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In the United States, legend credits Betsy Ross with designing and creating the first "Stars and Stripes" U.S. flag. Who is given credit for designing and creating the first Union Jack British flag?
Question
#106400. Asked by star_gazer. (Jun 17 09 12:23 PM)
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zbeckabee
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When King James VI of Scotland ascended to the English throne, thereby becoming James I of England, the national flags of England and Scotland on land continued to be, respectively, the red St George's cross and the white St Andrew's cross. Confusion arose, however, as to what flag would be appropriate at sea. On 12 April 1606 a proclamation was issued:
"All our subjects in this our isle and kingdom of Great Britain and the members thereof, shall bear in their main top the red cross commonly called St George's Cross and the white cross commonly called St. Andrew's Cross joined together according to a form made by our heralds and sent to our Admiral to be published to our said subjects."
This is the first known reference to the Union Flag. Although the original design referred to has been lost, it is presumed that it was the flag which, with the addition of the St Patrick's cross, forms the basic design of the British Union Flag today. It is also interesting to note that the new flag was not universally popular nor accepted. The English were not overly pleased at the obscuring of the white field of the St George's flag. The Scots, with more justification, were upset at the fact that the red cross was laid over the white. The Scots proposed a number of alternative designs. These included:
The St George's flag with the St Andrew's flag in the canton
The St George's flag with a St Andrew's flag in each quarter. In this bizarre design the white cross of the St Andrew's flag does not extend to the corners of the flag.
The St George's flag with a St Andrew's flag in the centre
 http://flagspot.net/flags/gb-hist.html#hist
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom
http://www.anyflag.com/history/britunio.htm
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star_gazer
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Interesting, no single person thought it up and supposedly created it.
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Baloo55th
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From Zb's quote, it looks like it was the college(s) of heralds that came up with the idea - probably the English heralds as the red cross is over the blue. It is interesting to speculate what might have happened if James had made Edinburgh his capital, or if the Scots had chosen another king following his 'desertion' to London.
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zbeckabee
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The third link states King James VI.
"This flag design was created by King James VI of Scotland when he became King of England in 1603. It was created by combining England's red cross of ST. George with Scotland's white cross of ST. Andrew. This was the flag that flew above all the early English settlements in the new world. It was the most commonly used flag in the English colonies until the beginning of the Revolutionary War in 1775."
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