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  • i.\-as. MoNTRKAi, : C. W, COATKS. IIamfax : S K HITKSTIS. 1897. RSTKREP aceordintr to Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year one thousand eitrlit hundred and ninety-seven, hy Barlov Cumhkrimnd, at the Department of Agricultiu'e. TO THE FLAG /TSELF THIS STORY OF THE VXnion 3ach IS DEDICATED WITH MUCH RESPECT BY ONE OF ITS SONS. 1. St. C4eorr: 33. Hari' of Hihernia - 147 34. Seal of Carrickferuis. KiO.") 153 35. Arms of Queen Victoria 154 3('/. Union Jack of Oeor(;e III,, 1801 . . . . 157 ^ 37. OituneJack. The Proi'er Pkoi'oktioxs of the Crosses 150 * 38. The War Medal, 1793-1814 189 39. The North- West Casada Medal .... loi 40. Flag of the &vnERNoR-y the breeze. liefoi'e ti'acing the story of our own Union Jaek, some instances may be briefly mentioned in which associations with tlu'ir historv are displayed in the designs of some of the national flags of other nations. The national standard of united Italy (IM. ir., fig. 2) is a flag having three jvirallel vertical stripes, green, white and red, the green being- next tlie fiagstafi*. Ui)on the central white stripe there is shown a red shield, having ui)on it a white cross, the whole being surmounted by an Imperial crown. This flag was a(h)pte(l in 1870, when the uj)risingof the Italian people, under the leadership of ( Jaribaldi, had resulted in the union of the j)reviously sei)arated prin- cipalities into one united kingdom under Vic- tor Ennnanuel, the reigning king of Sardinia. The red shield on the Italian flag denotes the arms of the House of Savoy, to which the 20 The Story of the Union Jack. Koval House of Sanlinia ])elonge(l, and which wnv iiaiiiod by an ancient and notaljle event. Tiie island of Rhodes had, in i:3(){), been in deadly peril from the attacks of the Turks. In their extremity the then Duk .^ of Savoy came to the aid of the Knights Hospitallers of St. 'fohn, who were defending the island, and with his assistance tliey were able to make a successful resistance. In record and acknow^- ledgment of this great service the Knights of 8t. John gianted to the Honse of Savoy the ])rivilege of wearing the ))adge of the order, a white cross on a red shield, upon their roval arms. « So it ha[)pened, when the Sardinians came to the aid of their sonthern l)rethren, and the King of Sardinia was crowned as ruler over the new Italian king(h)m, the old em])lem won in defence of ancient lil)erties w^is j)erpetuated on th.e lianner of the new king(h)m of lil)erated and united Italy. In IS2S the Greeks, after risin<>- in sue- cessful rebellion, had freed their land from Mohannnedan (h)mination and the powx'r of the Sultan of Turkev. The several States formed themselves into one united kiniidom, and seeking a king from among the Royal Origins of National Flags. 21 Houses of Eiii'oi)e, obtained, in 1832, a scion of the ruling house of Bavaria. The dynasty then set upon the throne of (Ireece lias since been changed, the Bavarian has })arted com- pany with his kingdom, and the presont king, chosen after his with Ira wal, is a member of the Koyal House of Denmark, yet the white Greek cross on a light l)lue ground in the u})pLr (juarter, and the four alternate strijies of white on a light blue ground in the field, which form the national flag of (xreece (PL n., fig. 3), still preserve the blue and white colours of Bavaria, from whence the Greeks obtaiiKMl their first king. The colours of the German national banner are black, white and red (IM. n., fig. 4). Since 1870, when a united Gerimp^ Empire was formed at the conclusion of the French war, this has l)een the general standard of all the States and principalities that were then brought into Imperial union, although each of these lesser States continues to ha', e, in addition, its own particular fiag. This l)aniier of united Germany introduced once more the okl Iir.pe- rial German colours, which had been displayed from 1184 until the time that the P]mpire wha l)r()ken up by Napoleon I., in 1800. Tradition 22 The. Stohv of the Union Jack. is extant that these colours had tlieir origin as a national emblem at the time of the crowning- ot Bai'lKirossa as the first emperor of Ger- many in ]\'y2, on which occasion the pathway to the cathedral was laid with a carpet of Mack, i'imI and gold. The story goes that after the ceremony was over, this carpet was cut uj) hy the ])eople into pieces and disi)layed l)y them as Hags. Thus by the use of these historic colours the j^resent union of the (lerman Empire is connected with the first union, more than seven centuries l)efore. The tri-color of the pi'csent French Eepuhlic (1*1. 11.. fig. .')) has been credited with widelv (littering exj)lanations of its origin, as its plain colours of red, white and blue af those of the three flags which had been carrie' (()), which, on iJnd January, 177<), was I'aised l)y AVashinj^ton oyer the camp of his army at C'ambriritisli Union Jack of that time having tlie two crosses of St. (leorge and St. An(h'ew on a bhie ground. iiiiiiiiiiii»i!iiiiiiilllll«illlllllllini!l!llll;«> lli:[inilllllli«lllllllllinillllllli:illlllllll!llllllllllllll!IIIIIKIIIIi;i{jWl;!'';::iR^ : :wiliilllliiilillii:{!!iiililiiiiiiii::iliiiliiiiiiiiiiiiiii«liiiiiFiiiniMn:iii:i:ii{iilii:i;r^ ll:!l«'l« MllllllllailllllllMII « MM I Mli Hll-ni: 0. Camhridoe Knskjn, 177(). allegiance to (Ireat The retention of the Unicni Jack in the new flag was intended to signify that the col- onies retained their Britain, althongh they wei-e contesting the methods of government. The first flag then raised l)y Washington over the armies of the United States disi)layed the British Union Jack. The source from which the idea of the sal)se(][uent design arose we shall presently see. On 4th July, 177(), the Declaration of Inde- l)endeiice followed, but the Grand Union con- tinned to be used. It Avas not until the 14tli June, 1777, or almost a year after that event, that a new national flag was finally developed. The Congress of the United States, then meeting at Philadelphia, approved the report of a committee which had been appointed to consider the subject, and enacted, '* That the flag of the thii'teen United States be thirteen '2H TiiE Story of the Union Jack. sti'ipc's, alternate red and wliito ; that the L'nion he thirteen stars, wliite in a ])lue field, re])resentin«^' a new eonstelhi- tion." A further dehiv ensued, ))ut at length this flay was otlieially proelainied on Sep- tember :3rd, 1777, as the Union Flap- of the United States (PI. III., fig. '2), and was the first _ , national flag a(l()i)ted bv the w.\sniN(iT(.N Family, authority of CV)ngress. As Washington himself suggested the first design, and had introdueed the second, it is not im})rol)al)le, and, indeed, it is recorded that he had something to do with the design- ing of the final one.* However this last re- l)()rt may be, his friends and admirers most cer- tainly had, and the similarity between the design of the new flag and the COat-of-arms of ^- Washington's Bock-I'late. the Washington family points to the source * "Ross Episode," Preble, p. 205. OiiiGiNs OF National Flags. 29 of tlu' (U'sij^n. Ui)on the tombstoiu' in Sul- gravc Cliui'ch, Nortliainptonshiiv, Kn«4hin(l,wjis to be seen the sliield (7) of the Wesliyntons, or Washingtons, an old Enghsh connty family, who traced their lineage back into the four- teenth century. John Washington, a descendant of this family, had been a loyal cavalier, standing staunchly by his King, Charles I. When J). Washincjton's Seaij^, Cromwell and the lloundheads came into power, the Royalist Washington emigrated to Virginia, in 16.')7, bringing out his family and with them his family shield, on wdiicli are shown three stars al)ove alternate stripes of red and white. Here settling upon consider- able estates, he and his descendants maintained the style and county standards of their English forefathers. i 30 The Stoky of the Union Jack. (icornc Wasliiiij^toii, till' siil)siMiiK'iit Prt'si- (ItMit, was tlit' ^Tcat-^i-aiidson of t\w old loyal- ist colonist. He, too, iiiaiiitaiiuMl the old family traditions and liahits in the same way, as did all the "first families" of Virginia. On the panels of his carriage was ])ainted tlie family coat-of-arms. It appeared on the ])ook plates (8) of the books in his library, and the first commissions which lie issued to the officers of his continental army were sealed with his family seal (0). Thus it h{\s occurred that u? stars and stripes of the coat-of-arms of the old loyalist Enj^lish family, to which the successful Kevo- lutionary general belonged, formed tlie basis of the design of the new American Hag, and through them the memory of the great leader and first President of the United States is indissolublv cimnected with its national ensign. (PI. III., fig. :}.) United States 1777 3 United States 1897 'n h I ! CHAPTER III. THE ORIGIN OF THE ''JACKS." It is quite evident, then, that national flags are nc^t merely a haphazard jjatchwork of coloured buntin<>-, nor by any means " mean- ingless things." Their combinations have a. history, and, in many cases, tell a story, but of all the national flags there is none that bears ui)on its folds so interesting a story, nor has its history so plainly written on its parts and colourings, as has our British " Union Jack." To search out whence it got its name, how it was built up into its present form, and what each of its parts means, is an encjuiry of deepest interest, for to trace the story of our national flag is to follow the history of the British race. The flags of other nations have mostly derived their origin from association with a 32 The Story of the Union Jack. jxTsoiia^-e, or with some pcirticular oi)ocli. TIk'v are, as a rule, tlie signal of a dynasty or the record of a revolution ; but our British Uni(;n Jack is the cord of the steady growth of a great nation, and traces through centuries of adventure and progress, the gradual estab- lishment Ijy its peoi)le of c(mstitutional govern- ment over a world-\ri(le Em})ire. The origin of the name *' Union Jack" has given rise to consid(n*abIe conjecture and much interesting surmise. The name used in most of the earlier records is that of "Union Flag," or "Oreat Union." In the treaty of peace made with the Dutch in 1074, in the time of Uharles II., it is mentioned as "His Majesty of (Ireat Britain's Flag or Jack," and in the proclamation of Queen Anne, A.I). 1707, as "Our Jack, commonlv called the Union Jack." The most generally quoted suggestion for I the name is that, as the first proclamation authorizing a flag in which the national crosses of England and Scotland were first combined, was issued by James YI. of Scotland and I. of England, the name was acquired from this connection: the explanation being that King James frequently signed his name in the ■ French manner as "Jacques," which was I The Origin of the "Jacks." 33 abbreviated into 'Mac," and thus the new i\ay; came to be called a "Jack." The derivation suggested is ingenious and interesting, but cannot be accei)ted as correct, for the sinii)le reason that there were 'Macks" long before the time and reign of James I., and that their prior origin can be clearly traced. During the feudal period, when kings called their forces into the held, each of the nol)les, as in duty bound, furnished to the king's cause his (piota of men equipped with c(mi])lete armament. Tliese troops bore upon their arms and banners the heraldic device or coat-of- arms of their own liege lord, as a sign of "the coni})any to which they l)el()nged." The kings also in their turn displayed the l)anner of the kingdom over which each reigned, such as the Fleur-de-lis, for France ; the Cross of 8t. George, for England, or the ('ross of St. ^Vndrew, for Scotland, and this banner of the king formed the ensign under which the combined forces of his adherents and sup- ])nrters served. A survival of this ancient custom exists to- . The orioiiial leader and dominant partnei- in the three kingdoms vvliieli liave heen the eradle of the British raee throughout the world was En), the patron saint of England, and in heraldic' lan- guage is described as ''Anient, a cross i/ules'' : "A silver (white) field, on it a red cross." The cry of "St. George for Merrie Eng- land " has re-echoed through so many cen- turies, that hiK place as the j)atron saint of the kmgdoni is firmly esta])lished. Wherever ships The English "Jack." 41 have sailed, there the red cross of St. (leor^e lias beeeii carried by the sailor-nation, who chose him as their hero. The incident of* his ad()i)tion as patron saint is thus narrated in the early chronicles. In 1100, Richard CVeur de Lion of England had joined the French, (xerniansand Franks in the third great crusade to the Holy Land; but while the other nations proceeded overland, Richard built and engaged a great fleet, in which ho conveyed his English trooi)s by sea to Palestine. His armament consisted of* " 254 tall shippes and about three score gal- liots." Arriving with these oft' the coast, he won a gallant sea-fight over the 8aiacens near Beyrut, and by his victory interce])ted the re- inforcements which their ships were carrying to the relief of Acre, at that time l)eing besieged by the combined armies of the Crusaders. About three miles north along the shore from the city of Beyrut (Beyrout), there was then, and still remains, an ancient grotto cut into the rock, and f{\mous as being the traditional s})ot where the gallant knight 12. St. fxEORrJE. 42 The Stouy of the Union Jack \ ilv i * St. (Jcorj^c sli'Nv tlic iiionstrous draj^on wliicli was alM)iit to devour tlic daii^litrr oftlio king- of till' I'itv. " Y clad. I with iiii.v'litic aniu's jiiid silver shit-ldc, As (iiic for kiiij^litly ,jt)usts nnd Hertv encounters fitt,' T/ie Faerie Queen — Si'KXcer. Tliis kr.i^lit was l)orn, the son of nol)U' Christian parents, in tlu' kin^'doni of Cappa- docia, and this St. (ioorgo of ('a])i)a(h)i'ia is the aeknowledged patron saint of England The Christian hero St. (leorge is stated to have suffered martyr(h)ni (hirinj.;' the reipi of tlie apostate Roman Emi)eror Julian, and from his having l)ee' ' eaded for his faith on the !2ord Aiu'il, * .jil, the day has sinee been celebrated a. George's day." His memory has alwavs oeen }>reatlv revered in the East, i)artieularlv bv the (ireek Church ; and one of the first churches erected bv Constantine the Great was dedicated to him. The form of his cross is known as the Greek c/TM'.s, and is dj.played in the u})per corner of the national Greek ensign. (PI. ii., lig. :].) It is to l)e noted, however, that St. George has never been canonized, nor his name placed by the Koman Church in its calendar of sacred saints. His name, like those of St. Christo- The Exullsh "Jack. 43 \)\\vv, St. Sol)astian and St. Nicliolas, was only int'ludcMl in a list of some drflaml l)y Pope (iolasius, in A.I). 404, as beinj;- those "whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose actions are known only to (lod."* St. (ieoi'ge, the redresser of wrongs, the ])roteetor of w(mien, and the model of Chris- tian chivalry, was not a sea-faring hero, but it was after the sailoi's' victory near the scene f his exploits, that a .sea-faring nation adoi)ted o him as their i)atr(m saint. The end)lem of St. (leorge is said by some chroniclers to have been at once a(loi)ted l»y Richard I. who immediately placed himself and his army under the especial protection of the saint, and introduced the eml)lem into England after his return in 1194. In \'2'2'2 St. (leorge's Day was ordered to ])e kept as a holiday in England. Others aver that the emblem was not generally accepted until, by Edward I., 1*J74. This prince, l)efore his ascension to the throne, had served in the last of the Crusades, and during that time had visited the scene of the victory and the grotto of the saint. In support of this latter date, it is pointed out that this visit of Prince * "Sacred and Legendary Art," Jameson. 44 The Story of the Union Jack. Edward to I*aloHtiiie coincided with the change made in their hadge by the English (►r(U'r of the Kniglits of St. John of Jerusak'ni from an eight I'ointed Makese cross to a straiglit white (rreek cross, and witli this appearance upon the EngHsh l)anners of the St. (xeorge's cross, Init of the EngHsh national colour, red* ; and that therefore the intro- !ricial seal. A photo rei)r()duction of an impression of this seal (1'.]) is here given. The Hag of ; r. (xeorge is seen at the mast- head, and below it the three-leopards stand- ard of Kichard I. and Henry III., carried by Edward in Palestine during the life time of ^(Bluoinrteld, "The Natioiuil Flay") HaBBMHb. The English "Jack. 45 liis father. At the bow of the ship is the figure of the saint represented in the aet of slaying the (h'agon, and having on his shield the 8t. George's cross. "And on his l)ieasl; a bloodie Crosse he bore, The deare renieinbrance of his dying Lord, For whose sweete sake that glorious badge he wore, And dead, as living, ever him ador'd : Upon his shield the like was also scor'd, For soveraine hoive which in his helpe he had. Right faithful] true he was in deede and word." Tlie Faprie Queen — Spexser. Around tlu* edge of the seal is the rude letterhig of the inscription in Latin, " SKIIL- LUM : CH)MMUNE : DP: : LIM," (" The common seal of Lyme"). Near the to}) may also be seen the star and crescent ])adge of Kichard I., adoi)ted by him as a record of his naval victorv, and which is still used as an "Admiralty badge" upon the epaulettes of admirals of the British navy. This seal of Lyme Regis is said to be the earlie^t known rej)resentation of 8t. George and the dragon made in Englan^» The English "Jack." 47 The photo reproduction is from a "i'iil)l)ing" recently taken from the brass, and shows, so far as the reduced scale will permit, the St. (Jeorge's cross upon the surcoat and on the shield of the knight. 14. Hkass in Elsyne Chukch, A.l). 1347. It was under this St. (leorge's cross that Richard the Lion-hearted, after proving their seamanship in victory, showed the mettle of I ; 48 The Storv of the Uniox Jack. if i I > ■ t ii i ! I I I his pjmlisli Ci'usadors in the battles of the Holy Land, and led them to within sij^ht of Jei'Hsaleni. With it the fleets of E(lwai'7:>-7')), hy virtiir of his navy assuiiKMl the tith: of " Supivinc ]j)V(\ and (Jovci'no!' of tho Ocean Ivin*'' around al)ont liritain," hut Ilaiold, the hist of the Saxon kin^s, instead of inaintaininy- his shijjs in ecjuipnient and fitness to protect his shores, alh)\ve), huilt in 1.')!.') ])y order of Henry VIII., whicli was the greatest war ship up to that time l)uilt in England, and has keen termed "the parent of the British Navy." At the four mastheads fly 8t. George's ensigns, and from the b()w.s})rit end and from each of the round tops upon the lower masts are long streamers with the 8t. (xeorge's cross, similar in form to the naval pennants of the i^i'^'^ent day.