag.

It is a misnomer to call a flag of this com-
bined shape a Union "Jack," this being the
proper name solely for the smaller flag com-
prising only the three Island crosses, but
place this smaller flag of the three Kingdoms
in the upper corner of a larger flag and it
becomes the sign of identity of allegiance, the
emblem of united power and the evidence of
the union of British patriotism with the story
that may be told by the colourings and forms
of the rest of the flag.

The portion of the flag next the staff is
termed the Jioist, and the outer part or
length, the fly. Another method of descrip-
tion is arrived at by dividing the flag into four
quarters or "cantons," two next the staff Siud.
two ill the fly.

The Union Jack is used in the upper or
"dexter" canton, next the staff, on several dis-
tinctive flags.

The White Ensign (PI. i., fig. 2). A white
flag bearing the large red cross of St. George

Union Flag of the British Empire. 215

and having the Union Jack in the dexter
canton

The Blue Ensign (PI. i., fig. 3). A bine
flag having the Union Jack in the dexter
canton.

The Bed Ensign (PI. :., fig. 1). A red
flag having the Union Jack in the dexter
canton.

The first was won and is worn only by the
warships of the British navy, the second is
worn only on ships of the navies of British
colonies and of the Eoyal naval reserve,* and
the third was won and is worn by all British
merchantmen and also on the ships of the
Boyal navy.

It will be remembered that the red ensign,
first with its St. George's cross under Charles
IL, and afterwards with its two-crossed Union
Jack under Queen Anne, had become the
national ensign of all British ships at sea,
and not being restricted to any particular
services, as are the white and blue ensigns,
it has extended in its usage and now, with its
three- crossed union, become the ensign of the
British people on shore as well as afloat.

* See Appendix B.

216 The Story of the Union Jack.

" Where is the Briton's land '/
Where'er the blood-red Ensign flies,
There is the Briton's land."

Whether it be in the "right Httle, tight
little islands," of the old land, or in the greater
area of the colonies ^Yhich stud the globe, the
presence of this Union Flag proclaims the
sovereignty of the united nations.

Thus the three crosses in the Union
Jack have ceased to have solelv their local
meanings, for their story has become merged
in the larger significance which their presence
now imparts to the universal Imperial flag as
being the sign of this greater British union.

This further evolution in the story of the
flag has come step by step.

In the century of the expansion of Ealeigh's
'' trade command," the governors of the Eng-
lish colonies, principally of those in America,
began giving to their local shipping commis-
sions to engage in the various and free-licensed
methods by which that trade was being ob-
tained. Some inconvenience seems to have
resulted from this practice.

Under William III. the matter was taken
up and an Order in Council passed at White-
hall approving of a suggestion then made by
the Lords' Commissioners of the Admiralty.

Union Flag of the British Empire. 217

" Their Excellencies, the Lords'
Justices, have been pleased to refer
unto us a Report of the Lords'
Commissioners of Trade representing
the inconveniencies that do attend
Merchant ships bearing the King's
colours in and among the Plantations
abroad under colour of the Commis-
sions given them by his Majesty's
Govenors of the said Plantations, do
most humbly report to their Excel-
lencies that we do agree with the
said Lords' Commissioners for Trade,
that all ships to whom the aforesaid
Governors shall by the authority
lodged in them grant commissions,
ought to wear colours that may dis-
tinguish them from private ships as
is done by those employed by the
Officers of the Navy, Ordnance, Yic-
tualling and others, and therefore do
humbly propose, that all the said
Governors may be directed to oblige
the Commanders of such Merchant
Ships to which they grant com-
missions to wear no other Jack than
that hereafter mentioned, namely,
that worn by His Majesty's Ships,
with the distinction of a white
Escutcheon in the middle thereof,
and that the said mark of Distinction
may extend itself to one half of the

218

The Story of the Union Jack.

depth of the Jack and one third part
of the Fly thereof, according to the
sample herewith annexed.*

The white escutcheon of the home depart-
mental flags thus extended itself to the Eng-
lish Jacks used in the colonies.

IHEEXSLAXD. VICrOEIA. WEST AUSTRALIA.

4r2. Australian Emblems.

The governors or high commissioners, or
administrators of British colonies and depen-
dencies, w^ere afterwards authorized to place
upon this white escutcheon on the Union
Jack the arms or badge of the colony in
which they served. In this way it has come
that the arms of Canada, the Southern Cross
constellation of Queensland, the red cross
and British lion of Victoria, the black swan
of Western Australia , (42), and the other
special distinctive emblems in each of the

* Order-in-Council, Whitehall, July 31st, 1701.

