United Kingdom Flag

How to identify it

A blue field with a broad upright red cross edged in white. Behind it, diagonal red stripes sit unevenly within wider white stripes. That uneven spacing means the flag has a correct way up.

Design and construction

Proportions

1:2 at sea, 3:5 on land in common British usage

Adoption and legal status

1 January 1801, when Ireland joined the union

Construction

The diagonal red cross of St Patrick is offset within the wider white diagonal cross of St Andrew. In the upper flagpole corner, the broad white stripe sits above the red one; the order reverses in the opposite corners.

Officially documented meaning

The design combines the crosses associated with St George (England), St Andrew (Scotland) and St Patrick (Ireland).

Commonly repeated interpretation

Not official: The name Union Jack is sometimes said to apply only at sea. British institutional usage treats Union Jack and Union Flag as interchangeable on land.

History of the design

The first union flag of 1606 joined the English and Scottish crosses after the Union of the Crowns. The Irish saltire was added in 1801. Wales is not represented, because it was already legally joined to England when the first union flag was drawn.

Similar flags

Compare the details that separate these designs.

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  Australia

  Australia adds six white stars to its blue field, including a large star below the Union Flag; the United Kingdom has neither the blue field nor those stars.

Sources