* The * These iniistliead penniuits (with the St. George's crons at the head) are worn by Her Majesty's ships in connnission. They vary in lengtli from 9 to (U) feet, and in widtli from 2i inches to 4 inches. 58 The Story of the Union Jack. castellattMl IniiMin*;' at the bow and the hooks with whieh the vanls are armed, tell of the derivation of the nautical terms "forecastle" and "yard arm" still in use. With such armament the cross of 8t. George continued to ruttle its wav on the narrow seas, and widened the scope of its domain. Cabot had carried it across the Atlantic under the license Avliich he and his associates re- ceived from Henry VII., empowering them *'to seek out and find whatsoever isles, coun- tries, regions, or provinces of the heathen and infidels, whatsoever they might be ; and set up his l)anner on every isle or mainland l)v them newly found." With this authority for its ex})loits the red cross of 8t. George was planted, in 1-1:97, on the shores of Newfoundland and Florida, and the English Jack thus first carried into America, formed the foundation for the sub- .se([uent British claim to sovereignty over all the intervening coasts. The supremacy maintained for the English Jack never lost anvthing at the hands of its supporters, and an event which occurred 'n the reign of Queen Mary, l.').")-|, gives a vivid picture of the boldness of the sea-dogs by The Supremacy of the English Jack. 59 whom it was carried, and of bow they held their own over any rival craft. The Spanish fleet, of 100 sail, l)ringing Philii) II. the King of Spain to espouse the English Queen, ^vas met off Southampton by the Eng- " lish fleet, of twenty-eight sail, under Lord William Howard, " Lord High Admiral in the "Narrow Seas." The Spanish fleet was fly- ing the royal flag of Spain, and King Philip would have passed the English ship.s without paying the customary honours, had not the English admiral fired a shot at the Spanish admiral's ship, and forced the whole fleet to strike colours and lower their topsails in homage to the English Hag. Not until this had been i)ro})erly done would Howard permit his own sfjuadron to salute the Spanish King.* The defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, under (^ueen Elizal)eth, was one of the crown- ing glories of the sui)reniacy of the English Jack, l)ut it would almost seem as though the glorious flag had kept for it^- "losing years the grandest of all the many st js in which it had been engaged in the never-to-be-forgotten action of the undaunted Revenge. - Preble, " Flag of the United States." 60 The Story of the Uxiox Jac-k. Kn<'lan(l and Spain were then still at open war. The English fleet, consisting of six Queen's sliii)s, six victuallers of London, and two or three pinnaces, as riding at anchor near the island of Flores, in the Azores, wait- ing for the coming of the Spanish lieet, which was expected to pass on its way from the West Indies, where it had wintered the pre- ceding year. On first September, l.')9l, the enemy came in sight, amounting to fifty-three sail, "the first time since the great Armada that the King of Spain had shown himself so strcmg at sea."* The English had l)een refitting their eipiipment, the sick had all been sent on shore, and their shi})s were not in readiness to meet so overwhelming an armament. On the apin'oach of the Span- iards five of the English ships slipped their cables, and together with the consorts sailed .wav, but Sir Richard Grenville of the Be- venf/e choosing to collect his men, and not abandon the sick, remained behind with his ship to meet the enemy alone. Katlier than strike his Hag, he withstood the onset of the whole Sjmnish fleet , and thus this latest * Monson. The Supuema(;y of the English Jack. 61 century of the red cross Jack closed with a sea-tiy,lit worthy of its story, and wliich has l)een ])reseryed l)y a Poet Laureate in undying yerse. " He had only a hundred seamen to wurk the ship and to fi^'ht, And he sailed away from Flores till the Spaniards came in si^^ht, With liis Imge sea-castles heaving up on the weather bow. " ' Shall we tight or shall we fly ? Good Sir Richard, tell us now, For to tight is l)ut to die ! There'll be little of us left l)y the time this sun be set.' " And Sir Richard said again : ' AVe l)e all good English men. Let us bang these dogs of Seville, the children vi the devil, For I never turned my back upon Don or devil yet." " And the sun went down, and the stars came out far ,()()() of his Scottish sn])jects, came to his relief, and the two kings joined tiieir forces to repel tlie invader. The Scotch leaders, face to face with so formidable a foe, ank toll of the shii)s of all other nations, without regard to their Hag, and made him- self the terror of the North Seas. An old ballad tells in ([uaint style what an English merchant of Newcastle, whose ships had fallen into the hands of liarton, re[)orte(l among other things to the English Admiral who was in charge of the narrow seas : " Hast tliou not herde, Lord Howard bold. As thou has sailed l)y day and by night, Of a Scottish rover on the seas 1 jVIen call hyni Sir Andrewe Barton, Knyte ? " He is brasse within and steel withoute. With hemes on his to|)pe-castle strong. And eighteen [)ieees of ordinaunce He carries on each side along. " And he hath a pinnace derely dight, St. Andrew's Crosse yat is his guide ; His pinnace bereth nine score men And fifteen cannons on each side. " Were ye twenty ships and he but one, I swear by kirk, and bower and hall, He would overcome them everyone If once his hemes they do down fall." — Extract from an Anciente Ballade. 70 The Storv of the Union Jack. Sir Andrew was the last of tlie freel)()oters, as the rise of tlie navy of Henry VIII. and' the nnion of the two kino(k)ms of Enghind and Scotland, l)y James I., undei- one crown pnt an end to these reprisals ),y the subjects of the one nation on the other; vet it' was the remnants of these very rivalries thus en- ^^•endered l)etween the crosses of St. Andi-ew and St. (George which led to the national Jacks of the two nations being afterwards jonied together to form one tla*-. iitti rtMl CHAPTER VII. THE ''ADDITIONAL JACK'' OF JAMES I.— A. D. 160G-1649 1660-1707. Thk kingdoms of England and Scotland had passed throngh these centnriesof dissension and conflict when at length, in March, 1603, James VI. of Scotland, upon the death of his second cousin Elizabeth, Queen of England, succeeded to her throne, and l)ecame also King James I- of England. The nations were now ])rought into closer contact, and the movement of ship- l)ing along their shores increased, as each was relieved fnnn fear of attack i>y the other. The R(jyal standard, which bears on it the arms of the kingdoms, is the special Hag of the sov- ereign. And Jamch at once, upon ascending the throne of England, issued a i)roclamation, instructing a change to be made in its then existing form. Into the flag of Queen Eliza- 72 The Story of the Union Jack. ^1 betli he introduccMl the red lion of Scotland and also the liarj) of Ireland, which had not })revi()nsly heen inclnably in terms not untinged by caustic references to controversies and con- tenticms of previous days. Thus it occurref its own particular nationality, and which >vas, therefore, not displaced by the king's newly created flag. The construction of the flag it^^elf presents some ])eculiarities. In this "additional Jack" (PL iv., fig. 3) i^k% TTT"" 78 The Story of the Union Jack. i of JaiiR's, tliL' rod cross of St. (tcoi'hc and its ii white <;round was ordered to he united witli ; the white cross of St. Andrew and its l>hie : ground, the two Hags l)eing ^'joyned togetlier i| accordiny to a foiiii made by our heraldn.'' I Tn tin's joining the white ground of the St. (leoi'ge's flag was reduced ahnost to a nuHity. As the form was the creation of heralds, it ;i was made acc()rdin<»' to the strict heialdic rules of their ci'aft. In heraldv, a narrow Ixmler nf white or gold, termed a " timbriation," is always introduced for the purpose of keeping- colours sei)arat(% wliere they otherwise would \ touch, the technical statement of the rule y heing, " metal cannot be i)laced ui)()n metal, I nor colour upon colour." The white of the f 8t. (xcorge was therefore reduced l)y the i herald so as to become only a small nari'o\v margin of white, just sutficient to keep the red cross* of St. George from touching the I blue of St. Andrew u])on which it was laid, \ or, to l)e sinn)ly "a timbriation to the red cross of St. (icorge." The union of the flags resulted in the Scotchman getting, as he usually does, a . smart share of all that was going. It is r true the two crosses were given an equal The "Additional Jack" of James I. 70 display, but tlio white ^Tuimd of the St. George's Englisli Jack has entirely dis- appeared, while the hlne ground of the St. Andrew has heen si)rea z?< CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques 1980 82 Thk Story of the Umon Jack. u 1^'? official TH'oniiiu'iice was tlK'rol)y imu'li dimin- 1. «,' islied, for liow were foreigners to distiiinTiish a mereliaiitiiiaii from a iLan-of-war ? Sir John Penington, Narrow Seas Admii'al, in 1(5:):], l)ressed for the "altering the coullers, wherel )y His Majestie's own ships may bee known from the subjectes." This, he considered, "to bee very materiale and much for His Majestie's honour ; and. besides, will free dispute with strangers ; for when they omitt doing theyr respects to His Ma"'' shippes till they l)e shott att, they alledge they did not know itt to l)ee y^ King's shippe." The Royal navy kept up a constant agitation for the re])eal of the order, until at length, in 16:34, the thirty-eighth year of the Hag from its establishment by James, their claim was acceded to by Charles I., and a i)roclamation issued. BY THE KING. *' A Proclamation appointing the flags as ivell for our Navie jRoyall as for the ships of our subjects of South and North Britaine. " We taking into our Royal Con- sideration that it is Meete for the The English Jack Restokei). 83 ^ s honour of Oiiiv Ship[)s in our Navie Itoyall and ofsucli other ship])s as are or sh{Jl he employed in Our imme- diate service that tlie same ))ee, hy their Ha^ys distini^uislied from the sliipps of any other of Our Suhjectf 1 (h)e liere])ye straitly prohil)ite and for- l)id that none of our Sul)jects of any of our Nations and Kin<4(hmis sliall from hencefortli })resume to carry the Union Fia^oe in the maintoppe or other part of any of tlieir sliipps that is the St. Oeoroe's Orosse and the St. Andrew's Orosse joyned to- gether upon pain of Our High dis- ])leasure ; Imt that the same Union Flagge be still i-eserved as an orna- ment pro])er for Ottr 0/rne Shipps and shipps in our innnediate service and pay and none other. And like- wise Our further will and })leasure is that all tlie other shipjis of Our sub- jects of England or South Britaine bearing Hags, shall from henceforth C^arry the Red Orosse commonly called St George Ids Crosse as of olde time hath been used ; and also tliat all the otlier shipps of Our Subjects of Scotland or North Britaine shall from Henceforthe carry the White CYoane commonly cixWvd St. A ?idre7v's 84 The Stoiiy ok the Union Jack. Crosse. Wlierel)}- the several slii})po.s may beedistinmiislKMl and wee there- l)y better diseei'iie tlie nuinber and oocxhiess of the same ; Wherefore wee will and straitlyeomniandall Our Subjects foorthwithto be eonfoi'uiable and ()l)edient to this Our Order, as they will answer the contrary at theii' perill. " (liven at Our Court at (xreenwich this .')th (lav of IVIav in the tenth yeare of Oure Keiyne of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, De- fender of the Faith, etc. (lod Save the King. lni})rinte(l at London by Ivobert l^>arker, pi'inter to the King's Most F^xcellent Majestic, and bv the Assignees of John Bill, 1()34." This proclamation of Charles I. made a very great change in the ])()sition of the " Union Flagge " of James, by restricting its use to one class of smps. That it had never been intended at that time to serve as a national flag is again clearly evidenced by the renewed declaration of its being the si)ecial signal of the sovereign, to be used exclusively on the shii)s of the Koyal navy. Further, the merchant vessels losing the " Additional Jack " were ordered to con- tinue to use, as of old, their distinctive national The English Jack Restored. 85 1 1 flags. For the contiiiiuMl })rosorv{iti()ii of the ])e{)ce it was aj^ain rec[uire(l tliat eaeli sliii) sliould use only tlie Haj;' of the nation to whieJi it belonged, namely, the St. (reorge's cross, or the old English Jack, on the English merchant ships, and St. Andrew's cross, or Scotch Jack, on the Scotch merchant shi})s. The position of the three flags at tliis time was thus clearly disthiguished. The Royal Navy The Union flag. English merchantmen . .St. George's cross. Scotch merchantmen . . . St. Andrew's cross. The liattle shij) Sovereign of the Seas {'20), built in 1():37, was the glory of the fleet of Charles I., and proved herself, during her sixty years of active service, one of the best men-of-wai' of the time, and "so formidable to her enemies that none of the most (larinj-- among them would williniilv lie bv her side."* The drawing from a painting by Vander- velt, shows the royal standard of Charles I. at the stern, ensigns with royal ciphers on the two masts, and the two-crossed "Union flaiiire," which, from 1(334, was to be the "ornament pro- })er for our own ships," flying at the bow. After fourteen more years had passed away, this royal *Phmea.s' Pett. "Journal," 1696. 80 The Stoky of the Unhjn Jack. standaid of tlio kin^' had (lisai)i)oarc'(l from tlic stiM'H of tlic gallant vessels, an round. Thus the rnion flaek ofMaines disappeared, and the sin*;le red-cross Jaek of Kngland was restored to its position as the only Jack car- ried on the men-of-war of the State. The merchant vessels of Kngland continued to use their respective national flacks as before, 21. Commonwealth 20 Shii,ijn»; I'ikck. but the Scotch shii)s were specially warned that they must not carry either the king's arms or tlie red cross of St. (xcorge, and in case any ships should be met so doing, the State's admirals were ordered to " admonish them not to do it in future." - Cromwell, after he had been raised to the position of " l*rotector," and had dragooned Ireland and Scotland into submission, put out I 3 The Exgusn Jack Restored. 80 another Hag as the "Great Union" (IM. v.,fi<;. o) or banner of the Conunonwealtli, in which the crosses of St. Geoi'ge and St. An(h-e\v were sliown for England and Scothmd, and the harp, on a l)hie ground, for Ireland; hut they were all placed in se])arate (umrters of the Ha*'' instead of being joined together, while on a black shield of pretence in the centre, he had displayed a lion rampant, to represent his own coat-of-arms and himself The great Union of Uromwell did not enter into nuich use, although cei-tainly it was dis- l)layed at his funeral, nor did it take the place of the St. George's Jack, which, thus re- stored, continued to be used as a single iiag until l(i()(), when, at the Kestoration of Uharles JL, the Union Jacks returned, without any i)ro- clamation, to where they had been before the changes made by Parliament. Pepys tells, in his diaiy, of how this Avas begun. Being Clerk of the Acts of the Xavy, he had been deputed to read the prociamation of Parliament, which declared the restoration of the king, to the crews on the ships of the navy, a})pointed to cross over to the Hague and bring Charles II. to England. While lying at anchor in the Downs, waiting 00 The Story of the Union Jack. for tlic liii^li olTii.'ials who wore to accompany tlu'in, 111' ivcoi'ds liow tlic (ii'iicral* of the V\vct went from sliip to sliij) in a small l>oat, tcliinj;' tlu'm "to alter their ai'iiis and lla^eoan, in their enthusiasm, to make indisci'iminate use of the Union Jack, for they needed, a few years after\yards, to 1)0 reminikMl of the special instructions which had been oiyen in the preyious reign, so that in l()(i:], nnck'r Uharles II., another proclama- * Under the Coininonwealth successful genei'als had l)een appointed to coiuuiands as adinirals in the navy, but they still retained their military titles. TiTE English .Iack Rkstoued. W tion was issiu'd, from wliicb tlic followinj,^ extract is made : *' ^ prochnndfinn for the irgnldtiitg the colours to he trorn on vier- cliant ships. — Charles li. "WluM'oas ])y ancient nsa«;'c no \y "cliants' ships ounlit to hear tlic wliicli is for distinction ap- ])ointcd for His Majesty's shi])s. "His IMaiestv strictly char«;'es and connnands all his snhjects, that from henceforth they do not presnme to wear His Majestifs Jnch, com- monly called the Union Jack, on any of their shi[)s or vessels, withont par- ticnlai" warrant for their so doin*;' from His Maicstv, or the Lord Hij^h Admiral of Enj^land. And His jNIajestv doth fnrther command all his loving- snhjects withont such warrant they presume not to wear on board their ships or vessels any Jacks made in imitation of His jNIajesty's, or any other flags, Jacks or ensimis whatsoever, than those usually heretofore worn on nier- hants' ships, viz., the flag and Jack tvhite, with a red cross, commonly called 8t. George's cross, passing (piite through the same, and the En- 92 The Story of the Union Jack. sign red with tlie like ci'oss in a canton wliite at tlie upptM' corner tliereof next to tlie staft'." The distinctive oi'iUm' of the tlags was this time arr'an^ied to ])e: lioijal Navf/ — The "Connnonly Called" Union Jack. Mei'chd ntmen— I. The 'Mack White," or plain 8t. (leorge's ffack. II. The " Ensign Red," or red flag, with the 'Mack White" in the upper corner. P'roni the time of this [)roclamation of Charles II. the Jack of James regained a partial jxjsition, but only as a single flag, and even then was ordered to be used oidy on the roval men -of war. The mei'clmnt ships, however, began again so freipiently to fly it, instead of their single cross Jacks, that in the reign of William III., an' traccMl tlio Jack we ma\' note tlie <_;haii<;es in the staiidanl. Under flames I. and ( 'liai']es I. the flag flown at tlie stern of the men- of-war liad l)een the royal stanchird of the kiny: (see Sovereign of the Seas). At the time of the C'onnnonwealth the ships of the navy were no longer the shi])s of the sovereij;n, but were the ships of the State. It was to take the place of this standard at the stern that the "Commonwealth ensign" had been designed. In this ])aranionnt flag Parliament })lace(l the 8t. (xeorge's cross, in 1()49, when they ordered the single English flack to take the place of the two crossed " additional " flack of flames I. The ensign is stated to have been at first intended onlv as an admiral's fla<>", to be flown by the Admiral of the ])hie. The colour of the field upon which the Irish hni'p was first placed was ])lue, but afterwards it was more generally adopted in the red flags, as well MS in the blue,* red being the (;olou^ of England. When, therefore, the harp had been removed from " all " their flags there remained the simple "ensign red," having the St. George's cross in the ujjper white canton. * TjHughton, " Heraldry of the Sea." 94 The Stouv of the Union Jack. The drawing- of the Nasehj) ('I'D, on which Charles 11. came to England at the time of his Restoration, in !