Union Flag of the British Empire. 219

British colonies are now displayed upon the
flags of the governor's in each.

In 1865, when colonial navies were first
established, the vessels of war maintained by
the local governments were authorized to use
the blue ensign, with the seal or badge of the
colony in the centre of the fly,* and thus the
escutcheon was given another position, and
the local stories of the Australian colonies,
which established these fleets, became em-
bodied in the British blue ensign, f A similar
privilege, although they are not commissioned
as vessels of war, was afterwards extended to
the fishery protection cruisers of Canada, so
that on these and all other vessels which are
owned by the Dominion Government, the
blue ensign is carried with the arms of
Canada in the centre of the fly (PI, ix.,
fig. 2).

By these successive steps the Imperial idea
became attached to one of the ensigns of the
British navy.

From the plain white escutcheon in the
centre of the Union Jack, 1701, to the special
emblem in the fly of the blue ensign, 1865,

* "Colonial Defences Act," 23 Victoria, Cap. 14.

t Warrant of the Lords' Commissioners of the Admiralty.

220 The Story of the Union Jack.

was a long way, but yet other steps were
to be taken.

The vessels owned by the governments of
the colonies had thus been given their special
British flags, but provision had not been made
for those owned by private citizens. The
plain red ensign is worn without distinction
by all British subjec's on all lands and seas.
As the colonists developed in native energy so
their merchant shipping increased, and in re-
cognition of this all colonial owned merchant
vessels were accorded in 1889* the right of
wearing, together with the red ensign, an
additional flag on which might be shown the
distinguishing badge of their colony. In
order to prevent the possibility of mistakes in
identification it was further directed that any
flags of this character were to be made in
such a way as not to resemble any of the
existing flags of the Eoyal navy.

In some of the colonies in Australasia local
flags of excellent design have been devised,
but these "additional" and "separate"
flags are not all that can be desired, for
while the local flag might give expression
to ttie local patriotism represented, there

* Merchant Shipping fCoIours) Ai;C, 1889.

Union Flag of the British Empire. 221

comes with it also an idea of separation,
and it does not sncceed in expressing the
dominant and prevaihng sentiment of allegi-
ance to

One Queen, One Empire, One Flag !

It has fallen to the lot of the statesmen
of Canada, who do not seem to be behindhand
in developing new and Imperial ideas, to sug-
gest another step in the history of the ensign.

The merchant shipping of Canada stands
fifth in rank in merchant shipping among the
nations of the world. '

The government ships were authorized to
use the blue ensign with the arms of Canada
as their distinguishing Hag, but the merchant
marine used the same plain red ensign as
worn by the merchant marine of Great Britain,
and as no special colonial flag had been
adopted for Canada, her merchant ships could
not be recognized amidst those of the Mother
country.

In 1892, to meet this requirement, the Lords'
Commissioners of the Admiralty, on the sug-
gestion of the Canadian Department of
Marine, issued a warrant permitting the

*The order is British (Home Kingdom), United States,
German, French, Canadian.

222 The Story of the Union Jack.

badge of the arms of Canada to be inserted
in the fly of the red ensign as well as in the
blue, and this new combined red ensign was
empowered to be used by all citizens of
Canada.'"

Thus was formed the union flag of Canada.

The Ensign of Canada (PL ix., fig. 1) is the
British red ensign, having the Union Jack in
the dexter canton and the arms of Canada in
the fly.

Like the expansion of the British constitu-
tion to patriot governments beyond the seas
so has come the extension step by step of the
old union flag to the newly-created colonies.
As the spirit of that constitution has been
adapted to the local circumstances in each so
the red ensign, which is the embodiment of
the power and glory of the British nation, has
been emblazoned with the local fervour of
each young and growing people, who fervently
loving their own new land stand unconquer-
ably in union with the Motherland and rejoice
at seeing their own emblem set upon the
Mother flag.

Such a flag, such a real flag, tells its grand
story in a way that a national flag ought to

* Admiralty Warrant, Feb. 2ad, ]892.

Union Flag of the British Empire. 223

do, for the red ensign of the Homeland with
the signal of the colony added to its folds in
each far- of land signals to the beholder that
it is the Union Flag of the British Emjnre.

When the Canadian sees the Union Crosses
displayed in the top corner on his Canadian
ensign it speaks to him not only as his own
native flag but yet more as his sign of brother-
hood in an Empire wider than his own home,
broader than the continent on which he lives,,
for it is the visible evidence of his citizenship
in the Empire of Great and Greater Britain.

