Flags and Armorial Bearings of the British Isles

Nations are held together by their common heritage and part of that heritage are the flags and symbols that represent the nation and its history. The single "Lion Passant" makes its appearance on the Arms of the Saxon King Alfred the Great in 871AD, to be joined by the second on the Arms of King William I in 1066 and the third on the Arms of King Richard I, the Lion-heart, in 1189. Joined with the Lion Guardant of the Royal House of Scotland and the Golden harp of Ireland these ancient symbols still represent the United Kingdom Of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Royal Arms

Royal National Arms (Armorial Bearings)


United Kingdom	England	Scotland	Wales

The Union Flag, commonly called the Union Jack, similarly charts the history of the British people absorbing over time the flags of the nations of England, Scotland and Ireland into one. It is perhaps an unfortunate omission of history that the Welsh Flag is not included in the Union Flag. However the British Union Flag itself has also been absorbed into the flags of other nations like Australia and New Zealand.

British Flags

Flags of the constituent countries of Britain

The Union Jack or Union Flag on the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Island. Initially an amalgam of the flags of England and Scotland in 1606 and later merged with that of Ireland the current form of the Union Flag was created in 1801 subsequent to the Act of Union.

The flag of St George, patron saint of England. St George's feast day is celebrated on 23rd April

The flag of St Andrew, patron saint of Scotland. St Andrew's feast day is celebrated on the 30th November

The flag of St. Pádraig (Patrick), patron saint of Ireland. St Pádraig's feast day is celebrated on the 17th March

The flag of St David, Dewi Sant, patron saint of Wales. St. David's feast day is celebrated on March 1st

Y Ddraig Goch - The Red Dragon - was officially recognised by HM The Queen in 1959 at the request of the Gorsedd of the Bards. The flag is now commonly used as the National Flag of Wales

The flag of Ulster (Northern Ireland), this flag is no longer in general use.

The flag of the Shetland Islands

Crown Dependencies

The flag of the Isle of Man

The flag of the States of Jersey

The flag of the States of Guernsey

The flag of the Island of Sark

United Kingdom Overseas Territories

The flag of Anguilla

The flag of Bermuda

The flag of the British Antarctic Territory

The Flag of the British Virgin Islands

The Flag of the Cayman Islands

The Flag of the Falkland Islands

The Flag of Gibraltar

The Flag of Montserrat

The Flag of Pitcairn Island

The Flag of Saint Helena

The Flag of the Turks and Caicos Islands

The Flag of the British Indian Ocean Territories

Flags of the Armed Forces and Maritime Organisation of the UK

British Military and Maritime Flags

The British Army uses the Union Jack as its flag

The "White Ensign" flag of the British Royal Navy

The flag of the British Royal Air Force

The "Blue Ensign" flag of the British Royal Naval Reserve

"The Red Duster" or "Red Ensign", flag of the British Merchant Marine (Merchant Navy)

Acknowledgements: The bulk of the images on this page are used under licence from the Animation Factory. If you wish to use these images for other purposes please visit their site, they have thousands of high quality images and the site is entertaining and well worth a visit.

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