()()(), shows this red ensign fiving at the stern. There was not sntticient time for [he making of new flags and standards, 22. TiiK Nasehi/. Charles II. (From a painting by Vanflervelt.) therefore those which thev had in use were altered on board the shijis, as Pepys has told, before crossing over to the Hague, and this flag is most probably a Parliamentary "Ensign Red," with the Irish harp cut out (PI. v., fig. 3). A very great deal of dependance cannot be The English Jack Restohed. 95 l)lafe(l on the form of the Hags iiitrcxhieed into their ])ictnres l)y artists even of highest rank. When i)ainting Hags more attention is given to the cohmr effect desired to be pnxhiced than to the accurate (h'awing of their details. Some instances of unworthy errors in na- tional flags may be mentioned. On one series of the national bank-notes issued l)y the United States (Tovernment a re])resenta- tion is shown of " Washingtfm crossing the Delaware," on Decemher 2-3, 177<). In this the flag with stars and strij)eH is prominently shown, although no such flag had any exist- ence until a year and a half afterwards. In the (/apitol of the United States there is a picture of the "Battle of Lake Erie," fought in 1814, in which the flag on Commodore Perry's l)oat has only thirteen stars and thir- teen stripes, although the United States flag had been changed twenty years before, in 17114, to have fifteen stars and fifteen stripes. On the walls of the '* Commons Corridor" in the British Houses of Parlia- ment at Westminster, is a fresco representing the landing of Charles II., in 1660, in which the Union Jack is depicted as having three crosses, the red cross of St. Patrick being 96 The Story of the Union Jack. iiU'lu(kMl, althoii^^li it was not entered in tlie Hag until ISOl, or 140 years afterwards. In each of these instances the artist was ])ainting from imagination, but the })icture from which our iUustration of the Naseh;/ is taken, was painted l)y Van(k>rveh, who was himself present on the occasion he recorded, and, seeing that he was the most cele])rated marine artist of his day, the details of the flags may l)e taken to be correct. The proclamation of 1(5(3:3 shows that not only royal ships, but also all merchant ships were flying the "ensign red" at the stern in the same way as on the Nasehij, and thus this flaii' became estal)lished as the national ensign. The place of distinction at the stern had been occupied, as under C^harles I., l)y the royal standard of the reigning king ; to this position the Connnonwealth ensign had l^een installed as being the ensign of Parliament, and then by the unpremeditated transition at the " Restoration" the red ensign succeeded to the post of honour as the ensign of the nation. The story of this flag exemplifies the same \l peculiar genius as is shown in the British con- stitution, for it attained to its position, not by a single verbal enactment, l)ut by the force of The Exglish Jack kestoued. 97 uinvi'itten usa<,'e and the <,rni(liial acceptance of the will of the i)e()i)le. The 8t. George's cross had been i)lacelii'aseniaking has not since excelled. Said lie : " Whoso- ever connnands the sea, connnands tlie trade; whosoever commands the trade of the world, connnands the riches of the world, and con- sequently the world itself" The sovereignty of the seas had in this way (leveloi)e(l a monetary value; yet, whatever may have been their underlying causes, the contests for the supremacy which, for the next Inmdred years, kei)t simmering })etween the nations, bursting out now and then into blasts of open war, arose ostensibly from (b'sputes between the guardians of the fieets regarding the precedence of their respective flags. The sea rovers of J:iizal)eth had developed into something very like "gentleman-bucca- neers." They ranged the oceans, preying upon the Spanish and Portuguese ships wherever they were to be found, and returned in joyous- ness, 1 )ringing home their l)ooty. The maritime eagerness of the people was whetted by tliese 100 The Stouy of the Uniux Jack. prizes, and it is said tliat even the (^)iu'('ii her- self was not averse to aeeeptin*;- from liei* j^ood suKJeets, Drake and Hawkins, a sliare of tlie [)roeeeds of their i)rowess. Tlie rei<^n of the Jack of 'lames I. liad scarce bej^un, when a nei}^hl)ourin<^' maritime I'ival arose to assume formi(hd»le ])roportions. Xurtni'ed in the hardy school of their fishinj.;' fleets, the Dutch merchantmen not only copied the English mi^hods of preying abroad on the ships of other nations, hut also began to employ them- selves actively in cai'iying the business of their own merchants, and next, which was an intrusion nuicli more objectionable, to enter into competition with the English ships in carrying the merchandise of the other nations of Europe. Thus the passage of their fleets along the coasts of England greatly increased. As soon as the Spanish war was over, Sir William Monson, the Admiral of the Narrow Seas, demanded that the shii)s of all other nations should, as of old, lower their flags iu the presence of his own, "a courtesy which could not," he said, " be challenged l)y right, but now that the war was ended. His Majesty, James I. demanded the full recognition of such rights and (hities as belonged to his pre- The Soveukkjntv of the 8eas. 101 decessors."* Tlicsc n'^lits lie {iccordiiiiily ])vo- ceeded to onforco. Tho "riitllings" incrcascMl in frcMiiu'iicy, and tlio contost went merrily on, as the ])utcli, incavasini; in enler])i*ise and volume of slii])|)in<4, eliat'ed under tlu' doniina- 1 tion of the English achnii'als. In this resth'ss- ness tliey were eneouraj^cd hy tlu' ditt'ei'enees I'aging in tlie next rei<;n between Kin<4 ( 'hai'les I. and his ParlianuMit. Tlu'se lattei' tliwaited the king's etl'oi'ts at sea, and refused to eon- tribute any ship-mcmey, (hxdaring it to l)e an insutteral)U' tax ; while he, without theii' eon- currenee, was attempting to sti'engtlien the navy he had created for the protection of liis shores, by maintaining the old English policy. The king's sailors felt keenly th(^ increasing insolence of the i)assing Dutch ships, as wi'ote one old salt : " What affront can be greater, or what can make a man valianter, than a dishonour done to })rince and country, especi- ally by a i)eople that was wont to know no more than how to catch, pickle, and feed tish.f Notwithstanding the Parliament's objec- tion, a nav}' was at one time collected of sufficient strength that, when the Dutch and French fleets joined together with the avowed * Munson's " Navjil History of England." f M(.nK(.n. 102 TuE Stouy of the Union Jack. intention of contesting,' the eoniniand of the sea, its simply sailing ont to meet them over- awed their forces, as reports Monson : "It is to he ohserved that the greatest threateners are the least fighters; and so it fared with them; for they no sooner heard of our readi- ness to find them, hut they plucked in their horns and quitted our coast, never more repairing to it." The King's opponents said the quarrels with the Dutch over the honour due to the flag were fomented only for the purpose of form- ing an excuse for extorting money hy the ohjectionahle tax, whose proceeds, they alleged, were expended for other purposes. So the people resisted while the King in- sisted, and meanwhile the Dutch maritime power continued to grow. The struggle he- tween the Parliament and the King resulted in the defeat and execution of Charles, and the weakening of the tieet hrought on the humiliation of the English flag, hy Van Tromp, who, during the first Dutch war, triumphantly carried a hroom at his mast- head, as a sign that the Dutch had swept the English flag from the Narrow Seas. Under Cromwell, in 1058, the St. George's cross had heen restored. The Soveueigxty of the Seas. 103 The Council of Stuto took heiirt, and showed by their actions that once more the homage due tlie national flag was held by them in as great esteem as it had been by the King and his party in the royal days. The oi'ders to their naval commanders were explicit: " And whereas the dominion of these seas has, time out of mind, undoubtedly belonged to this nation, and the ships of all other nations, in acknowledgment of that dominion, have used to take down their flags upon sight of the x\dmiral of Eng- land and not to bear it in his pres- ence, you are, as much as in you lies, to endeavour to preserve the dominion of the sea, and to cause the ships of all other nations to strike their flags and not to bear them up in your presence, and to compel such as are refractory there- in by seizing their ships and sending th( ni to be punished, according to the Laws of the Sea, unless they yield obedience and make such repair as you approve."* Von Tromps' glory was of but short dura- tion, for the lioundhead dragoon Blake, * Bloonitield, "The NatioiiHl Fl;i,'," i>. 180. 1 10+ TiiK Stouv of thk Union .Jack. iiieknaiiu'd "the cavalryinau ut sea," soon clippt'd his wings. In return for the conipli- nients of the previous year, IMake, after his victory, i-an a pennant up on his mast, long and narrow Hke a whip-hish, to show that he had in his turn driven the ])utchinan oif the seas. Peace followed in 1G54. In this treaty of peace the Dutch agreed that : "The ships of the Dutch, as well in ships of war fis others, meeting any of the ships of war of the Eng- lish Conunonwealth in the British seas, shall strike their flags and lower their topsail in such manner as hath ever heen at any time here- tofore practised under any form of government." Thus had the old sea supremacy of the nation of England, claimed by King John, been again acknowledged, but on this occasion was, for the first time, accorded to England by the terms of a formal treaty. It was the red-cross Jack of St. George introduced by Eichard I., and raised as his " Koyal Flag " by King John, which had in previous times received the honour of the " Sovereign Lordship of the seas." We have The SovEREiuxTY ok riiE Seas. 105 seen how, for a wliile, its place had been shared hy the additional two-erossed Jaek of James, hut now, ! y the incident of the tem- porary dissolution with Scotland nnder the Commonwealth, the Englisii Jack was once more reigning in sole possession of the llag- staif, to receive by the terms of this treaty the renewal of that prond homage which its single red cross had received four centuries before. It was a happy coincidence which the flag of the sea-faring Englishman most fully deserved, 2.3. WjiipLasu 1'kndant— British Navy. and the whip-bish masthead pendants with the St. George's cross in the white ground at the head (23) borne on all Her Majesty's ships in connnission preserve the story of this exploit to the present day. Notwithstanding this check, the iinirine power, both naval and merchant of the Dutch kept on increasing. They had challenged the Englisli merchantman, and become the general carriers for all Europe. The Commonweal tli of England, in self-defence, enacted a naviga- lOG The Stury of the Union Jack. tion law that all produce imported into the kingdom of Britain, should be carried either in English ships or in those of the country whence the cargo was obtained. It was the contest for the money value of the " command" of the sea which was really being waged, and the commerce of distant -continents was the prize which would fall to the victors' share. Vessels of the Dutch and other nations were ordered to heave to, or were stopped by a shot across their bows, not only to compel observance of the supremacy of the flag, but also to search their holds for goods which the searchers might consider should have been carried in English ships. Soon another Dutch war blazed out under Charles II., 1665-67. De Ruyter sailed up the Thames to Tilbury, but again the success was but temporary, for at the close of the war " New Amsterdam," in America, and the connnand of the Hudson Kiver, was ceded to the English. The name of the new terri- tory then obtained, was changed to New York, in honour of t'le Duke of York, the King's brother, which English and royal name it still ret'?.his, although now forming the ' The Sovereigntv of the Seas. 107 principal maritime city of the liepublic of the United States. With the boot}^ came, in the articles of peace, the old-time ascrip- tion of sovereignty to the British flag. It was again agreed by one of the ari icles : " That the ships and vessels of the so United Provinces, as well men-of-war as others, meeting any man-of-war of the said King of Great Britain in the British seas, shall strike their flag and lore the topsail in such manner as the same hath been formally observed in any times whatsoever."* But the rivalry between the flags was too intense to continue much longer without com- ing to a definite cHmax. The " command " foreseen by Baleigh was at stake. Both nations had the maritime instinct, and both the genius of colonizing power, so that one or the other of them must give place, and leave to the survivor the supreme possession of all that this command implied. Thus the third and final war came on (1672-74). The fighting flag of the English navy of the day, the red ensign, was flying at the *Treiity ofBrodi, lOOT. 108 The Stoky of the Union Jack. fore on tlie luen-of-war as the signal to " engage the enemy," and at the stern of l)oth men-of-war and merchantmen as the national ensign. While the lioyal navy was hattling with its guns, the merchant navy of England was cutting into the ca "ng trade of the Dutch. So that at the c se of the war the British merchant ships had captured the greater part of the foreign husiness of the eneniy, and hy thus exhausting the earn- ings, and reducing the fighting resources of the Dutch, contrihuted to the final victory almost equally with the exploits of the men- of-war. The contest, although short, was sharp. The ; trife had been for the merchant carry- ing trade of the world, and when it was. won whole colonies were transferred with it to the victorious English. During the interval which had followed the previous war the English had given New York to the Dutch in exchange for Guiana, but now they took both of them back.* These countries formed only a portion of the victor's spoil. Above all these and other *The boundaries f)f the territories tlien transferred formed the subject of the recent Venezuela excitement. The SovEUEiGXTv of the Seas. 109 great money results, the old sea spirit again asserted itself, and setting into inferior posi- tion the additions to the realm, or the com- pensations exacted for the expenses of the war, the final treaty declares among its first clauses the lordly renewal of the centuries old right of the respect and salute due to the nation's fiag ! " In due acknowledgment on their part, the King of Great Britain's right to have his flag respected in the seas hereafter mentioned, shall and do declare and agree, that what- ever ships or vessels belonging to the said United Provinces, whether vessels of war or others, or whether single or in fleets, shall meet in any of the seas from Cape Finisterre to the middle point of the land Van Staten, in Norway, with any ships or vessels belonging to His Majesty of Great Britain, whether these ships be single or in great number, if they carry His Majesty's of Great Britain flag or Jack, the aforesaid Dutch vessels or ships shall strike their flag and lower their topsail in the same manner and with as nuich respect as hath at any time, or in any place, 110 The Story of the Union Jack. been foriiierly practised towards any ships of His Majesty of Great Britain or his predecessors, l)y any ships of the States General or their prede- cessors."* The Jack of His Majesty Charles II. was the two-crossed "additional" Jack of his father, restored to the navy at the liestora- tion, and is shown on the Nasehfj (22). The Jack flies at the bow, and on the niizzen ; the admiralty flag is at the fore ; the royal standard at the main, but at the stern is the sign of nationality, the "ensign red " with the St. George's cross. This red ensign was the flag which the ships of that royal navy bore when they won the final supremacy of the sea from the navy of Holland. It was the flag of the British merchant navy of the time, and above them signalled that other command, which was then won from the Dutch "the command of the trade, which is the command of the riches of the world." To this victory the merchantman, by his seamanship and energy, had done his full share, and therefore at this present day the merchant ships of Britain * Treaty of Westminster, Charles IT. and Holland, 1(574. The Sovereignty of the Seas. Ill bear the red ensign on every sea and in every clime, in rightful acknowledgment of the part he played in gaining the supremacy of the sea. This supremacy, and still more the spirit of supremacy, has ever since remained domi- nant in the British heart. I he British navy and the British merchant marine, each of them surpass in number and in power the combined navies and ships of any otlier nations on the globe, and thus with lusty throats her children boldlv sing-, " Bule Britannia; Britannia rules the wavesiJ' CHAPTER X. THE JACK OF QUEEN ANNE, 1707. THE FIRST UNION JACK. In the year 1707, being the sixth year of the reign of Queen Anne, the parliaments of England and Scothmd were at length brought into union in one parliament. Up to this time there had not been one distinctive " Union Jack " to re- present both the king- doms, no one Hag tak- ing the place of the separate national Jacks of St. George and St. Andrew, which the English or Scotch sub- jects of the sovereign had always continued to use, according to their nationality. Im- mediately after the union of the two parlia- ments, Queen Anne issued her proclamation 24. Union Jack of Anne, 1707. 2 Irish Jack The Jack of Queen Anne, 1707. 