The fervid eloquence of Daniel Webster in
1834 described that Empire as "a power
dotted over the surface of the whole Globe
with her possessions and military posts ;;
whose morning drum beat following the sun
and keeping company with the hours, circles-
the earth with one continuous and unbroken
strain of the martial airs of England."*

If this heart - rousing testimony of the
majesty of the Empire, of which we Canadians
form a part, had been given by one of our-
selves, it might have been tinged with the
suspicion of self-glorious boasting, but spring-
ing from the lips of so distinguished a citizen

* Speech May 7th, 1834.

224 The Story of the Union Jack.

of the United States, its fervid utterance is
the candid ackuowledgment of a nation
greater than his own, whose grandeur com-
pelled his admiration.

If over half a century ago this admission
was true, how much more so is it at the
present day.

Those " possessions " which fired the
statesman's imagination have marvellously
increased, that "power" has expanded be-
yond his utmost dreams. Since that time
no nation, not even his own, has progressed
like ours has. Canada then lost to him in
the solitude of far-off forests or of pathless
plain, has arisen like a young lion and
gripped the American continent from sea to
sea, carrying the Union Jack in continuous
line of government from shore to shore. Aus-
tralia has risen beneath the Southern Star ;
India in itself became an Empire, and Africa,
youngest born of all the lion's brood, is weld-
ing fast another continent beneath the
Imperial sway.

These are the nations of the Union Jack ;
the galaxy of parliaments of free men which
has arisen round the Central Isles and the
throne of Her who, with her statesmen, "knew

Union Flag of the British Empire. 225

the seasons when to take occasion by the
hand and make the bounds of freedom wider

yet."

In this Nation of nations, Canadians join
hands with their brothers around the world,
and raise aloft the Union Jack in the Im-
perial flag as the glad ensign of their united
allegiance, a union for which Canadians, as
much as any, have proved their faith and ever
stand in foremost rank ready and willing to
defend.

There is something marvellous in the world-
wide influence of this three-crossed flag of the
parent nation, whose sons have followed its
ideals through all the centuries. Sometimes
they have made mistakes, but undaunted,
masterful and confident, have profited by the
hard won experience, and progressing with the
march of time find at the close of this nine-
teenth century that they ''have builded better
than they knew."

Thus when in the opening month of 1896
Britain stood alone, as said a Canadian states-
man,* in ^'splendid isolation,'' there was heard
coming not only from Canada, but from every

* Hon. W. E. Foster, Minister of Finance of Canada, speech
in the House of Commons, Ottawa.
15

226 The Story of the Union Jack.

Daughter nation around the seas, the same
brave refrain which had been suno^ by a Cana-
dian poet in the stirring Mason and SHdell
times of 1861.

" When recent danger threatened near,
We nerved our hearts to play our part,
Kot making boast, nor feeling fear ;
But as the news of insult spread,
Were none to dally or to lag ;
For all the grand old island spirit
Which Britain's chivalrous sons inherit
Was roused, and as one heart, one hand,
We rallied round our flag."

*»•

Such, then, is the story, such is the mean-
ing of our Union Jack : the emblem of
combined constitutional government, the
proclaimer of British hberty, the Union sign
of British rule.

Mindful of its story, happy in their lot,
facing the world, its sons encircle the earth
with their glad anthem

God save Victoria, Queen and Empress.

THE END.

APPENDIX A.
A PLEA FOR THE MAPLE LEAF.

The multi-coloured quarterings of the Dominion
arms, as shown on the shield upon the Canadian
ensign, have not been found entirely efficient, for
they fail in being easily recognizable.

Flags are signals to be used for conveying infor-
mation to persons at a distance ; their details should,
therefore, be simple in form and be displayed in
simple colours.

The cross on the Swiss flag and the shield on the
Italian flag, though small, are easily recognized ; but
the coat-of-arms on the Canadian flag is, even when
near, an indistinguishable medley.

Several suggestions for improvement have been
made, but we would join with many others in a
plea for the maple leaf.

The maple tree is found in luxuriance in every
province of the Dominion. Varieties of it grow, it
is true, in other parts of America ; but the tree is
in its greatest glory in the northern zones, where
throughout Canada, extended along her line of similar

228 The Story of the Union Jack.

latitude, it attains to its most robust and greatest
development. It flourishes in Newfoundland, in the
Maritime Provinces and in Quebec. It is the finest
forest tree in Ontario. A wreath of Manitoba maple
leaves was placed upon the statue of Sir John
Macdonald as the votive ofFeringr of the North- West,
and anyone who has seen the giant maple leaves of
British Columbia will say the maple leaf is the
natural emblem of Canada.

