You can tell what wars soldiers or sailors have been in by the colours of their medal ribbons. These I will show you later on.
OUR FLAG.
Scouts will always salute the colours (or standard) of a regiment when they pass. There are generally two such standards, one the "King's Colour," the other the "Regimental Colour."
Men-of-war carry a pennant, i.e., a long thin flag like a whip lash. You may remember that the Dutch fleet under Van Tromp, after defeating ours, carried a broom at their mastheads to show that they had swept us off the seas. But when we shortly after defeated them we put up a whip at the masthead to show that we had whipped the enemy, and this whip has been carried ever since by men-of-war.
The Royal Navy fly the White Ensign; no one else is allowed to except yachts belonging to the Royal Yacht Squadron. The White Ensign is a white flag with the Red Cross of St. George on it and a Union Jack in the corner. It is flown at the stern of the ship, a small Union Jack at the bow.
The mercantile navy flies the Red Ensign; or if the captain of the ship belongs to the Royal Reserve, the ship flies a Blue Ensign.
The Army and Government buildings fly the Union Jack. Private houses and individuals should only fly the Red Ensign.
The Royal Standard, which shows the Lions of England, the Harp of Ireland, and the Lion of Scotland, is only flown when the King is present.
The Union Jack is the national flag of England, and is made up originally of the flag of St. George, a red cross on a white ground. In 1606 King James I. added to it the banner of Scotland, which was a blue flag with a white St. Andrew's Cross diagonal, that is from corner to corner.
In 1801 the Banner of St. Patrick of Ireland was added to the flag; St. Patrick's Cross was a red diagonal cross on a white ground, so that the flag now means the union of England, Ireland, and Scotland.