113 creatine- "Our Jack" as the sole ensign annoriul of the now completely united king- doms of Great Britain and of the dominions under its rule. The Hag thus authorized was the first Union Jack (24). ROYAL ARMS. With three Heur-de-lis ([uartered in the seconds, and the motto " Semper Kadem." BY THE QUEEN. A Proclamation — Declaring what ensign or colours shall he 2Vorn at sea in merchant ships or vessels belonging to any of Her Majesty's subjects of Great Britain and the Dominions thereunto belonging. — AnneB. "Whereas, by the first article of the Treaty of Union, as the same hath been ratified and approved by several Acts of Parliament, the one made in our Parliament of England, and the other in our Parliament of Scotland, it was provided and agreed that the ensigns armorial of our King- dom of Great Britain be such as we should appoint, and the crosses of Saint George and Saint Andrew con- joyned in such manners as we should s I 114 The Story of the Union Jack. think fit, and used in all flags, ban- ners, standards and ensigns, both at sea and land, we have therefore thought fit, by and with the advice of our Privy Council, to order and appoint the ensign described on the side or niargent hereof, to be worn on board all ships or vessels belong- ing to any of our subjects whatso- ever, and to issue this, our Koyal Pro- clamation, to notifie the same to all our loving subjects, hereby strictly charging and commanding the mas- ters of all merchant ships and vessels belonging to our subjects, whether employed in our service or otherwise, and all other persons whom it may concern, to wear the said ensign on board the ships or vessels." After creating the ensign which was to be used by all ships, warning was given against the using of any of the distinctive flags of the royal navy without permission. "And whereas divers of our sub- jects have presumed on board their ships to wear our flag, Jacks and pendants, which according to ancient usage, have been appointed as a dis- tinction for our ships, and have worn flags, Jacks and pendants in shape The Jack of Queen Anne, 1707. 115 and mixture of colours so little dif- ferent from ours, as not without dilH- culty to be distin^niished therefrom. We do therefore, with the advice of I ; our Privy Council, hereby strictly ! charge and command all our subjects j whatsoever, that they do not presume I to wear in any of their ships our I Jack, commonly called the Union I Jack, nor any pendants, nor any such ,; ■ colours as are usually worn by our ! ships without particular warrant for their so doing from us." The proclamation then stated that no other j ensign was to be used, and that the new ensign was to take the place of the ensign up to tbit time used by merchant ships. " And do hereby further command all our loving subjects that without such warrant as aforesaid they pre- sume not to wear on board their ships any other ensign than the ensign described on the side or margent hereof, which shall be worn instead of the ensign before this time usually worn on merchant ships. " Given at our Court at Windsor, the 28th day of July, in the sixth year of our reign. " God Save the Queen.'' 110 The Stuiiv ut the Union Jack. llci'e, then, we luive the estublisliiiieut of a new Ha^^ in accordance witli the intention of the Treuty of Union, wliich liad received the .separate ai)i)roval of the Parliament of En«,^- land, and of the Parliament of Scotland, before either had passed out of existence and become mer<,'ed in the new '* Union " Parliament. In this Hag the crosses of St. George and St. Andrew were conjoined, the new Hag was called "Our Jack" (PI. vi., tig. 1), which, as a "Union Jack," was to be used as part of all Hags, banners and ensigns, both at sea and land, but in its simple form, as a simple Jack, was not to be used aHoat on any other ships than Her INIajesty's royal navy without l)articular warrant. We have seen how, in 1060, the two-crossed Jack of James had come back into use only in addition to the two national crosses, and how the St. George's cross had been left in possession of the upper corner of the " red ensign. >> A notable change was now made. Although the St. George's cross remained, as it still does, in the admiral's pendant, its place in the upper corner of the red ensign was now taken by the new^ " Union Jack," in the form as shown " in the margent " (PI. vi., fig. 2). The Jack of (^ueen Axxe, 1707. 117 The "red eiisi^ni " thus tunned, was there- after to l)e worn by uU sliips, whether iiier- ehantineii or in ller Majesty's service ; and, finally, this red enai^Mi, with the new Union Jack in the upper corner, was to take the place of and be worn instead of the separate national Jacks previously used in tiie mer- chant ships of the subjects of the soverei.fj^n, and no other ensign was to be worn. Here, then, ended the otHcial authority of the separate crosses of St. George and St. Andrew, and began the reign of the "First Union Jack" of the kingdoms of England and Scotland. Then, too, was first raised the Union British ensign. The ''• meteor jUic)^' of the realm, to be worn by all subjects of Britain's Queen on land or on sea, on merchant ships, or men-of-vvar, so that wherever the blood-red Hag should tiy, the world would know the nation to wdiich its bearer belonged. In tliis red ensign (PI. vi., fig. 2), the paramount flag of the nation, the new "Union Jack," was placed, a position which, although granted to the English Jack, had never been occupied by the "additional" Jack, whose term was then closed. The proclamation and the drawing of the 118 The Story of the Union Jack. Hug, as here shown, are taken from the unique collection in the British Museum, London. A very noticeable difference will be seen to exist between "our" new Jack of Queen Anne, of 1707, and the "additional" Jack of James, of 1606. The white border surrounding the 8t. George's cross has been enlarged, and is no longer a mere margin or " fimbriation." It has been objected by those versed in heraldry that this alteration is not in exact accordance witn strict heraldic restrictions. There is, however, another view which it is fair to entertain, namely, that it was inten- tional. In the James I. flag the crosses were ^^jojjiied according to a form made hij our heralds,'' in the Queen Anne flag they are to be *' con- joyned in such manners as we should, thinJi fit.'' Most probably the Queen consulted her sailors, and this time the designers were not think- ing so much of heraldry and ancient heraldic rules, as of making a flag, and, while combin- ing the two crosses, of making two flags into one. When the flag-makers broadened the white, they did it to restore to the Union flag a part The Jack of Queen Anne, 1707. 119 of the white ground of the St. George's Jack, which had previously been entirely effaced, but which was now given a place in the ^' Union," in company wuth the blue ground of the St. Andrew's. A confirmation of this will be found in the *i.'). Four Niagara, 17."){). (Reproduced from an old print.) annals of the next change, which w^as made almost a century afterwards, in the Union Jack. It may have been that some of the designers were sailors who had carried the red cross of 120 The Stouy of the Union Jack. St. George, and now that it was being replaced in the lighting liag of the nation by the new comer, felt that it was but due to its centuries of glorious service evidence of the whole Eng- lish flag, its white ground as well as its red cross, should be retained in the new national emblem. Whether heraldically correct or not, there the broad white bard hrst appeared, and has ever since remained, showing the red cross and white ground of St. George's Jack, combined with the white cross and blue ground of the St. Andrew's Jack, into one " Union Jack," which was thereafter to be the " sole ensign " of British rule. It was this two-crossed Union Jack of Queen Anne which was raised at Plassey, when Clive won India, and at Poidicliernj and at Serin gapatam. Sir Wm. Johnson raisfid it above old Fort Niagara* (25) when " The last day came, and Bois le Grand Beheld with misty eyes The Hag of France run down the staff, And that of England rise."' — Sjnna ChrUti. Kerby. *The artist would appear to have altered the Hag in a sketch which he had made the previous year. An "escutcheon" will be noted in the centre of the Tnion. 'S 2 > - ■/. a. ►^ 1. i:5 2 J. = O 2 »" If 1-4 M •^1 122 The Story of the Union Jack. Under it Wrlfe stormed Louisbitrg, the key fortress of Cape Breton, and following up his victory climbed the Heights, and died victor- ious on the Plains of Abraham (26), when in 1759 Quebec was gained and Canada came under the realm of British law. The youthful Nelson saw it fly aloft when he served as a middy on a British man-of-war, searching for the North Pole, and twenty-five years later when in glorious action he won his title as Baron Nelson of the Nile. The West Coast of Africa, Neiv South Wales and Vancouver Island were all added imderits display, showing how the mariners of Britain were carrying it far across the distant seas, more distant than now, for those sea- dogs of the sceptred Isles had raised their new Union Jack upon the mast, and braving the unknown oceans, were sailing their ships wherever billows rolled or winds could waft them. CHAPTER XT. THE UNION JACK -THE EMBLEM OF PARLIAMENTARY UNION. The kingdom of England had for centuries its own St. George's Jack and the kingdom of Scotland its cross of St. Andrew. These red and white crosses had been the accepted sym- bols of their separate nationalities. Each of the kingdoms had its own separate parlia- ment, differing, it is true, from one another in methods and in many details, but representing the constitutional machinery adopted in each community for consultation between the king and his subjects who, through their represent- atives, advised upon matters connected with the government of their country, whether in its internal laws or in its relations with foreign powers. In course of time the same per- sonage, in the person of James I., had by virtue of his birth succeeded to the throne of England 124 The Story of the Union Jack. as well cas to thut of Scotland. The kingly- office ni both the kingdoms had thus been merged in the hands of one and the same king. A new flag had been created representing the allegiance which had now been joined in the one sovereign. In this the crosses of the two kingdoms had been joined together in one design, but the separate national Jacks of each had still been retained and their use con- tinued in force. These separate national Jacks were certainly intended to evidence the continued separate national existence of each kingdom, while the new personal Jack or banner of the King would seem to have been intended to evidence the union of the thrones in one person, and to represent the united fealty offered to the one king. Yet it is fairly open to question as to whether this Union Jack of James I. was ever intended to mean as much as this, or whether it was not after all introduced with the pur- pose of avoiding trouble between the sailors of the two nations, and only intended at first to be a local convenience for the preventing of dissensions. The new^ Union Jack certainly did not represent a union of the nations, else why did Emblem of Pauliamentauv Union. 125 the two national Jacks still remain ? If it had been intended to represent the fealty of his subjects to their king, why was not the red cross of the Irish included as well as the crosses of England and Scotland, for the Irish were equally subjects of James I. ? The Irish had, in fact, been subjects of his predecessors for many centuries. In 1171, after the conquest of the island lijid been effected by Henry II. of England, the native princes of Ireland had owned fealty to the prince not in his capacity as king, but in ^ evidence of his position as having become by conquest the "Lord of Ireland." The country had from very early days been governed by its own parliaments, whose meetings are recorded as having taken place as early as 1295. It was not, however, until 1522 that Ireland was raised to the rank and designation of a kingdom. In this year an Act was passed by the Parliament of Ireland declaring Henry VIII., the king of England, to be also the king of Ireland. It was by virtue of this Act that the title King of Ireland was as- sumed by the king. The flag of England was at this same time the single St. George's Jack, yet, although the crowns were thus 12(1 The Story of the Union Jack. formally united, the cross of St. Patrick was not added to the red cross of St. George as a Union Jack in sign of the fealty to the one sovereign. After this, the kingdom of Ireland owed fealty to three sovereigns of England in suc- cession Edward VI., Mary, and Elizaheth, yet under none of them were the crosses of the two national flags joined together. It was not until a Scotch king, the great-gnmd- son of Henry VIII. , hecame King of England, that any of the three national crosses were couibined. In 1603, James I. became King of Ireland and England, as well as of Scotland, yet notwithstanding that the three sister kingdoms were thus united in alle- giance under his united crown, the then sepa- rate crosses of the national Jacks of each w^ere not united in one Hag. Although James I. at his accession at once added the Irish harp to the quarterings of his royal standard, being the first time that this emblem of Ireland had been inserted in the royal arms of Great Britain, yet three years passed be- fore he entered the red cross of St. George in the additional Union Jack which he then created. All these incidents point, evidently, ! Emulem of Pahliamentarv Union. 127 to the view that the union of the crosses of St. George and St. Andrew in the new flag of 1G0(5 was not, nor could it he, an emhleni of the union of thrones, but was mainly devised, as the King's proclamation distinctly stated, for the special and local I purpose of keeping the sailors of the two nations most interested in shipping at peace, and so to prevent their crews from quarrelling with one another as they sailed their ships along the shores of Great Britain. It required something more than a mere union of allegiance to create a real Union Jack, and to entitle the national crosses of the king- doms to be entered upon its folds. The history of the entry of the St. Patrick's cross into the Union flag enables us to see even yet more clearly what this requirement was. It will be remembered that a change in the additional Jack of James had been made in the sixth year of the reign of Queen Anne, and that the occasion of this change was coincident with the union of the separate parliaments of England and Scotland into one British parliament. It was so soon as this occurred, but not until then, that the flag in which the two 128 'I HE Storv of the Uniox Jack. national crosses were I)] ended was made the sole national ensign. It was in 1707 that tliis first Union Jack 27. Fort (iKORcE and thk Port of Nkw York in 1770. (From .an old print.) was created. Queen Anne was at the time Queen of Ireland as well as Queen of Eng- land and Scotland. She had quartered the . Emulem of Parliamentary Union. 129 harp of Ireland in her royal standard five years previously, at the time when she had coinineuced her reign, yet the Queen when forming her new fiag did not join the cross of St. Patrick in her Union Jack any more than had King James when forming his. For ninety-four years longer the red cross Irish Jack continued in its separate existence. The reign of Queen Anne had come to its close, and three more sovereigns in succession had ascended the united throne of Great Britain and Ireland, yet in all these reigns the Union Jack, in the red ensign, which had heen declared to be the only flag^^of the realm to be worn by their subjects, contained only the crosses of St. George and of St. Andrew, representing but two of the kingdoms in- cluded under its rule (27). At last, in 1801, during the forty-first year of the reign of George III., the Irish parlia- ment was united with the Union parliament of England and Scotland, and then, and not till then, was the red cross of St. Patrick blended with the other two national crosses. The emblem of Scotland had not been blended with that of England in one Union Jack until their parliaments had been united, 4 130 The Stoky of the'Uxion Jack. SO the emblem of Ireland was not added to the other two until her parliament had also been joined with theirs. So soon, then, as the three kin^^^doms were joined in union under one parliament, then for the lirst time the three crosses of tliv'" three national Jacks were united in one Union Jack. We thus have learned what was the necessary qualifi- cation to ent'tle a national cross to be entered in the union ensign. It needed a union of parliaments to create a real Union Jack, one in which the three national crosses should each continue to retain their national significance and be still accorded the same precedence, when joined together in union, which had pre- viously attached to each when separately displayed. The history of these successive blendings shows most plainly that the triune flag arose not from union under one sovereign, but from legislative union under one parliament. The Union Jack therefore has become the emblem of the British Constitution. It is the liignal of the existence of Government under British parliamentary Union, and therefore, wherever it is displayed, indicates the presence of British rule and British law. i' C'HAPTEK XII. THE UNION JACK AND PARLIAMENTARY UNION LY CANADA. In addition to its harmony with the story of union :vi the Motherland, this Union Jack has also a most interesting connection with the extension of the powers and advantages of the British Constitution to Canada, and particularly with the establishment of respon- sible parliamentary government among its people. In 1759, the seeds of the new nationality had been sown upon the Plains of Abraham, where the blood of Wolfe and Montcalm had mingled to enrich the soil. The French forefathers of the new subjects had come very largely from those very por- tions of old France whose people had crossed over to England with William the Conqueror and given the British their king. m,ma 132 The Story of the Union Jack As says one of our French-Canadian his- torians : " The immigration of the French, extending from 1634 to 1720, was almost entirely from among the Normans of Dieppe and lionen, so that the settled portion of Canada was to all intents and purposes a reproduction of a Nor- man province. The subsequent settlers were mainly selected in liochelle, Poictou, Paris and Normandy, to the exclusion of persons from the south and east, and coming out single, they married the daughters of the settled Normans. This accounts for Lhe marked ai sence of any but the Norman accent and form of speech throughout the French-speaking communities of Canada at the present day."* Thus the new French-speaking subjects in Canada were only returning in allegiance to the sovereignty of a king whose ancestors had been placed upon his English throne by their Norman forefathers; upon whose royal arms (28) were displayed three fleur-de-lis as sign of his claim, through his ancestors, to the throne of France ; upon whose crown was the motto in French " Dieu et Mon Droit, "f and who by * Benjamin Suite, "The Origin of lhe French-Canadiiins." + First used at Gioora, in Normandy, in 1198. AND Parliamentary Union in Canada. 133 the retention of old customs still gave his consent to the laws enacted in his British parliament in the same old Norman phrase, " Le Koi le veult" C'The King wills it"), which had been used by his Norman forefathers.