Fig. 777.—The Union Flag of 1801.
In keeping with this, the general mode of procedure, the Proclamations demand our attention. The Proclamation of James (1606). A high official of the College of Arms informs us that neither verbal blazon nor drawing of the first Union Flag is extant. On the other hand, in the Proclamations of 1707 and 1801 we have both blazon and drawing. The blazon has already been given of the 1801 flag (which is the one most needing a verbal blazon), and the drawings of both flags we here produce (Figs. 776 and 777). These drawings—though slightly reduced in these pages—are most careful copies of the signed copies supplied to us by the official already alluded to. In forwarding them he writes: "They are not drawn to scale;" and he adds, further on, "they are exactly the same size as recorded in our books." So then we have, in these two drawings, the heralds' interpretation, at the time, of their own verbal blazon. Now comes the Admiralty part of the work. In the Admiralty Regulations we have a "Memorandum relative to the origin of the Union Flag in its present form." In this there is a brief history of the changes made in the flag from time to time, with quotations from the warrants, together with the verbal blazon AND two coloured drawings (Figs. 778 and 779). The Admiralty has also appended to the Memorandum the following interesting and ingeniously worked out Table of Proportions, adapted for a flag 15 feet by 7½ feet. Presumably this table forms the basis upon which all Union Flags are made up under Admiralty supervision:—
| ft. | in. | |||||||||
| The + of |  | St. George Two borders 1⁄15 each | 1⁄5 2⁄15 |  | together ⅓ | | 1 1 | 6 0 | | ⅓ |
| The × of | | St. Patrick Its border St. Andrew | 1⁄15 1⁄30 1⁄10 | | together 1⁄10 | | 0 0 0 | 6 3 9 | | 1⁄5 |
| Fig. 778.—Admiralty Pattern of 1707 Flag. |
| Fig. 779.—Admiralty Pattern of 1801 Flag. |
The student of heraldry will observe that this table is based on the proportions of the Ordinaries and Sub-Ordinaries figuring on the flag, as those proportions are regulated by English Rules of Armory. These rules give a cross as ⅓, a saltire as 1⁄5, a fimbriation about 1⁄20, of
the flag's width. By the way, we notice here, yet only to dismiss it as hypercritical, the objection taken to the employment (in the verbal blazon of 1801) of the term "fimbriated." To our mind this objection seems a storm in a teacup. Further, it is always admissible in armory to lessen the size of charges when these crowd a field, and although we are fully aware that the laws of armory are not always nor all of them applied to flags, yet there is sufficient evidence to show that the heralds and the Admiralty did recognise the cases of shields and flags to be somewhat analogous. But there are two features in The Admiralty pattern which cannot but arrest the attention of all those who have made a study of armory. The one is that the sub-ordinaries, i.e. the fimbriations, have different proportions given to them, although they are repetitions of the same sub-ordinary, and also seem guarded against such treatment by the very wording of the blazon, and by the practice usual in such cases. And the other is that, after counterchanging the saltires, the St. Patrick is attenuated by having its fimbriation taken off its own field, instead (as the common custom is) off the field of the flag.
All Warrants dealing with flags provide for their being flown at sea (Queen Anne's Proclamation is apparently the first that adds "and land"), and gradually reserve for the Royal Navy—or fighting ships—the honour of alone bearing the Union Jack. The accompanying diagram shows at a glance the changes made by the several Proclamations. The latest word on this subject is "The Merchant Shipping (Colours) Act of Queen Victoria, 1894." This Acts sets forth among other things that—(1) "The red ensign usually worn by merchant ships, without any defacement or modification whatsoever, is hereby declared to be the proper national colours for all ships and boats belonging to any British subject, except in the case of Her Majesty's ships or boats, or in the case of any other ship or boat for the time being allowed to wear any other national colours in
pursuance of a warrant from Her Majesty or from the Admiralty. (2) If any distinctive national colours except such red ensign, or except the Union Jack with a white border, or if any colours usually worn by Her Majesty's ships, &c. ... are or is hoisted on board any ship ... without warrant ... for each offence ... a fine not exceeding five hundred pounds."