As well as bein^x the natural emblem, it is also the
typical emblem. It was held in high esteem by the
early settlers of Quebec, and was adopted, in 1836,
as the French-Canadian emblem for the festival of
St. Jean Bapt ste. It was placed on the coinage of
New Brunswick early in the century, and a whole
maple tree was shown on the coinage of Prince
Edward Island before the time of Confederation.
At the creation of the union in Confederation it
was placed in the arms of Quebec and of Ontario,
and was heraldically recognized as the emblem of
Canada.

Maple leaves form the wreaths on the flag of the
Governor-General of the Dominion and on the flags
of the Lieutenant-Governors of all the provinces. It
was the emblem placed by His Royal Highness the
Prince of Wales on the colours of the " Roj^al Cana-
dians," the 100th Regiment, raised in Canada in 1865,
and is still worn as the regimental badge of their
successors, the Royal Leinster Regiment. It is on
the North- West medals of 1885, and on the uniform

Appendix. 229

and accoutrements of the Canadian Infantry and of
the North-West Mounted Police.

It has revelled in poetry and prose ; it is the theme
of the songs of our children ; and the stirring strains
of "The Maple Leaf form an accompaniment to our
British national anthem.

It has been worn on the breasts of all the repre-
sentative champions of Canada — at the oar, on the
yachts, on the athletic fields, in military contests
and at the rifle ranges — as the emblem of their
country.

Everywhere throughout the world the maple leaf
has won recognition as the emblem of Canadians, and
may well be displayed upon their flag.

As to the colour. Green is the emblem of j^outh
and vigour, and if, instead of the Dominion arms, the
green maple leaf were placed on the shield of the
Canadian ensign, the flag would be fairer to see and
more easily distinguished. Or if the colour used were
scarlet, the colour of courage, then both the natural
and emblematic attributes of the leaf would still be
represented.

This introduction of the maple leaf has often been
suo-aested, but if in this year of the Diamond Jubilee
of our gracious Queen a white diamond of one-third
the size of the "Union" was .substituted for the shield,
then indeed we should have a flag (PI. ix.. No. 3) which
would signalize an historic epoch, and be one which
could be known at a glance among all others.

The green maple leaf on the white diamond in the

280 The Story of the UxMON Jack.

fly of the red ensign would tell as bravely and more
clearly the story of the " coat of -arms " on the shield,
but it would also be a national tribute to that Queen,
under whose commanding influence the colonies have
arisen around the Empire, and be a record of that
Diamond Jubilee of Victoria which has been the
revelation of their union and the united testimony
of their aflTectionate allegiance.

APPENDIX B.

CANADIAN WAR MEDALS.

Tlte War Medal (;i8) was granted in 1848, to be
worn by the men of the British forces who had
served in the fleets and armies during the wars
from 1798 to 1814. Among these the Canadian
militia were included.

Clasps were granted to those men who had been
present at the actions of St. Sebastian, Vittoria,
Salamanca, Talavera and Vimiera in the Peninsular
campaign ; and in the Canadian campaign, for the
actions at Fort Detroit, 16th August, 1812; Chateau-
guay, 26th October, 1813, and Chrystler's Farm, 11th
November, 1813.

The medal from which the drawing is made is
engraved, A. Wilcox, Canadian militia, and bears the
clasp, Fort Detroit.

Appendix. 231

The North- Weftt Canada medal (39), was granted
in 1886 to all who had served in the Canadian
North-West in 1885. The clasp "Saskatchewan" was
granted to all who were present at the actions of
Fish Creek, 24th April; Batoche, 12th May, and
Frenchman's Butte, 27th May, I88.7.

The forces serving in the expedition of I880 were
drawn entirely from the Canadian militia and North-
West mounted police, with the addition of the officers
of the Imperial forces who were associated in com-
mand.

APPENDIX C.

A SAMPLE CANADIAN RECORD.

The service record of the Nelles family of Ham-
ilton gives some idea of the calls to military service
in Canada :

Great grandfather, on British side, in 1776.

Grandfather, in War of 1812.

Father, in Rebellion of 1837.

Son, Fenian Invasion, 1866.

Nephew, North-West, 1885

OR Cumberland, Barlow

115 The story of the Union

G7C83 Jack

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