* The French Habitant felt how easy was the re- newal of that old relation- ship, and accepted the change in the way so well expressed in his Canadian voyagenr patois. 28. Royal Arms of Georgk II. " An' (lat was de way we feel, w'en de ole reyime^s no more, An' de new wan come, but don't change moche w'y its jus' lak' it be before, Spikin' Francais lak' we alway do, an' de Eng- lish dey mak' no fuss, An' our law de sam', wall, I don't know me, 'twas better mebbe for us." — "r/«' if(»W^«»^" W. H. Drummcivi). There now commenced on this continent an evolution of internal government of the -The custom is still continued, and the consent of Queen Victoria to Acts passed Ijy Purlianient is given in Norman French, "La Reine le veult." 134 The Storv of the Union Jack people siinihir to that which had taken place in the old land of England, but under reversed conditions. An eminent French authority* has stated his belief that England owed her liberties to her having been conquered by the Normans, and to this we may add the state- ment of a no less important English author,! that " assuredly England was gainer by the conquest." As the advent of Norman rule to England had resulted in such privileges to the English people, so assuredly the cession of Quebec and the introduction of English gov- ernment into Canada brought equal blessings to the descendants of those self-same Normans. The French-Canadian found that under the Union Jack his property was secure Under the old regime the French-Canadian luid prac- tically no voice in the government of his country. There was no elective municipal government, no freedom for public meetings, all the legislative and executive power, even to its extremest details, being centralized through the Governor and Intendant in the person of the king of France, who was two thousand miles away. Finding his religious faith untrammelled, his freedom unimpaired, * GuizDt, " Es.sais sur I'Histoire de France." t Giblxui. Axi) Parliamentary Union in Canada. 185 his laDgiuige preserved, he soon settled down without objection, to his new sovereignty. In 1774, the British parliament passed the Act known as the " Quebec Act," which granted an increased share of local govern- ment to the people of the great Province comprising Canada which was then set apart, and the greater portion of which is now with- in the present Dominion. This measure of self-government still further assured the French-descended Canadians of the protec- tion of their liberties, so that when the English-descended colonists of the thirteen English state colonies to the south of them, revolted from their allegiance in 1775, Canada stood firm by the British crown. The de- scendants of the Normans were true to the form of government which their forefathers had helped to create. The granting of separation to the thirteen United States in 1783, was followed by the immigration to Canada of those loyal souls whose hearts revolted at the action of their colonies in taking down the Unions-Jack, and who refused to separate themselves from the United Empire, in whose ultimate justice they had unwavering faith. 136 The Story of tbe Uniox Jack These *"' United Empire Loyalists " settled mainly in the western parts of Canada. Of the quarter of a million souls who then formed the total population, about a hundred and forty thousand were of French lan- guage and descent, living in the countries adjacent to the St. Lawrence Kiver, and of the forty to lifty thousand Loyalists who, it is estimated, reached Canada during or imme- diately after the rebellion, over twenty-five thousand had, by 1786, settled along the Western lakes. Government in Canada had hitherto been conducted by a Governor and a Legislative Council appointed by the Crown. A further advance in constitutional self-government was now considered desirable, and the Act of 1791 was passed. The ancient Province of Quebec was divided into two provinces, called Lower and Upper Canada, very fairly representing the localities occupied, the one by the older or French-speaking subjects of His Majesty, and the other by the new coming English-speaking loyalists, who were following their flag into the forests of the north-land. This "Constitutional Act of 1791" gave the right of parliamentary government to the AND Parliamentary Union in Canada. 137 people of Canada. A Legislative Council and a House of Assembly were created for each province, the members of the latter House being elected by the people in the counties and towns of each. The Legislature of Upper Canada held its first session at Newark (now Niagara-on-the- Lake) in 1792, summoned, as said Governor Simcoe in his opening speech, " Under the authority of an Act of Parliament of Great Britain, passed in the last year, wdiich has established the British Constitution in this distant country." To this he added : " The wisdo:n and beneficence of our Most Gracious Sovereign and the British parlia- ment have been eminently proved not only in imparting to iis the same form of government, but in securing the benefit of the many pro- visions which guard this memorable Act, so that the blessings of our invulnerable Con- stitution, we hope, will be extended to the remotest posterity." As a sign of this self-government under the Crown, the King issued his warrant from the Court of St. James on March 4th, 171J2, author- izing a ^^ Great Heal for the Province of Upper Canada^' (29), to be used in sealing all public 138 The Story of the Union Jack 2!). The Great Seal ov Upper Canada, 1792. instruments. The plate shows the details of the parts being, as described in the Eoyal warrant, " an anchor and a sword crossed on a calumet of peace, encircled by a wreath of AND PaKLIAMENTAUY UnION IN CANADA. 139 olives, suniiounted by an Imperial crown and the Union of Great Britain." This " Union," which will be seen in the upper right-hand corner of the seal, was the Union Jack of Queen Anne. In drawings of the arms of the Province of Ontario (the new name given to the Province of Upper Canada at the time of Confederation, in IHOT), the Jack is frequently shown as containing three crosses. A reference to the impres- sions made»by the seal itself upon the huge pieces of white wax, four and a half inches broad by three-quarters of an inch in thick- ness, which have been attached by bands of parchment or of red tape to official docu- ments, show that the " Union " contained two crosses only, namely, the cross of St. George and the single cross of St. Andrew. The United Empire Loyalists sought their loved two-crossed Union Jack in Canada. They found it not only flying on the flag- staff, but also impressed on the seals of the grants of land which were made to them in recognition of their loyalty. On these it came to them as a sign of the surety of their legal rights under British law and their full pro- tection under the administration of British justice. 140 The Story of the Union Jack The introduction of this Union Jack had been the result of an Act passed by the British Parliament, that mother of parliaments, which continues to this day to have vested in it the ultimate political sovereignty of every local parliament which it has created. This Union Jack on the great seal is thus the emblem of parliamentary union betw^een Great Britain and Canada, and the sign of the spread of the British constitutional govern- ment to the continent of America. But the French-Canadian had also an inter- est in this same Great Seal, for on its obverse side it bore the royal coat-of-arms of the reign- ing sovereign, George III., and in this were still shown the three lilies of France, in the same w^ay as in the arms of his predecessor George II. (28). What the Union Jack on the one side was to the English-speaking Cana- dian, the fleur-de-lis on the other, was to the French-Canadian a visible sign of his own personal connection with the glories of his forefathers, and the evidence of his glad allegiance to the sovereign who was repre- sented by them. This Union Jack was also shown in the arms of the Department of Education of Upper AND Parliamentary Union in Canada. 141 Canada, from 1844 to 1876, during the re^fime of Dr. liyerson as Superintendent. In these the design was the same as on the great seal, bujb the Union Jack was removed from the upper corner and placed upon a shield in the centre, upon which the two crosses of Queen Anne are plainly shown.* A further adoption of the national emblem 30. Ui*PKR Canada Penny. is shown in the design on the early currency, which was coined for use in the province. The ** penny" of the Bank of Upper Canada (:iO) shows on the one side St. George and the dragon, and, on the other, the arms of * In the earlier stained glass windows placed in the Normal School, Toronto, the head offices of the Department of Educa- tion of Ontario, the three-crossed flag had been shown, but this, on the suggestion of the writer, has been corrected in the new windows placed in the library in 1890. 142 The Story of the Union Jack. the great seal, haviii*^ on it the Union Jack.* These were two good national emblems which, no doubt, made the money that he earned acceptable to the Canadian Loyalist, for on the coins with which he was paid for his daily hibour, and on the seal of the deed of the grant of land which his Loyalist father had received for his new home, there was the imprint of the Union Jack, placed there by the Act of the Union Parliament of Great Britain, as the sign of his parliamentary union with that United Empire which com- manded his allegiance. * Tlie design of this Bunk of U])j)ur Caniulu penny was made by F. W. Cumberland, the father of the writer. CHAPTEE XIII. THE IRISH JACK. The lineage of the Irish Jack is not so clearly defined as is that of the other Jacks. Although " Paddy " has always heen so ready for a shindy, that fighting has come to he con- sidered his "natural divarsion," he has never been considered particularly fond of the water. It is on land that he has found play for his fierce delight in mingling where the fray is thickest. It is as a soldier that the Irishman has always excelled. Wellington and Wolse- ley attest his power in command, and in many a forlorn hope the wild energy of the Irish blood has scaled the breach and carried the stormers past the anxious moments of the attack, displaying that same "eager, fierce, impetuous valour" with which, in the charge of the Heavy Brigade at Balaclava, " the 144 The Stokv of the Union Jack. 'II If Iiiniskillin<,'s went iiit(3 the iiiiissive Russitiii coliiiiiu with H cheer."* It iiiiiy be, as Irehind was at no time distin- *^uished as a maritime nation, and its local shipping therefore not developed to any great extent, that the display i :•: .SI. St. Patrick. of her national Jack was not so much in evi- dence among the sailors of the early days as were the Jacks of the two sister nations. The banner of St. Patrick (31) is a white Hag, having on it a cross of the same saltire shape as St. Andrew's cross, but red in colour, the heraldic description being, " Argent, a saltire gides,'^ a red saltire cross on a white ground (PI. vr., fig. 3). St. Patrick was the apostle of the Irish, and thus became their traditional patron saint. The story of his life is that he was born in Scotland, at Kilpatrick, near Dunbarton on the Clyde, and being taken prisoner by pirates when a child, was carried into Ireland and sold there as a slave. Having acquired the native language, he escaped to the continent, and *Kinglake, " Invasion of the Crimea." The Iiush Jack. 145 afterwards l)i'coniiii^" a ChristiMi, and liaviii^^ l)eeii ordained to service in the church, re- turned to Ireland for the pur[)()se of convert- ing the people. The British name said to have heen given him in his youth was S/icceath, " vahant in war," a temperament wliich he certainly impressed upon the Irish, although he does not seem to have heen quite so suc- cessful in transmitting his own power of re- frai.iing from hitting hack. This name was afterwards, when he returned to Ireland, changed to Patricius, in evidence of his nohle family descent, and to add importance to his mission.* The legends of the saint date hack to A.D. 411, when he is reported to have com- menced his mission, and to have afterwards devoted his life to the increase of the well- being of the people and the spread of Chris- tianity throughout Ireland. The tradition is that the saint suffered martyrdom upon a cross of the shape of this red cross, and thus, when he became the patron saint of Ireland, it was held in recognition as his emblem, and for that reason was adopted as the Irish cross. Another emblem of Ireland, the green * Smith's "Religion of Ancient Britain." 10 140 The Story of the Union Jack. .^^^k 32. La BAKU M OF CoNSTANTIXE. shamrock, is also connected in legend with St. Patrick, as having been nsed by him, through the lesson of its three leaves joined in one, in explaining the doctrine of t)ie Trinity, and thus both the shanjrock and the red saltire cross form the salient features of the insigni?i of tlie "Most Illustrious Order of St. Patrick," the Irish order of knighthood. On the other hand, some people declare that St. Patrick never had a cross, and that the cross of the saltire shape is sacred only to St. Andrew. The Irish saltire, and also that of St. Andrew, are derived, they suggest, from the Labarum (8'2), or Sacred Standard, which was raised by Constantine the Great, the first Christian emperor of Rome, as the imperial standard of his armies. On this he had placed a monogram composed of the first two greek letters X R (X i'ioro?) of the sacred name of Christ, and the saltire cross is re- puted, to be the repetition of the X of the Christian emblem. The Labarum was the official banner of the The Irish Jack. 147 :» 33. HaKP ok HuiKRMA. emperor of Eoiiie, upon it were embroidered, or set out, the insi<,'nia of the eiuperor of the day. These Constan- tine, on his conversion, had changed to the Christian emblem. Should this latter sug- gestion of the origin of the cross of the saltire shape be accepted as the prefer- able, the saltire cross has yet a still more interesting and particular connection with the early history of Ireland. Gonstantius Ghlorm, the father of Constan- tine the Great, was the Iloman governor of Britain in the reign of the Emperor ])iocle- tian, and had, about .\.D. 301, completed the pacitication of Ibernia, as Ireland was then called. The pagan goddess of the island was the goddess Hibernia,* and the harp was her emblem. This Hibernian Irish harp (33) Gonstantius adop'ed as his insignia. After the resignation v^ Diocletian, Gonstantius Chlorus and Galerius were created joint emperors of liome, and dividing the Empire * Surely: Did the English add thoir h's in those early, as well as in later days ? 148 The Story of the Union Jack. between them, Gnlerius took the East and Constaiitiiis the West. The death of Constantius oecnrred soon afterwards in England, at the city of York (Eboracum), and there he was succeeded as ernperor of Konie by his son Constantino. The persecution of the Christians in Britain, whicli had raged under Diocletian, and during which Alban the first British martyr had met his death at Yerulam, now called St. Albans, had been in some degree restrained by Con- stantius, but was now completely suppressed by the new emperor. Carrying with him the germs of Christianity which he had learned in Britain, Constantine removed to the continent to engage in the contest for the command of of his Empire, and in the battle of the Milvian Bridge near Borne, in A.D. 312, he defeated Maxentius, and entered into undisputed pos- session of the throne. It was just before this engagement that Constantine is reported to have seen a cross shining in the heavens at midday, having on it the inscription KNTonnNfKA ('Tnthiscomjuer," Latin, ''7;^ hoc signo vinces,^') and, therefore, he adopted the Christian cross as his standard and placed th" sacrecl monogram upon his Labarum. This The Irish Jack. 149 • victory resulted in the official recognition of the Christian religion, and the attaching to it of all the political power of the emperor of lionie. Constantius had lived, and Constantine the Great had been brought up, in that part of England which, daring the Roman occupation had been converted by the old northern coun- try from which St. Patrick afterwards also came, and as it was to Constantine that they owed their rescue from persecution, his insignia would, therefore, be heartily received. It is very possible that the early Christianity of Ireland may, through this source, have adopted the X, the lower part of Constantine's Ciiris- tian monogranj, as their emblem, and in its single cross form it had become associated with the Christian labours of their apostle and patron saint. In this "story of the Irish Jack" it is a happy conception that the Labarum of Constantine the son should have given origin to the form of the Christian red cross of Ireland in return for the former em- blem received from the island by his father. Whichever may have been the source of its origin, the saltire cross is by both lines of descent intimately associated with the his- tory of Ireland, and is rightfully claimed as its national emblem. 150 The Story of the Union Jack. The origin of the Irish harp, on a hlue ground, displayed in the royal standard of Great Britain, has also an ancient story, although much more njodern than that of St. Patrick's cross. The arms of Ireland, before the time of Henry YII. of England (1485-1509), had consisted of three golden crowns set upon a blue ground. These ancient arms of Ireland are now worn on the helmet plate and glengarry of the Koyal Munster Fusileers regiment of the British army. Henry YIII. Wcis the first Englisli king who used an Irish emblem. When he was proclaimed king of Ireland, he placed the harp of Hibernia upon the coinage which he then issued, but he did not introduce either the harp or the red cross of St. Patrick into his royal arms, nor upon his banners. The first English sovereign to use an Irish emblem in the official insignia was Queen Elizabeth, who introduced one in the design of her "great seal." Instead of using the three Irish crowns, she inserted a harp as the eujblem of the nation. James I., her suc- cessor, was the first king to introduce an Irish emblem into the royal standard, and Qyr^r qiiioe then the golden harp of Hibernia, 'i The Irish Jack. 151 on the ancient blue ground of the three Irish crowns, has been shown in one of the quarters of the British standard as the emblem of Ireland. In the arms of all the sovereigns, from James I., 1603, to and including William IV., 1837, the front of the harp was formed by a female figure, intended most probably to represent the goddess Hibernia. During the early Victorian period a change has been been introduced in the shape of the harp, which has b aen altered to that of the ancient Irish harp, connected in form and in legend with King Brian Boru (Boroindie). The exploits of this most noted of the early kings of Ireland had been mainly devoted to the defence of his kingdom against the inva- sions of the Danes during the period when, under Canute, they had well nigh conquered all Engl find. Although in the main successful, he was slain in battle with them, according to some, in 1039,* or, as others report, in the hour of victory over the Danes, at Clontarf, near Dublin, in 1014.1 That the king had accepted Christianity is * Kin'^, " N;itioii,al Anns." t "Hnyihi'.s Imlox." ^H 152 The Stokv of the Union Jack. is attested ])y his having, in 1004, presented a golden votive offering npon the altar of the church at Armagh, and here, in accordance witli his dying request, his body was buried after the battle of Clontarf.