St. Patrick was born in Scotland, near where Glasgow now stands. The date of his birth was somewhere near the close of the fourth century, but as to the year authorities differ widely—372, 455, 464, and 493 being all given by various biographers.[[38]] His father was of good family, and, while the future saint was still under the paternal roof, God manifested to him by divers visions that he was
destined for the great work of the conversion of Ireland, at that time plunged in idolatry. Hence he resigned his birthright and social position, and devoted himself entirely to the salvation of these barbarians, suffering at their hands and for their sakes much persecution. He was ordained deacon and priest, and was ultimately made a bishop. He travelled over the whole of Ireland founding monasteries and filling the country with churches and schools of piety and learning. Animated by a spirit of perfect charity and humility, he demonstrated not only the faith but the spirit of his Master, and the result of his forty years of labour was to change Ireland from a land of barbarism into a seat of learning and piety, so that it received the title of the Island of Saints, and was for centuries a land of mental and spiritual light.
On the Union of the Kingdom of Great Britain with Ireland in the year 1801, the following notice was issued by Royal Authority:—"Proclamation, George R.—Whereas by the First Article of the Articles of Great Britain and Ireland it was declared: That the said Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland should upon this day, being the First Day of January, in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and One, for ever after be united into One Kingdom, by the name of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland: and that the Royal Style and Titles appertaining to the Imperial Crown of the said United Kingdom and its Dependencies, and also the Ensigns Armorial, Flags, and Banners thereof, should be such as We, by our Royal Proclamation under the Great Seal of the said United Kingdom should appoint: We have thought fit, by and with the advice of our Privy Council, to appoint and declare that our Royal Style and Titles shall henceforth be accepted, taken, and used as the same set forth in Manner and Form following: Georgius Tertius, Dei Gratia, Britannarium Rex, Fidei Defensor; and in the English Tongue by these words: George the Third, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith; and that the Arms or Ensigns Armorial of the said United Kingdom shall be Quarterly: first and fourth, England: second, Scotland: third, Ireland: and it is Our Will and Pleasure that there shall be borne thereon on an escutcheon of pretence, the Arms of Our Domains in Germany, ensigned with the Electoral Bonnet:[[39]] And that the Union Flag shall be Azure, the Crosses Saltire of St. Andrew and St. Patrick Quarterly, per Saltire counterchanged Argent and Gules: the latter fimbriated of the second, surmounted by the Cross of St. George of the third, fimbriated as the Saltire."
The heralds who devised the new flag of the extended Union, Fig. [90], have been subjected to a very considerable amount of adverse criticism,[[40]] but no one has really been able to suggest a better plan than theirs. It will be noted in the illustration and in every Union flag that is made, that the red Cross of St. Patrick, Fig. [93], is not in the centre of the white Cross, Fig. [92], of St. Andrew. The scarlet Cross of St. George is equally fringed on either side by the white border or fimbriation that represents the original white field, Fig. [91], on which it was placed, and on the addition of the white cross or saltire of St. Andrew on its field of blue, Fig. [92], it fitted in very happily. When, however, another X-like cross had to be provided for, on the admission of Ireland to the Union, a difficulty at once arose. As the Irish Cross would, according to all rule and fairness, be of the same width on the joint flag as that of St. Andrew, the result of placing the second or red X over the first white one would be to entirely obliterate the latter. Even then the Irish Cross would not be rightly rendered, as it should be on a white ground, and by this method it would be on a blue one, while if we placed the Irish Cross on that of St. Andrew, but left a thin line of white on either side, St. Andrew's Cross would still be obliterated, as the thin fimbriation of white would be the just due of St. Patrick, and would not stand for St. Andrew at all. Besides, Scottish indignation would not unjustly be aroused at the idea that their noble white cross should become a mere edging to the symbol of St. Patrick. Hence the somewhat awkward-looking compromise that breaks the continuity of direction of the arms of the red cross of Ireland by its portions being thrown out of the centre of the white oblique bands, so that in each portion the crosses of Ireland and Scotland are clearly distinguished from each other. This compromise notwithstanding, no more effective or beautiful flag unfolds itself the round world over than the Union flag of Great Britain and Ireland.
The crosses might have been quartered as we see them in Fig. [80], but it is clearly better to preserve the idea of the unity and blend all three crosses into one composition. No criticism or objection has ever come from Ireland as to the Union flag, but even so lately as 1853 the Scotch renewed their grievance against the Cross of St. Andrew being placed behind that of St. George, "and having a red stripe run through the arms thereof, for which there is no precedent in law or heraldry." If ever an Irishman cared to hunt up a grievance, surely here is one at last—the cross of his patron saint "a red stripe"!
When the Union flag is flown, it should always be as we have drawn it in Fig. [90], with the broad white stripe nearest to the head of the flagstaff. It would be quite possible, our readers will see, on a little study of the matter, to turn it with the red stripe uppermost; but this, as we have indicated, is incorrect; and, trivial as the matter may appear, there is a right and a wrong in it, and the point must not be overlooked.
Many suggestions at the time of the Union were made by divers writers in the public prints, such as the Gentleman's Magazine, and the like. One version preserved the flag of the first Union, Fig. [73], but placed in the centre a large green circle having within it the golden harp of the Emerald Isle; but this is objectionable, as it brings green on red, which is heraldically false, and as Ireland has a cross as well as England and Scotland, it seems more reasonable to keep the whole arrangement in harmony. Another version, and by no means a bad one, is shown in Fig. [89], where each cross is distinct from the two others. This appeared in the Gentleman's Magazine for March 20th, 1803, and, like all the other suggestions, good, bad, and indifferent, suffered from the fatal objection that it saw the light when the whole matter was already settled and any alteration scarcely possible.
In view of the changes from the simple Cross of St. George to its union later on with that of St. Andrew, and later on still the union of both with that of St. Patrick, it is sufficiently evident that Campbell's stirring appeal to the mariners of England to defend the flag that for a thousand years has braved the battle and the breeze, however excellent in spirit, does not fit in with the literal facts, though we would not willingly change it for such a version as