BRITISH  FLAG

British Flag, Union Jack is a composite of the Welsh, Scot, English and N.Ireland flags.

The Union Jack, also known as the Union Flag, is the national flag of the United Kingdom.  'Union' symbolizes the union of England and Scotland in 1606, while 'Jack' refers to the flag by which a ship shows its nationality.

The origins of the earlier flag of Great Britain date back to 1606. James VI of Scotland had inherited the English and Irish thrones in 1603 as James I, thereby uniting the crowns of England, Scotland, and Ireland in a personal union, although the three kingdoms remained separate states. On 12 April 1606, a new flag to represent this regal union between England and Scotland was specified in a royal decree, according to which the flag of England (a red cross on a white background, known as St George's Cross), and the flag of Scotland (a white saltire on a blue background, known as the Saltire or St Andrew's Cross), would be joined together, forming the flag of England and Scotland for maritime purposes. King James also began to refer to a "Kingdom of Great Britain", although the Union remained a personal one.

The design of the Union Flag dates from a Royal Proclamation following the union of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801. The flag combines aspects of three older national flags: the red cross of St George of the Kingdom of England, the white saltire of St Andrew for Scotland (which two were united in the first Union Flag), and the red saltire of St Patrick to represent Ireland.