* This city of Armagh is reputed to have been founded about A.D. 445, by St. Patrick, and to this account is accr'^dited the ecclesiastical pre-eminence which has always enshrined the city, for the Bishop of Armagh is the " Arch- bishop and Primate of all Ireland " of the Protestant Church, and it is the see city also of the Primate of Ireland of the Eoman Catholics. The minstrelsy of the Irish harper has held sway and been cherished through all the ages by the Irish people, whose temperament may have been affected, or else has been most touchingly expressed by its strange and mystic cadences. The sweet pathos of these ancient melodies has given tone and inspiration to most of the Irish songs, markedly to those of the sweet singer Moore, whose music has installed in affectionate memory " The harp that once through Tara's halls The soul of music shed." '''■ '' Ulster Journal of Archtt'ology," Vol. I., September, 1894. i The Irish Jack. 15S Of all the traditional patrons of music, King Brian Born was the most renowned, and thus in poetry and song his name became identified with the Irish harp. In the old seal of Carrickfergus (34), granted by James I., the form of this ancient harp of Brian Born is excellent- ly displayed. Around the margin is the Latin in- ^^- Seal ..k c.vkrkk- . , . FEROUS, 1005. scription : " SiGILL . CVSTVM . PORTVS . CaRIGFERGI . AnO," within the circles are the initials of the King, I. E. (James Rex), and the date, 1()05, and on the shield in the centre are three Irish harps, having the rounded front pillar and the curious upper sweep of the neck, termed the harmonic curve, of the type known as that of Brian Boru. Although this Irish harp was introduced in the seal of the Irish city during his reign, the emblem placed in his royal arms by James I. as the emblem of Ireland was the angelic harp of Hibernia, and in this shape it remained on the royal standards of all the succeeding 154 The Storv of the Union Jack. 35. Ak.ms ok Queen Victoria. soverei^nis until Queen Victoria, in whose aims (8/5), and on whose banner, it is fre- quentl}^ displayed. As the pagan emblem had, through the banner of Constantine, been changed to the Christian cross of St. Patrick, so now centuries afterwards, the Hibernian harp in the royal standard was changed to the Irish harp of the Christian king, Brian Boru, and through the grave at Armagh again connected with Ireland's pat- ron saint. Thus, whether it be cross or harp, the emblems of Ireland are associated with St. Patrick. During one period in the story of our flag, Ireland had been represented on its folds, as shown in Cromwell's Jack, and in the Com- monwealth ensign, but it was not by a cross, as were the other nationalities, but by the gold harp of Hibernia upon a blue ground. The Irish red cross on a white ground had been the banner of the Fitzpatricks at the time of the conquest « f Ireland under Henry II., and it still appears in the arms of their family ; but does not seem to have been i f The Irish Jack. 155 formally recognized as the general national emblem for Ireland nntil about the close of the seventeenth centiuy. Though the kings of England had, since Henry II., in 1771, been "lords paramount," and since Henry YIII. been "kings of Ire- land," the national Jack of Ireland had not been joined with the other Jacks. When the crosses of St. George and St. Andrew were combined in the '* additional Jack " of James, in 1G06, it was not included, nor was it after- wards in the first Union Jack of Queen Anne, in 1707 ; so that for all these centuries the red cross of St. Patrick had continued alone. At length, the time had come when another change was to be nuide in the Union Jack, and in 1801, under George III., the red saltire cross first joined the two sister crosses. For the innnediately previous two hundred years the Irishman had gallantly contributed his prowess to the glories won under the two- crossed Jack, in which his nation was not represented ; but from this time onward his own Irish cross entered into its proper place in the national Jack, and received its acknow- ledged share as the emblem of his kingdom. CHAPTEE XIV. » THE JACK OF GEORGE III.—i8or. THE SECOND AND PRESENT UNION JACK. We coine now to the formation of tne three- crossed Jack, the "Eed, white and hhie " of story and of song, heing the second Union Jack i3G). In the forty-first year of the reign of George III. the three kingdoms had been brought into complete union, whereupon prochimation was issued by the king, of which the following extracts are given : EXTRACTS. From a Proclamation hij fJie Kinff dated St. James' Palace, Janiuwy 1st, 1801. Declaring His Majesty's pleasure concern- ing the royal style and titles appertaining to the Imperial crown of the united kingdom Thi> Jack uf Ueuuge III. — 1701. 157 of Great Britain and Ireland and its depend- encies, and also the ensigns armorial, Hags and banners thereof. . "And that the arms or ensigns armorial of the said United Kingdoms shall be quarreily ; first and fourth England, second Scotland, third Ireland, and it is onr will and pleasure that there shall be borne therewith on an escutcheon of i)re- tence the anus of our Dominions in Germany." The result of this clause was that the lilies of France, which had been quartered in the royal arms since Ed- ward III., 1327, were altogether r e m o v e d , and the whole four quarters were appropri- ated, two quarters to the three golden lions of England, and one quarter each to the red lion of Scotland and the golden harp of Ireland, and upon a small shield on the centre was to be placed the wdiite horse of Hanover, to indicate the other country over which the king also reigned. 36. Umox Jack of (Ieorcjk III.. 1801. 15.S TiiK Stokv of thk Vsios Jack. . . "And it is our will iind pleasure that tlu' standard of the said united kingdoms shall be the same quarterijigs as are here .ibe- fore declared to be the arms or ensigns armorial of the said united king ^' 23 ''/EST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. H580 (716) 872-4503 <^ CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques 1980 170 The Story of the Union Jack. narrow white margins in equal size on both sides of the Irish red cross. The broad white of St. Andrew has thus been entirely lost. Sufficient care, too, is not taken in setting the flag upon the flagstaff. When the red ensign, or any similarly quartered flag, is reversed on the flagstaff, that is to say, displayed with the Union down, it becomes a signal of distress. Union Jacks are often seen hoisted upside down (PL vn., fig. 3). No more distressful act can be done to the Union Jack than to reverse its crosses by putting the wrong end next the staff, with the broad white saltire down ; nor greater indignity be done to its people than by de- stroying the position of their national Jacks. Such errors cannot be too greatly lamented, or be too carefully avoided, for by them dis- honour is done to the memory of the nations whose prowess has ennobled their national emblems, and the beautiful " Story of the Union Jack" is utterly marred, for the posi- tions of the crosses and the borders cease to tell the consecutive history of the Empire nation whose combined union emblem they form. From 1801 onward dates our present Union !• >- (n lS_flJ > tf) a. o IIJLSL -+ _i < z o en .in O (0 _l u z The Lessons of the Crosses. 171 Jack, in which all three nations are repre- sented. It was born when the power of Great Britain seemed to be ahnost wrecked. Re- verses had acciunuhited upon her. In America, thirteen of her longest established and most populous colonies had revolted from her sway, and foresworn their allegiance. In Europe, the nations of France, Spain and Holland were united in arms against her, and she was battling almost single-handed against the power of the great Napoleon ; yet, undaunted by these trials, the sons of the united nations ran their new Union Jack up aloft, and started out to frame that marvellous career which it has since achieved. This second Union Jack rejoiced at Aboukir in 1802, when AJ)ercrombie crushed Napoleon out of Egypt ; with it were won the triumphs of WeUington, from Assaye in India, through Badajoz and Spain, to the crowning victory at Wateiloo. It was the flag which floated in the -'white ensign" on all the ships at Trafalgar, and on the maiix topgallant head of the Victory* when Nelson sent aloft his British watchword : " England expects every man will do his duty." _(P1. I. fig. 1). * As the flagship of the Admiral of the fleet. 172 The Story of the Union Jack. The halo of that watchword shone around it at Balaclava, when the heroes of the valley charge proved it was " Theirs not to reason why, Theirs not to make reply, "^ Theirs but to do and die." And again at sea, above the BirJienhead, when five hundred steadfast men went down beneath its folds, inspired by its duty call. In Africa, at Isandula, Melville and Coghill wrapped it around their bodies and won death to save it from the foe ; and for it the forty mounted riflemen of Matabeleland died in their tracks, singing, ** God save the Queen "; and on this continent of America the im- petuous Brock, facing enormous odds, gave up his life for it on the cedar-clad slopes of Queenston Heights, and beneath it the French-Canadians of Beauharnois knelt on the battle-field, and, rising, won with De Salaberry and his Voltigeurs the victory of glorious Chateauguay.* * Captain Langtin caused his men of the Beauharnois MiUtia to kneel, went through a short prayer with them, and then, rising, said, "Now that they had fulfilled their duty to their God, they would fulfil that to their King." — Liohtall, " T/ie Battle of CliateivHjHcuj.'' The Lesson?'- of the Crosses. 173 If those crosses could but speak, what glories they cor.ld tell ! and yet the outlines of the flag, when they are properly displayed, signal the story of the crosses as plainly and as elo- quently as if they told it in burning words. CHAPTEK XVI. THE UNION JACK, THE FLAG OF CANADA. UNDER THE TWO CROSSES. Although the Union Jack has been con- structed from the local Jacks of the three island kingdoms, its greatest glories have been won in expeditions sent across the seas to other lands. The natives of the parent isles have never needed to raise it as their signal in driving invaders from their shores, and in this wav it does not bear to them that added ft/ vitality which it bears to the resident Cana- dian, of being associated with brave defence of home and native land. To the English- man, Irishman or Scotchman, in his own island home, it is the emblem of foreign conquest ; to the emigrant or the Canadian born, it is much more, as being the patriot signal of national defence. I The Union Jack, the Flag of Canada. 175 After the contest of 1759, Canada had settled down into the paths of peace, soldier and habitant had vied in binding up one another's wounds, and evidencing all the pleasantries of reconciliation.* A memorial, the like of which has never been known elsewhere, either in history or the world, has been erected in the square of Quebec to the two heroes, Montcalm and Wolfe, equal in valour, equal in fame. An united sentiment raised this single monument to their united memory, bearing upon it the noble inscription : MORTEM, VIRTUS, COMMUNEM. FAMAM, HISTORIA MONUMENTUM, POSTIJITAS, DEDlT.t As the glory of their champions was thus intertwined, so the patriotism of the old occu- pants and the new-comers to Canada begau from this splendid beginning to blend more closely in fraternal union. *The nuns of the convents of Quebec sewed together l)lanket8 to make trousers for the 78th Fraser Highlanders, who other- wise would have had no protection against the snows dunng the first winter of their occupation of t'.xe citadel of Quebec. + " Valour gave them a common death, history a common fame, posterity a common monument." 176 The Story of the Union Jack. The Treaty of Paris, in 1703, confirmed the Union Jack in its position of heing the successor on the continent of America of the fieur-de-lis over all the territory stretching from Labrador southward, along the Atlantic coast to Florida, and inland, westward as far as the waters of the Mississippi. In pursuance of this treaty, King George III. issued his proclamation (October, 1763,) creat- ing four provinces and governments, named Quebec, East Florida, West Florida and Granada, this last consisting of the islands of the West Indies. Of these four provinces Quebec was the territory lying adjacent to the St. Lawrence river system, extending from the river's mouth to the head waters on the watersheds of the farthest inland lakes. By this proclamation French Canada ceased to be a conquered country, and became a colony of the king. It was to be governed by a governor and an assembly, entitled to arrange its ow^n taxation, having control of its own internal welfare and good government, and empowered to institute its own courts of law ; but to every subject, new or old, of the king, there was reserved the right of appeal to the foot of the throne itself in the Privy Council Canadian Blue Ensign 3 Suggested Canadian Ensign. ! i 1 J'L The Union Jack, the Flag of Canada. 177 of Great Britain, should auy persor think thonisolves aggrieved by the decision of their own locally appointed courts.* The French-Canadian subject soon began to find for himself the beneficent cdiaracter of Britisli rule. He was no longer harried by an irresponsible Governor or a grasping Intendant for th ohnient of a foreign court, but was assisted ui every way in the local development of his country. His personal property was secure, and he soon became sensible of the certainty of English law. An Act of Parliament followed, formally and still further guaranteeing to the Fren'^h- speaking subjects the quiet continuance of their most cherished customs.! The Quebec Act of 1774 confirmed the habitant in the free exercise of his Eoman Catholic religion, and restored to him his old French civil law, but provided that in all criminal matters the law of England which had been found so satisfactory was to remain in force. This A ct was passed by the British Parliament at Westminster, and thus its powers were under the two-crossed Jack of * Royul Proclainaciun under Treaty of Paris, 1763. + Quebec Act, 1774, Sec. XI. 12 17s The Stouv ok the Union Jack Queen Anne, the ensign of parliamentary rule, formally extended to the new world. (*ontent with his lot, secnre in his home, and sure that ai., 1793-1811. with electric flash, and the volunteer bat- talions from the far Atlan- tic shores, from French- speaking Que- bec, from the great Ontario Lakes, and from all parts of the Dominion, vied with one another in bearing the priva- tions of forced marches across the frozen lakes, or over the pathless prairies, to reach the scene of action, and join in maintaining the supremacy of their new-born union. The rebellion was quickly suppressed; but the events at Fish Creek, Batoche, and on the banks of the Saskatchewan left gaps in the loyal ranks. iru) TiiK Story ok tmk TTxiox Jack. "Not in tilt' (juiet cluurh-yiinl lu'ai* tluwe who lovod tiii'in Ix'st, t l>ut l»v tin" wiM Siiskatfhcwan tlu'V laid tlii'in to rlicir ll ivst : '' , A siini>l(' soldit i-'s fuiici-al in that lonely spot was theirs, li; Made (.'unsec-i'ate and holy hy a nation's tcfirs anri Ij prayei's, :■ 'I'hcii- r(M|ui(Mn, the music of the rivers sinj^in^ tide ; Their funeral wreaths, tlie wild tlowers that j;rew (in , {{ e\('i'y sid*' ; Tl 'ir monument. undyin<; praise from eaeli Canadian heart, Tliat hears how, for their counti-y's sake, they nobly bore their part." Two medals* «,^raiited by their sovereign comnieiiiorated the gallantry of the Canadians who fought beneath the Union Jack in 181'2-18, for union witli the ^Motherland (o(S), and in 1885 for union within Canada itself (89). These are some of the causes which have given rise to the f-tirring patriotism evinced by Canadians for their national tiag, and have kept aflame the passionate fervour of their loyalty. Four times within the century— in 1776, 1812, 18GG and 1870— has their flag been raised in defence of home and native land; and once, in 1885, for maintenance of union within themselves. ill ' ■ I ;■ . ; *See Appendix " Canadian War Medals." The Union Jack, the Fl.vg uf Canada. 11)1 As CMUMdians see it waviii.i; above tlieir school-houses and over tlieir lioiiies, they J'ead in ts crosses the story tliat they tell, and reuiend)er that the deep red folds have been freshened and coloured in the heart -blood of Canada's sons, poured out on their own loved soil. The sons of the parent- nations have carried it in many a far-off strife, but in their own island homes, ''coinpa.sHcd hij the inviolate sea,'' they sleep secure, and never have had to fight beneath it in defence of native land. It is in this regard that Canadians can cherish it even more than they who first carried it, and may now rightly wear it as their very own, for the three-crossed Union Jack is so bound up with love of country, defence of home and all that is glorious in Canada's history, that it is the flag of Canada itself. 39. The Noktii Wkst Canada Mi:i>ai„ h I I, CHAPTER XVIII. THE UNION JACK OF CANADA THE FLAG OF LIBERTY IN AMLJ^ICA. \ There is something more than mere vaior- I ' ous devotion which should be aroused in the expression of loyalty for a flag. This devotion might be found even under a despot's sway, for the race or native sympathy of its up- holders might cause sentiment, even under the most adverse conditions to overpower all \ sense of judgment, and reckless valour take the place of thoughtful allegiance. The stor}" of an ideal flag should declare a supreme idea, an idea whicli has been so well expressed as being the ^^ divine rif/ht of liberty in man. Not laiulessness, not lice)ise, but or- ffanized institutional liberty — libertii through law, and laws for libertii^* When a flag records by the unmistakable * Henry Ward Beeclier. The Flag of Liberty in America. 