Flag of United Kingdom

Facts, history and meaning about the flag of United Kingdom

United Kingdom is located in Europe.

The official ISO 3166 code for United Kingdom is:

The Union Flag is the British name of the national flag of Great Britain.

It is also known as the Union Jack, especially in England. However, the official name is becoming more common, particularly in Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Today's modern Union Flag was created on January 1, 1801. The UK flag is a combination of the flag of England, a red Georgian cross with a white background, the flag of Scotland with a white saltire Saint Andrews cross on a blue background, and the flag of Ireland (later known as Northern Ireland due to independence of the Republic of Ireland) with a red cross on a white background.

Britain's King James I, previously King of Scotland, also became the King of England in 1603. Here is when the story of the Union Flag begins. There is no evidence that the flag was used on land. Instead, it was adopted for royal use when the king's ships sailed out to sea.

No sketches of the flag have yet been found from this time, so the idea of the design and the combination of the cross on the flag remains a mystery. In 1707, under the Treaty of Union, a formal union was established between England and Scotland, and furthermore the use of the first, simpler version of the Union Flag was put into use.

Which countries are part of the United Kingdom?

United Kingdom has 4 countries that belong to the same kingdom:

1. England
2. Northern Ireland
3. Scotland
4. Wales

You can read more about this here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countries_of_the_United_Kingdom

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