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THE UNION JACK

1. Read the text to find the main information.

2. Be ready to speak on the history of Union Jack.

The British flag is called the “Union Jack”, an expression that needs to be explained. The term “Union Jack” possibly dates from Queen Anne’s time (reigned 1702–1714), but its origin is uncertain. It may come from the “jack-et” of the English or Scottish soldiers. Another explanation links it to the name of James I in either its Latin or French form Jacobus or Jacques. It was in his reign that Scotland joined England, and it was decided that the union should be represented symbolically by a new flag. As ‘jack’ once meant small, the name may be derived from a royal decree issued by Charles II that the flag should be flown only by ships of the Royal Navy as a jack, a small flag.

The “Union Jack” is made up of three different national symbols: the cross of St George (a red cross on a white ground), the cross of St Andrew (a diagonal white cross on a blue ground), and the cross of St Patrick (a diagonal red cross on a white ground). The crosses are named after the patron saint of each country. St George is the patron saint of England (the flag of St George can still be seen on churches in England); St Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland, and St Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland. The Welsh dragon does not appear on the flag because by the time the first Union Jack was created in 1606, Wales was already united with England.

At first the flag consisted only of St George’s and St Andrew’s crosses.

In this way the English people got the Union Flag, which is red, white and blue. King James the Third (1566—1622) ordered that the Union Flag should be flown on the main mast of all British ships, except on ships of war. Here the flag was flown at the front of the ships, on what was called the bowsprit. The end of the bowsprit was called the Jack Star and so we get the name of Union Jack.

In 1801, with the union of Ireland and Great Britain, it became necessary to represent Ireland in the flag, and so the cross of St. Patrick was included thus creating the flag as we now have it. The name “Union Jack” became official when it was approved in Parliament in 1908. It was stated that “the Union Jack should be regarded as the National flag”. A “jack”, by the way, is an old word for the sailor. The Union Jack is also on the flags of Australia and New Zealand.

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