193 story of its life, how this desired lih jrty has heen, not simply talked ahout, but granted in actual fact to all who have reached the lands of its dominion, and, further, tells how the amplest dream of self-government is realized by those who dwell beneath its sway, then indeed is that flag to be cherished with the most passionate devotion and valued in the most critical estimation. The folds of such a flag become an inspira- tion, not only o the heart, but to the mind, and men may w^ell be willing to risk their all, and even life itself, for the maintenance of its unsullied honour. Such a flag is the Union Jack of CanPtda. This Jack in Canada is not only the national ensign of the British race, but it is more, for as upheld by Canadians, it has ever been the real " flag of liberty " in America. The greatest pride of the Union Jack is that " Though it may sink o'er a shot-torn wreck, It never flies over a slave." This fact is true of the Jack of to-day throughout all the British territories, but it lias not always been so. It has been the 13 194 TfaE Story of the Union Jack. \\ happy lot of the Motherland, the cradle of the liberties of the earth, that freedom has been enjoyed for many centuries on her own home-soil, but even there the le^^al doctrine was not judicially established until 1772, when the notable decision of L ^ Mansfield declared that, " on the soil oi ube British Isles the slave is free." The abolition of I slavery under the Union Jack was not declared by statute of the British parlia- ment until 1811 ; and even after that, slavery continued in the outer realms, so that in 182Q there wTre no fewer than 340,000 slaves under British rule in the island of Jamaica alone. At last, in 1833, the glorious Act of Eman- cipation was passed by the British parliament^ and the same freedom which had existed on , the soil of the parent-kingdom was extended to all races who lived anywhere under the Union Jack. The people of the parent-isles then gave further proof that this was done, not solely in the pursuit of an ideal, but out of real good- will, for they not only pro- '^ claimed the blessings of freedom to the slave, but also purchased his emancipation by themselves paying $100,000,000 to his owners in those colonies in which slavery had. I 1,1 The Flag of Liberty in America. 195 up to that time, existed with their consent. In the true spirit of British fair-phiy, they thus scouted the idea of exercising their Christianity at other people's expense. Niunlier Indemnity of Slaves. Paid. MamaicH 311,700 £<5,152,0(»0 Barbadoes 88,000 1,721,000 Trinidad 22,800 1,089,000 Antigua, etc 172,01)3 3,421,000 Guiana 84,9(X) 4, 2! (7,000 Mauritius ()8,«)00 2,113,000 Cape of Good Hope 38.400 1,247,000 Total 780,1.(03 £'20,000,000 Such has been the story of freedom on other continents under the Union Jack. Let us see how its story compares with that of other flags upon the continents of America. The stories of the flag of Mexico and of the republics of South America are so changing and unsettled that they may not be counted in the consideration, and the flag of Spain in Cuba has not yet become an exponent of free- dom. The sole competitor for the title of "the flag of the free " is the Stars and Stripes of the United States of North America. The colonies in North iVmerica were, at the * Extract from Dictionary of , Statistics, j). 541, "Abolition of Slavery " : I f," ■; 196 The Story of the Union Jack. time of Lord Mansfield's decision, in 1772, colonies of the British crown, and moved, no doul)t, by emitlation with their brothers in ■■^ Great Britain, and desiring to follow their example, the representatives of those colonies met at Philadelphia, on 27th September, 1774, and in " Continental Congress declared against the slave-trade, and forbade further importa- tion into British America." They were then loyal supporters of the Union Jack, and, fol- lowing its ideals, made a step in the right direction. It was, no doubt, in imitation of this spirit of British freedom that their Declaration of Independence (4th July, 1776), stated, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights ; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Yet, at the very time when they claimed that all men were born equal, well nigh a million blacks were held by them in bondage,* and this sounding "declaration of liberty" did not bring freedom to a single slave. =■= In 1780, there were 1,191,000 Blaveunn the United States, and, as late as 1860, more than 4,000,000. ■r: The Flag of Liberty in America. 197 Indeed, when eleven years afterwards, in 1787, the representatives of the thirteen States met* in federal convention, and adopted the Constitution of the United States, the exist- ence of slavery under their Hag was recognized and its continuance guaranteed. They were evidently conscious of the fact that the statements of their " Declaration " were not in harmony with their actions, and therefore the provisions in their " Constitu- tion " concerning slavery were stated in a veiled and suhtle way, the words " slave" and "slavery" being carefully excluded. In this way the clauses of the American constitution were intentionally framed to be capable of a different interpretation from that which their wording would apparently convey. f In the article t which regulated the ap- portionment of representation between the several States, a basis of enumeration is arranged. " Eepresentatives shall be apportioned among the several States which may be in- * 25th May, 1787, at Philadelphia. tA peculiarity which has reappeared in many subsequent treaties of the United States. I Article I., Section .3, Constitution of United States, 1787. ti;: 13:;: 1 hi f^ t i.i: 198 The Story of the Uxion Jack, eluded within this Ihiion Recording to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three- fifths of all other persons." By the words "all other persons" were meant the slaves, who, although they were not given votes, were counted in determining the number of representatives to be elected by the State in which they were held. The leaven of English freedom had con- tinued to work among some of the States after their separation from the Crown, and emancipation had been begun in Vermont in 1777, in Pennsylvania in 1780, and was impending in some of the others, but had by no m^eans been accepted in all.* As slavery w^as legal in some of the States and illegal in others, it also became necessary, in order to gain the acceptance of the union by these latter States, that a clause guaran- teeing the rendition of fugitive slaves should be embodied in the constitution. It was therefore enacted : * Emancipation was effected in New Jersey, 1804 ; New York, 1827. ;i The Flag of Liberty in Amehica. 199 " No person held to service or labour in one State under the laws thereof, escapin*^ to another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be disharged from such service or labour, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service may be due."* It is stated on the authority of Madison, r *' the father of the constitution," that the word used in each case in the original draft was " servitude," but it was changed to the w^ord " service." The expulsion of the words, although it might appear better to the eye, did not alter the fact that the w^hole of the United States, which then framed their union, although they did not all practise slavery, yet every one of them then consented to its perpetuation, and thus it existed legally under the Stars and Stripes from 1787 until 1865, when happily it was terminated.]: Such is the story of the slave's "freedom" under the flag of the United States. * Article IV., section 2, Constitution of United States, 1787. t James Madison, subsequently twice President of the United States, 1809 and 1813. I Constitutional amendment abolishing slavery, 31st January, 1865. 141 200 The Story of the Uxion Jack. What has been the story of his freedom under the Union Jack in Canada ? We have seen that slavery, excepting on the soil of Great Britain, was not abolished in all other parts of the British Empire until 1833, and not in the United States until 1805. In 1792 self-government had been granted to Canada, and, under the two-crossed Jack, at the first meetings which were held by the parliament in Upper Canada, slavery was abolished on 9th July, 1793.* This was be- fore the creation, in 1 01, of our present Jack. In Canada alone, of all the outer American lands over which the flag has been displayed, beginning from the very day on which it first was raised, this three-crossed Jack has always proclaimed freedom to the slave. Canada in such way has added honour to this flag, and made it more particularly her own; for on the continent of America, whether he came from the British West Indies, from the southern continent, from Cuba or the United States, in. all of which he was still * There are some isolated insbmces of slaves who continued in the possession of their previous owners, but after this date any slave brought to the country, and every child born, was free. The Flag of Libekty in America. 201 the chattel of his owner, so soon as the slave reached the soil of Canada, and came under the colours of "our" Union Jack, that moment he was free. The deep significance which this early law of Canada had given to the flag has often heen attested by coloured men before their fellow- citizens and the world, and particularly by Frederick Douglas, the great coloured orator of the United States. While dilating upon the great advantage which had come to his own people since freedom had at last been granted to them in the United States, he would contrast their condition in the neigh- bouring Canadian land, where the .black child sat in the public schools by the side of his little wdiite brother, or travelled with him in the same carriage on the trains, and where the law was administered wutli im- partiality for both white and black alike.* ■*'■ Speaking in the Exposition Hall, at the Columbian Exhi- bition, Chicago, on 25th August, 1893. Douglas said of his people : "To-day we number 8,000,000 (coloured) people in the United States. To-day a desperate effort is being made to blacken the character of the negro and to brand him as a moral monster. In fourteen States of this Union wild mobs have taken the place of the law. They hang, shoot and burn men of my race without law and without right." I I |i 41. .1. M i !i' 202 The Stouy of the Union Jack. In telling words he wonld revert to the time when " there was but one flag in America under which the fugitive slave could be secure. When the slave had escaped from the control of his owner and was making his way through the intervening States to the free land of the north, whether he gained the summit of the highest mountains, or hid in the recesses of the deepest valleys, the fugitive could find no safe resting place. If he mingled in the teeming throngs of their busiest cities, he feared detec- tion ; if he sought solitude on their widest prairies, beneath the silent stars, he was in dread of being tracked; not until he had sighted the red-crossed Jack and crossing the northern lakes, had touched the strand of Canada's shores, could the slave fall upon his knees and know that at last he was a free man." Thus pure, unsullied in its story, the three- crossed Union Jack of Canada is the only flag on the continent of America which has been always a "flag of liberty" to the slave, and the true "flag of freedom " by which all men, as their birth-right, have been created equal and free. What higher honour could Cana- dians wish for its blood-red folds ? ism CHAPTER XIX. THE UNION JACK OF CANADA THE FLAG OF LIBERTY TO THE PEOPLE. Thkrk is yet the other ideal i)ha.se in which the Union Jack of Canada reiyns supreme, that of "Liberty to the People." The in- born hope which buds and l)lossonis in the hearts of a growing people as their energies evolve and circumstances advance, Unds its fruitage in the possession of mastery over their own homes, and thus a nation's desire for liberty is concentrated in the absorliing dream of self-government. It was this spirit which spoke in the old English colonies in America, when they averred in their address to King George III., that they are "being degraded from the pre-em- inent rank oi English freemen."* The position * Address to the King. 204 The Story of the Union Jack. of till' citi/t'ii in their old hoiiic-laiKl was their highest ideal of the liherties of a people, and the only one, even in those times, with which they considered comparison could worthily ho made. The history of the Union Jack is eonnected, as we have seen, not solely with national alle«i:iance, hut yet more with parliamentary p)vernment ; and its i)arts have been com- l)ined to evidence union under representative institution^. The creation of the constitution of England was not confined to a single date, nor was it the jH'oduct of the men of a single })eri()d, its growth has been spread, like that of its tlag, over century after century, as each successive phase of the ideal dream has become har- monized with the existing requirements of its subjects. Formed largely upon precedent and usage, this constitution reflects the cur- rent views of the people, and, therefore, it has never been restricted to fixed and invari- able form of words. There are milestones such as Magna Charta, the Petition of Eight, the Habeas Corpus Act, the Act of Settlement, and other landmarks that mark the way ; l)ut as with the Union The Flag of Liheuty to the People. 205 Jack, so too with the libortios of tlie Britisli form of '•■ovoniniciit, tho story of thv com- l)iMations is not tlie record of a involution, I)ut the ^rachial process of an evohition. Wlien at the end of the last century our neiiihbours in the United States framed their sei)arate constitution, which, with tlie excep- ti(m of the amendment respecting- slavery, remains i(h'ntically the same, they l)ased it on the usages of that day when responsible government was almost unknown. Creating an elective king un(U^r the name of a presi- dent, thev endowed him witli distinct aninet wliicli shall repre- sent that majority, or, should the matter be of sufficient importance, the whole parliament is forthwith dissolved Ijy the sovereign as the neutral and unl^iased centre of impartial power, and the <[aestion at issue is ritish colonies and dependencies is the Union Jack, having ujxm it the arms or badge of the colony, suri'oundi'd by a green 14 210 The Story of the Uniox Jack. garland of lar vl leaves on a wliite slii(>l(l. In 1S7(), as a special liononr, the lni})ei'ial sanction was yiven to Canada of plac- inii' a narland of niai)le leaves, in- stead of laui'el, upon the Ha^ of its Governor- (reneral. The J.ieuten- ant-dovernoi's of the ])rovince8 of Canada l)eing a})i)ointed by the government of the Dominion, their flags bear the arms of their several provinces surrounded by a similar garland of maple leaves but without the crown (41 ). In this (lovernor-Cxenerars flag, with its Koyal crown, its maple leaf and Canadian coat- of-arms backed up by the Union Jack, is sym- bolized the existence of British constitutional government in Canada. Tn this the (^)ueen is the whole Canadian i)e()ple, and the rremier and his Cal)inet are the representatives of the 41. Vl.Mi OF TirK LlKl'TKNANT- (ioVKRNOR OF QUEBEC. III! The Flag of Liberty to the People. 211 political party for tlio t'uiw being in power. The Cabinet is responsible to parliament for the policy which they intrcjdiice, and for which they, as well as all the other members of the parliament, are immediately answerable to the electors who are the original source of their power. This modem flexibh .ystem of constitutional government in ('anada, so closely in touch with the i)eople, in contrast with the age-stiffened system in the United States, was neatly brought out l)y Lord DuflFerin during his term as (tov- ernor-(Teneral of (yana(hi, in a speech he delivered at Toronto, in 1874, after his visit to Chicago. " More than once," said he, *' I was acMressed with the i)layful suggestion that Canachi should unite her fortunes with those of the great Republic." (Laughter). "To these invitations I invariably replied by acquainting them that in Canada we were essentially a democratic people (great laughter), that nothing would content us unless the popular will could exer- cise an innnediate and complete control over the executive of the country (renewed laughter), that the ministers who conducted the government were but a committee of par- 212 The Story of the Union Jack. liament, which was in itself an onifination from the constituencies (loud applause), and that no Canadian would be able to breathe freely if he thought the persons administering the afl'airs of the country were removed beyond the supervision and contact of our legislative assemblies " (cheers). It is, then, easily seen why Canadians love their Union Jack. It is the signal of parlia- mentary government by British constitutional principles. It represents progress and modern ideas. The rule of the people, for the people^ by the people, through their Queen ; and, there- fore, it is the evidence of their affectionate and loyal allegiance to that monarchy under whose benign sway Canada, above all other countries on this continent of America, is the land of the free. chaptp:k XX. THE UNION FLAG OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE. The story of the Union Jack as we have thus followed it has told how its allegiance travelled beyond the little islands which it first had claimed as its territory and naturalized its afi'ections upon the soil of this great north land of America. And not over Canada alone, but also to every colonist in the outer continents, in Aus- tralasia and the islands of the sea, and to all the Potentates of mighty India, it bears the same glad story of brotherhood and United Realm. The Union Jack flying by itself has its special significance. Upon the bowsprit of a ship it is local, at the mast head it is the evi- dence of the rank of the admiral who bears it, 214 The Story of the Union Jack. or on shore of the officer who displays it, but combined in the upper corner of a larger ensign it is the flag of the nation, and thus environed becomes the Union Flag. It is a misnomer to call a flag of this com- bined shape a Union "Jack," this being the proper name solely for the smaller flag com- prising only the three Island crosses, but place this smaller flag of the three Kingdoms in the upper corner of a larger flag and it becomes the sign of identity of allegiance, the emblem of united power and the evidence of the union of British patriotism with the storj^ that njay be told by the colourings and forms of the rest of the flag. The portion of the flag next the staff is termed the lioist, and the outer part or length, the fly. Another method of descrip- tion is arrived at by dividing the flag into four quarters or ''cantons," two 7iexi the staff smd two ifi the fly. The Union Jack is used in the upper or "'dexter" canton, next the staff, on several dis- tinctive flags. The White Ensign (PI. i., fig. 2). A white flag bearing the large red cross of St. George Union Flag of the Biutish Emimue. -215 and having the Union Jack in the dexter canton The Bine Ensign (PI. i., fig. 3). A blue flag having the Union Jack in the dexter canton. The Red Ensign (PI. i., fig. 1). A red flag having the Union Jack in the dexter canton. The first was won and is worn only by the warships of the British navy, the second is worn only on ships of the navies of British colonies and of the Eoyal naval reserve,* and the third was won and is worn by all British merchantmen and also on the ships of the Eoyal navy. It will he remembered that the red ensign, first with its St. George s cross under Charles 11. , and afterwards with its two-crossed Union Jack under Queen Anne, had become the national ensign of all British ships at sea, and not being restricted to any particular services, as are the white and blue ensigns, it has extended in its usage and now, with its three- crossed union, become the ensign of the British people on shore as well as afloat. * See Appendix B. 216 The Story of the Union Jack. " Where is the Briton's land 'I Where'er the blood-red Ensign Hies, Tliere is the Briton's land." Whether it be in the " right little, tighu little islands," of the old hind, or in the greater area of the colonies which stud the globe, the presence of this Union Flag proclaims the sovereignty of the united nations. Thus the three crosses in the Union Jack have ceased to have solely their local meanings, for their story has become merged in the larger significance which their 2)resence now imparts to the universal Imperial flag as being the sign of this greater British union. This further evolution in the story of the flag has come step by step. In the century of the expansion of Raleigh's " trade command," the governors of the Eng- lish colonies, principally of those in America, began giving to their local shipping commis- sions to engage in the various and free-licensed methods by which that trade was being ob- tained. Some inconvenience seems to have resulted from this practice. Under William III. the matter was taken up and an Order in Council passed at White- hall approving of a suggestion then made by the Lords' Commissioners of the Admiralty. Union Flag of the British Empire. 