BRITISH NATIONAL SYMBOLS
(1603-25). (Smith, 1975)
The design of the first union flag was formed by superimposing the Red Cross of England on top
of the White Saltire of Scotland. However, the flags of England and Scotland continued to be
flown separately on land.
The use of the first union flag (uniting the crosses of England and Scotland) remained restricted,
being allowed only at sea from 1634 onwards on ships in the Royal Navy.
For a period of two hundred years, a great variety of ensigns, jacks and pennants were devised,
and all were essentially variations of the Union Jack displaying the recognised British colours.
In the period known as the Protectorate (1649-60) the well-known golden Irish harp was also
displayed in one variation of the union flag.
It was, however, removed with the restoration of Charles II in 1660. In the Act of Union (1707),
by which England and Scotland joined together as the United Kingdom, the two combined
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