Union Jack

UNION JACK - discussion on BBC Broadcasting House 13 October 2013

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• published: 19 Oct 2013
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Confirmation that UNION JACK is a perfectly correct name for the flag of the United Kingdom - whether flown at sea or on land. Graham Bartram (born 18 July 1963) is a British vexillologist who is currently (2013) Secretary-General for Congresses of the Fédération internationale des associations vexillologiques, the Chief Vexillologist of the Flag Institute and a consultant to the British government on flag design and usage. This is the whole programme but you can jump to the relevant flag discussion excerpts at: News Item - 06.00 - 06.50 minutes: "According to The Flag Institute which has carried out legal and historical research there has never been a definitive pronouncement on the correct title. The Institute's experts say that in the absence of any specific designation of a name both Union Flag and Union Jack may validly be used. The news may come as a shock to those who are convinced that it is a Union Jack only if it's flown by The Royal Navy. But the general public who almost universally refer to it as the Union Jack can carry on doing so in the knowledge that they have been right all along." Discussion - 22.00 -- 27.42 minutes 34.48 -- 35.16 minutes 57.00 -- 59.50 minutes Graham Bartram is the author of the book "British Flags and Emblems" and edits the British military flag book "BR20 Flags of All Nations". He also wrote the booklet "Flying Flags in the United Kingdom" published by the Flag Institute in association with the Flags & Heraldry Committee of the United Kingdom Parliament. He also maintains the World Flag Database. Mr. Bartram appears here on the BBC Broadcasting House programme where he comprehensively dispels the myth that the Union Jack should only be called thus when flown on a Royal Navy ship. He also dispels the idea that the Union Flag is the correct name when the flag is flown onshore. In fact, as he clearly states, the two names are entirely interchangeable. Those who claim that the Union Jack name should only be used when the flag is flown at sea are thus proven incorrect. The flag is not named after the jack-staff. In fact the jack-staff came into existence 150 years after the Union Jack, so if anything the jack-staff is named after the flag and not the other way around! There are several theories as to why the flag is called the Union Jack. One of these is the 'flown at sea from jack staff' idea but as the Flag Institute confirms -- this is a relatively recent idea. Another is that King James liked to sign himself 'Jac' from Jacobus - Latin for James - and he gave the name 'Jack' to the Union Flag creating the Union Jack. From the official website of the British Monarchy: royal.gov.uk - "The term 'Union Jack' possibly dates from Queen Anne's time (r. 1702-14), but its origin is uncertain. It may come from the 'jack-et' of the English or Scottish soldiers, or from the name of James I who originated the first union in 1603. Another alternative is that the name may be derived from a proclamation by Charles II that the Union Flag should be flown only by ships of the Royal Navy as a jack, a small flag at the bowsprit; the term 'jack' once meant small." From The Flag Institute website: ".... It should thus be noted that the jack flag had existed for over a hundred and fifty years before the jack staff came into being, and its name was related to its size rather than to the position in which it was flown. It is often stated that the Union Flag should only be described as the Union Jack when flown in the bows of a warship, but this is a relatively recent idea. From early in its life the Admiralty itself frequently referred to the flag as the Union Jack, whatever its use, and in 1902 an Admiralty Circular announced that Their Lordships had decided that either name could be used officially. Such use was given Parliamentary approval in 1908 when it was stated that "the Union Jack should be regarded as the National flag". Cdr Bruce Nicolls OBE RN (Retd)"