217 u rni Their Excellencies, the Lords' Justices, have heeii pleased to refer unto us a Eeport of the Lords' Coiniiiissioners of Trade representing' the inconveniencies that do attend Merchant ships bearing the King's colours in and among the Plantations abroad under colour of the Connnis- sions given them by his Majesty's Govenors of the said Plantations, do most humbly report to their Excel- lencies that we do agree with the said Lords' Commissioners for Trade, that all ships to whom the aforesaid Governors shall by the authority lodged in them grant connnissions, ought to wear colours that may dis- tinguish them from private ships as is done by those employed by the Officers of the Navy, Ordnance, Vic- tualling and others, and therefore do humbly propose, that all the said Governors may be directed to oblige the Commanders of such Merchant Ships to which they grant com- missions to wear no other Jack than that hereafter mentioned, namely, that worn by His Majesty's Ships, with the distinction of a white Escutcheon in the middle thereof, and that the said mark of Distinction may extend itself to one half of the 218 TaE Story of the Union Jack. depth of the Jack iind one third part of the Fly thereof, according to the sample herewith Jinnexed.* The white escnteheon of the home depart- mental flags thus extended itself to the Eng- lish Jacks used in the colonies. ijuee.nslaxi). vl( tokia. wi'.8t aotralia. 42. Al'.straf.ian Emiji.kms. The governors or high connnissioners, or administrators of Britisli colonies and depen- dencies, were afterwards authorized to place upon this white escutcheon on the Union Jack the arms or badge of the colony in which they served. In this way it has come that the arms of Canada, the Southern Cross constellation of Queensland, the red cross and British lion of Victoria, the black swan of Western Austral ia (42), and the other special distinctive emblems in each of the *Order-in-Council, Whitehall, July 31st, 1701. Ilii Umon Flag of the Buitish Empire. 211) British colonies arc now displayed upon the fla^s of the governor's in each. Jn 1805, when colonial navies were tirst established, the vessels of war niaintained by the local governments were authorized to use the blue ensign, with the seal or badge of the colony in the centre of the Hy,* and thus the escutcheon was given another position, and the local stories of the Australian colonies, which estahlished these fleets, l)ecanie em- bodied in the British blue ensign, f A similar privilege, although they are not commissioned as vessels of war, was afterwards extended to the fishery protection cruisers of Canada, so that on these and all other vessels which are owned by the Dominion Government, the blue ensign is carried with the arms of Canada in the centre of the fly (PI. ix., fig- ^-^)- By these successive steps the Imperial idea became attached to one of the ensigns of the British navy. From the plain white escutcheon in the centre of the Union Jack, 1701, to the special emblem in the fly of the blue ensign, 18G5, * "Colonml Defences Act," 23 Victoria, Cap. 1-1. t Warrant (.f the Lords' Connnissioners of the Admiralty. 220 The Storv of the Union Jack. I I was a long ^Yay, but yet other steps were to be taken. The vessels owned by the governments of the colonies had thus been given their special British flags, but provision had not been made for those owned by private citizens. The plain red ensign is worn without distinction by all British subjec's on all lands and seas. As the colonists developed in native energy so their merchant shipping increased, and in re- cognition of this all colonial owned merchant vessels were accorded in 1889* the right of Vv'earing, together with the red ensign, an additional flag on which might be shown the distinguishing badge of their colony. In order bo prevent the possibility of mistakes in identification it was further directed that any flags of this character were to be made in such a w\ay as not to resemble any of the existing flags of the Eoyal navy. In some of the colonies in Australasia local flags of excellent design have been devised, but these ''additional" and "separate' flags are not all that can be desired, ior while the local flag miglit give exprer-vsion to the local patriotism represented, there * Merchant Shipping ('Colours) Act, 188^). ili L'nion Flag of the British Empire. 221 comes with it also an idea of separation, and it does not succeed in expressing the dominant and prfv^ailing sentiment of allegi- ance to 0?ie Qujen, One Empire, One Flag ! It has fallen to the lot of the statesmen of Canada, who do not seem to be behindhand in developing new and Imperial ideas, to siig- g3st another step in the history of the ensign. The merchant ship' nig of Canada stands fifth in rank in merchant shipping among the nations of the world. The government ships were authorized to use the blue ensign with the arms of Canada as their distinguishing Hag, but the merchant marine used the same plain red ensign as worn by the merchant marine of Great Britam, and as no special colonial flag had been adopted for Canada, her merchant ships could not be recognized amidst those of the Mother country. , In 1892, to meet this requirement, the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, on the sug- gestion of the Canadian Department of Marine, issued a warrant permitti ng the ~^he order is British (Home Kingaom), United States, German, French, Canadian. 222 The Stouy of THii Union Jack. |i I 111 badge of the arms of Canada to be inserted in the fly of the red ensign as well as in the blue, and this new combined red ensign was empowered to be used by all citizens of Canada. ■■'■ Thus was formed the union flag of Canada. The Ensign of Canacfa (PL ix., fig. 1) is the British red ensign, having the Union Jack in the dexter canton and the arms of Canada in the fly. Like the expansion of the British constitu- tion to patriot governments beyond the seas so has come the extension step by step of the old union Hag to the newly-created colonies. As the spirit of that constitution has been ada*' -.ed to the local circumstances ir each so the red ensign, which is the embodiment of the power and glory of the British nation, has been emblazoned with the local fervour of each young and growing people, who fervently loving their own new land stand unconquer- al)ly in union with the Motherland and rejoice at seeing their own emblem set upon the Mother flag. Such a flag, such a real flag, tells its grand story in a way that a national flag ought to * Admiralty Warrant, Feb. 2nd, 1892. Union Flag of the Buitish Empire. 223 do, for the red ensign of the Homeland with the signal of the colony added to its folds in each far-off land signals to the beholder that it is the Union Flag of the Brituh Empire. When the Canadian sees the Union Crosses displayed in the top corner on his Canadian ensign it speaks to him not onl}^ as his own native flag hut yet more as his sign of brother- hood in an Empire wider than his own home, broader than the continent on which he lives, for it is the visible evidence of his citizenship in the Empire of Great and Greater Britain. The fervid eloquence of Daniel Webster in 1834 described that Empire as *' a power dotted over the surface of the whole Globe with her possessions and military posts ; whose morning drum beat following the sun and keeping company with the hours, circles the earth with one continuous and unbroken strain of the martial airs of England."* If this heart - rousing testimony of the- majesty of the Empire, of which we Canadians, form a part, had been given by one of our- selves, it might have been tinged with the suspicion of self-glorious boasting, but spring- ing from the lips of so distinguished a citizen * Speech May 7th, 1834. 224 The Story of the LFnion Jack. of the United States, its fervid utterance is the candid acknowledgment of a nation greater than his own, whose grandeur com- pelled his admiration. If over half a century ago this admission was true, how much more so is it at the present day. Those " possessions " which fired the statesman's imagination have marvellously increased, that "power" has expanded he- yond his utmost dreams. Since that time no nation, not even his own, has progressed like ours has. Canada then lost to him in the solitude of far-off forests or of pathless plain, has arisen like a young lion and gripped the American continent from sea to sea, carrying the Union Jack in continuous line of government from shore to shore. Aus- tralia has risen beneath the Southern Star ; India in itself became an Empire, and Africa, youngest born of all the lion's brood, is wield- ing fast another continent beneath the Imperial sway. These are the nations of the Union Jack ; the galaxy of parliaments of free men which has arisen round the Central Isles and the throne of Her who, with her statesmen, "knew I Union Flag of the Buitish Empire. 225 the seasons when to take occasion hy the hand and make the i Ainds of freedom wider yet." In this Nation of nations, Canadians join hands with their brothers around the world, and raise aloft the Union Jack in the Im- perial flag as the glad ensign of their united allegiance, a union for which Canadians, as much as any, have proved their faith and ever stand in foremost rank ready and willing to defend. There is something marvellous in the world- wide influence of this three-crossed flag of the parent nation, whose sons have followed its ideals through all the centuries. Sometimes they have made mistakes, but undaunted, masterful and confident, have profited by the hard won experience, and progressing with the march of time find at the close of this nine- teenth century that they "havebuilded better than they knew." Thus when in the opening month of 1896 Britain stood alone, as said a Canadian states- man,* in ''splendid isolation,'' there was heard coming not only from Canada, but from every * Hon. W. E. Foster, Minister of Finance of Canada, speech in the House of Commons, Ottawa. 15 S 22G The Story of the Union Jack. Daughter nation around the seas, the same brave refrain which had been sung by a Cana- dian poet in the stirring Mason and Shdell times of 1861. "■ When recent danger threatened near, We nerved our hearts to play our part, Not making boast, nor feeling fear ; But as the news of insult spread, Were none to dally or to lag ; For all the grand old island spirit Which Britain's chivalrous sons inherit Was roused, and as one heart, one hand. We rallied round our flag." Such, then, is the story, such is the mean- ing of our Union Jack : the emblem of combined constitutional government, the proclaimer of British Hberty, the Union sign of British rule. Mindful of its story, happy in their lot, facing the world, its sons encircle the earth with their glad anthem God save Victoria, Qiteen and Etnpress. THE END APPENDIX A. A PLEA FOR THE MAPLE LEAF. The multi-coloured quarterings of the Dominion arms, as shown on the shield upon the Canadian ensign, have not been found entirely efllcient, for they fail in being easily recognizable. Flairs are signals to be used for conveying infor- mation to persons at a distance ; their details should, therefore, be simple in form and be displayed in simple colours. The cross on the Swiss flag and the shield on the Italian flag, though small, are easily recognized ; but the coat-of-arms on the Canadian flag is, even when near, an indistinguishable medley. Several suggestions for improvement have been made, but we would join with many others in a plea for the maple leaf. The maple tree is found in luxuriance in every province of the Dominion. Varieties of it grow, it is true, in other parts of America; but the tree is in its greatest glory in the northern zones, where throughout Canada, extended along her line of similar 228 The Story of the Union Jack. latitude, it attniiiH to its most robust and greatest development. It flourishes in Newfoundland, in tlie Maritime Provinces and in Quebec. It is the finest forest tree in Ontario. A wreath of Manitoba maple leaves was placed upon the statue of Sir John Macdonald as the votive offering of the North-West, and anyone who has seen the giant maple leaves of British Columbia will say the maple leaf is the natural emldem of Canada. As well as boin;; the natural emblem, it is also the typical einblem. It was held in high esteem by the early settlers of Quebec, and was adopted, in 1!S3G, as the French-Canadian emblem for the festival of St. Jean Bapt ste. It was placed on the coinage of New Brunswick early in the century, and a whole !naple tree was shown on the coinage of Prince Edward Island before the time of Confederation. At the creation of the union in Confederation it was placed in the arms of Quebec and of Ontario, and was heraldically recognized as the emblem of Canada. Maple leaves form the wreaths on the flag of the Governor-General of the Dominion and on the flags of the Lieutenant-Governors of all the provinces. It was the emblem placed by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales on the colours of the " Royal Cana- dians," the 100th Regiment, raised in Canada in 1805, and is still worn as the regimental badge of their successors, the Royal Leinster Regiment. It is on the North-West medals of 1885, and on the uniform Appendix. 229 and accoutrements of tho Canadian Infantry and of tlie North-West Mounted Police. It has revelled in poetry and prose ; it is the theme of the son^s of our children ; and tlie stirring strains of "The Maple Leaf" form an accompaniment to our British national anthem. It has been worn on the breasts of all tlie repre- sentative champions of Canada — at the oar, on the yachts, on the athletic fields, in military contests and at the ritle ranges — as the emblem of their country. Everywhere throughout the W' Id the maple leaf has won recomiition as the emblem A Canadians, and may well be displayed upon their flag. As to the colour. Green is the enddem of youth and vigour, and if, instead of the Dominion arms, the green maple leaf were placed on the shield of the Canadian ensign, the flag would be fairer to see and more easily distinguished. Or if the colour used were scarlet, the colour of courage, then both the natural and emblematic attributes of the leaf would still be represented. This introduction of the maple leaf has often been suggested, but if in this year of the Diamond Jubilee of our gracious Queen a white diamond of one-third the size of the "Union" was substituted for the shield, then indeed we should have a flag (PI. ix,. No. 3) which would signalize an historic epoch, and be one which could be known at a glance among all others. The green maple leaf on the white diamond in the 2.S0 The Stoky of the Union Jack. fly of the red eusitrii would tell as bravely ami more dearly the story of the " coat of-arins " on the shield, Imt it would also be a national tribute to that Queen, under whose commanding influence the colonies have arisen arotind the Empire, and be a record of that Diamond Jubilee of Victoria which lias been the revelation of their union and the united testimony of their affectionate allegiance. APPENDIX B. CANADIAN WAR MEDALS. The War Medal (:J8) was granted in 1848, to be worn by the men of the British forces who had served in the fleets and armies during the wars from 1793 to 1814. Among these the Canadian militia were included. Clasps were granted to those men who had been present at the actions of St. Sebastian, Vittoria, Salamanca, Talavera and Vimiera in the Peninsular campaign ; and in the Canadian campaign, for the actions at Fort Detroit, 10th August, 1812; Chateau- guay, 2(jth October, 1813, and Chrystler's Farm, llth November, 1813. The medal from which the drawing is made is engraved, A. Wilcox, Canadian militia, and bears the clasp, Fort Detroit. Appendix. -rM The Nortli-WcH Canada medal (oO), was ;;niiitoil in 188G to all who had .served in tlie Canailiaii North-West in lHiS5. Tho clasp "SaHkatchewan" w»is ♦granted to all who were present at the actiony of Fish Creek, 24th April; Batoche, 12th May, and Frenchman's Butte, 27th May, 1HS.>. The forces serving in the expedition of 188') were drawn entirely from the Canadian militia and North- West mounted police, with the addition of the officers of tlie Imperial forces who were associated in com- mand. APPENDIX C. A SAMPLE CANADIAN RECORD. The service record of the Nelles family of Ham- ilton gives some idea of the calls to military servici' in Canada : Great grandfather, on British side, in 1770. Grandfather, in War of 1812. Father, in Rebellion of 1837. Son, Fenian Invasion, 1866. Nephew, North- West, 1885