THE UNION JACK.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Issue 27, 26 November 1898, Page 1

THE UNION JACK.

«to s? fl +l ? ce j 1 a I reat deal m to whether the flag flying at the school is the Umon J»ck or not, we reprint the following article from Good Words;"The ancient flag of England— the flag of r thousand years-is, it need hardly be slid the crosg of St. George, the distinguishing mark of the Crusader, the barker under which [.he great victories of our middle history have hh l 6 ? °}\T* d - a Wqod red cross upon a white fields Th. ancient flag of Scotland it u- eq "^ J y we]l b^ remem bared, is the saltier of St Andrew-a whjte diagonal pros* upon a field of agure-the heavenly blue. And these two rivals, which for centuries had , Jv PPP°»j tion . ?t was ordained should at length be united, to the mutual honour of both, thus forming the first Union Jack. Upon the accession to the thronn of England of James VI of Scotland, the amalgamation took place, though it was not till the legisla'iT? W 1 ° f 1707 **** th ? her^ldp adopted *t. Ihis was not dppe without some difficulty and.tpparently some feelings of jealousy. It >V*s necessary bo 'to pqp the cross and tht Hltier 'together that bo<;h countries which f.hey represented should stand upon an §qu*Hty,«for though it was ftlways recognised tfcat while, each held equal shares, the one— r quote a recent and elevated political .authority — should remain 'chief partner,, jet at the same time it was importnn* that neither should appear subservient to the other, manner in which this ITrtS" ll^? ?f* accom P lish^ }s expressed in the verbal blazon of 17P7 as follows-— 'Azure, a saltier -argent sprmounted by a cross gules imbriated of fte second > which is equivalent to taking thp cross of St. George S'sih/^ * *^pg to it a narrqw am of whxte, and laying thijs upon the flag of Scotland. So # far th P n, the nations had rttletocomplainof, The flag of Scotland rewr! d v! n i^ t>tbftt , ofKnglandwaßs olaidupon t that both were plainly to bt flistinguished: It appears, however, that neither felt entirely .atisfied with ths result, in consequence of "iW &>& > proelwnation was issued una«r which *Ue ( evftixf!hip was ,to fly" the Upion Jack' hose wjlipg out^of English pr Scottish poris night, at the.- sa,nii« .time,' each-tbe )e,culiai:,Gniign. of its own cppptry. And thut m vessels register,ing-fiom,the ports of W Lw.and^eith would both fly the Union at ht^asthead ) ,whilst. I thß Englishman would fWSfcQ <%os» of St,qeprge and the [foot HKiS&P* Andrew, jD~«apji' case , ft t • the fpr«. ißlWihe-^ctibf Upjpn .withMreland ww ' ppd m;lBQy t,bec»«ig necessary to further f I ■%Hijyuv 'al^j 1 &!&:'*>s"",• J > ' , :>t \

andttu 8 ,g ft ve rise, to souie'httl^ «ti a W«S • .^SW^ffllW be/di§p6 Be a' ToVlXjg^ t«fl4s{^"VlCJ / i /i^fe^'^v.H isiiido',

proportions, the upper would completely hide the lower. One, therefore must be cut in such a mann.ras to expose that btneath it, Mid as Scotland would very naturally object to such a lessening of her parts ,t fell perforce to the share of Inland. The method employed give, to the Irish saltier the ap pearance of that which is gerwaljy called • counter-chatiging • But it J, difficult to reconcile this with the generally accapted meaning of the term, for a counter change is when there is mutual changing of the colour., of a field An d charge in an efcuSheon by one or more lines of partition,' while here there f« no actual partition. Nor do the field and qnarge ohange qolour., but a portion of cross of St. Georg.) a fimbnatjon oeing placed aiound that part of the remainder which comes in contact with the, blue field of St Andrew, this figure is laid upon the untouched flag of Scotland. The two saltier, being thus d, S p 08 ed the cross pf.St. George is laid O l er , ul/'u 1 /' * nd the union is complete. The verbal blazon of this combination ag contained f? o k rt e f| r °' Cai ? at^ n ' Of mi > the pold of flag to be blue, with thr^e cposw., i o one cross and two paltiers. The B se3 of tfrs union, as , composition of our national fiag is called, af^endlais in numbar. Hoisted at,the nti^en-top of a ship at the i same tjme as the flag of the Lord High at the fore, it signifies that 'the K"F /* d; wWle *& *«imiral,of a fleet hoists it at the main. It. is ' then properly called the Great Union, as also when-displayed When flown from a te &c& eC T all t d ' tbeJaok - Bta^' i 4 be6om «« ™ r? T10? T 10 ? Jac > a arne und^r v hicK the Great Umon foften passes.,' Xgaiu, it forms the Jack pf.the seaman/ which** a flag beS^ tog the colours of the Union surrounded W> i border, pi oqe.fifth the, '-breadth, of^ the flag, imd' ( which hfijstfld A t the fore, become! f |l " 11 S n .^ fo T r ; a .Pflpl I &Fd h,nce |t pften galled is unknown.* The meaning as undmrtood- today i,» something s>oVri;V^d'fn thi B .ense Sf.^f ,ftBv Some have supposed.it to & genved Jrom , he/4 Jack « br'-^ile.fthe tunic worn, , in 1 ? early , .time < by 1 mfet-te the crojjs of St. Geqrg« whfo^ jacket^ Jwhei thus a, f playing the blood rod orqsjt'44' wall $W*l^SsJW^Sß^ .theitshllldvlnO^ra