I bet you didn't know this....did ya!



The flag of the United Kingdom, the Union Jack, is a superposition of the flags of Saint George (for England), Saint Andrew (for Scotland) and Saint Patrick (for Ireland). This superposition is quite intricate, and often drawn incorrectly.

The flag is twice as wide as it is high. The cross of St George is red, and has width equal to one fifth the flag's height, and a white border of width one fifteenth the height.

The cross of St Andrew is interchanged with that of St Patrick. Start by drawing the diagonals of the whole flag, and then the lines parallel to these that are at a distance of one tenth and one fifteenth the height of the flag. On the flag-pole side fill red the diagonally-orientated area of width one fifteenth the height that lies below the diagonals, and on the non-flag-pole side, the diagonally-orientated area of width one fifteenth the height that lies above the diagonals. Finally, fill blue everywhere that is both more than one-tenth the height away from the diagonals, and more than one fifteenth the height away from the red of the cross of St George.

The blue should be Pantone 280, approximated here with an RGB setting of 0:0:102, and the red should be Pantone 186, approximated here with 204:0:0.

The Union Jack is often drawn incorrectly. The ellipse on the left shows a typical error, in which (wrongly) the cross of St Patrick abuts at a right-angle to the white edge of the cross of St George.

In the 2:1 version of the flag (which is what you want unless you really know otherwise) the four red parts of the cross of St Patrick should always be quadrilaterals. Two of the quadrilaterals have two sides parallel and two perpendicular; the other two have both pairs of non-adjacent sides parallel. The four red parts of the cross of St Patrick should not be pentagons or hexagons, although are often drawn that way.



So.....Um...if I mix 1/1000th part red...will that interfere with the molecture structure of the nucleous, anti-jean ensign ??? or is it the other way round

So... sorry missed the point of this mail!

But while we're on flag-based trivia, did you know that you need permission to fly the flag outside your house? Couldn't see Americans going along with that, and quite rightly so.

I think its one of those things that if you read it backwards in the mirror standing on one leg with a kipper up yer bum it tells you the meaning of life. Or else Yossers just feeling a bit jealous of Pulaskis 5 stars....

LOL

I still have a way to go though Yorkie to catch up with Pulaski

Sorry you missed the point Jerseyboy, I was just humored by the technical data of this website on how to build the 'union jack'.

I was actually thinking of having a tatoo of the union jack, and I am glad I read this website, wouldn't want to balls it up, cause once its on there its ballsed up forever.

I remember reading that they wanted to revise the design to recognise Britains multi-cultural citizens. Something about extra black lines I beleive...yeah like that will ever happen lol.
The proposed new design:

I wouldnt mind seeing the Welsh dragon implimented though, I'd be a bit anoyed if I were Welsh since they are not represented in the design. Mind you most folk reckon it's an English flag anyway.

To me the UJ and the word British is a colonial term and doesn't represent anything other than English history.

I would rather see the English flag flown in England and the Scottish one in Scotland etc.

Perhaps one day we will all be flying the European flag? Or an American one if they continue to invade nations!

From memory, and it is a while since I've lived there, but in our area of N Yorks we tended to see the flag of St George flown more than the Union Jack- although neither were flown as often as they could be.

Fly the European flag instead? Frightening thought. I could just about stomach it flying as well, but instead. Ugh.

The Welsh don't have a cross to add...but I suppose they could put a little dragon right in the centre
BTW its called the Union flag, to be pc- it only becomes the Union Jack when its hoisted on the jackstaff by the Royal Navy.

I agree with you, Yorkie, about the European flag..shudder...I'm still miffed at having a European passport!

Damn!!!! Beat me to it

A wonderful person who used to work as part of my team gave me a nicely framed 2'x3' Union Flaaaag recently that is at present fetchingly hanging in my office. It was a very thoughtful gift, and has completely put the kibosh on any of those tedious "So, what part of Australia do you come from" comments from the septics.

If you get sat tv, you have to put the dish on the back of your house too. Madonna had to get permission to put security gates up in front of her house.

Point being, Britain is concerned with how the front of their neighborhood houses look. I think it is a good concern. I have seen rows of houses with sat tv minidishes tacked onto the front and it really takes away from the traditional appearance.

[QUOTE

I wouldnt mind seeing the Welsh dragon implimented though, I'd be a bit anoyed if I were Welsh since they are not represented in the design. Mind you most folk reckon it's an English flag anyway. [/QUOTE]


Not me mate, we have the Union Jack (or as it is properly called the Union Flag) flying outside our house at the moment but we also have a St. Georges Cross (the English flag), which was flying outside our house in Sweden.

Since most Americans wouldn't recognise the St. Georges Cross if it smacked them in the face we decided it was better to fly the Union Jack!

Emm.

Question: Why is the walsh flag not represented like England and Scotland in the UJ?

The welsh were conquered, whilst N Ireland, Scotland and England decided to form "The union" from which the flag gains it's name.

Thanks, So do you think our flag should be upgraded to reflect the changes in times?