Part 4 (1/2)
But if the penny is right in that respect, it exhibits another extraordinary example of our slipshod heraldry, by a variation of a different and more startling kind. My complaint against the flag, as made, is, that it represents four crosses, but on the penny there are only two. This was all right when the design was first made in the reign of Charles II., but when the third cross was added to the flag the three crosses should have appeared on the coin. A desire to adhere to the original design cannot certainly be pleaded, for there have been many changes in this figure of Britannia. She was first placed there by Charles II. in honour of the beautiful d.u.c.h.ess of Richmond, who sat to the sculptor for the figure. But her drapery on the coin of those days was very scanty, and her semi-nude state was hardly in keeping with the stormy waves beside which she was seated. Queen Anne, like a modest lady as she was, put decent clothing on her, and made her stand upright, and took away her s.h.i.+eld, crosses and all. In the subsequent reigns she was allowed to sit down again, and she got back her s.h.i.+eld, with the trident in her left hand and an olive-branch in the right. On the present coinage--a copy of which (the penny) is shown in Fig. 27--the drapery of Queen Anne is retained, but the figure is entirely turned round, and faces the sinister side of the coin, instead of the dexter, as at first, and the olive-branch (_absit omen_) has been taken away. But with all these changes there remain only two crosses on the s.h.i.+eld. The reader will naturally suppose, however, that the omission consisted in not adding the Irish saltire to that of Scotland, which had been there from the first. But no. In this instance there was certainly no ”injustice to Ireland,” for the extraordinary thing is, that the St. Andrew's cross has been taken away altogether, and the saltire of Ireland, distinguished by its fimbriated border, has been put in its place, Scotland being not now represented on the coin at all. Of course this has arisen from mere carelessness at the Mint, but it is an error which ought to be at once corrected.
THE UNION JACK.
But to return to our flags. The Union Jack is a diminutive of the Union.
It is exclusively a s.h.i.+p flag, and, although of the same pattern as the Union, it ought never to be called the Union _Jack_ except when it is flown on the jack-staff,--a staff on the bowsprit or fore part of a s.h.i.+p. It is extraordinary how little this distinction is understood. For example, in the Queen's Regulations for the army a list of stations is given at which it is directed that ”the national flag, _the Union Jack_, is authorized to be hoisted.” And in a general order issued from the North British Head Quarters as to the arrangements to be observed on a recent occasion of the sitting of the General a.s.sembly in Edinburgh, it was stated that ”the Union Jack” would be displayed from the Castle and at the Palace of Holyrood. But the _Union Jack_ is never flown on sh.o.r.e.
The proper name of the national flag is _the Union_. It is the sh.o.r.e flag, and, except personal flags, the only one which is displayed from fortresses and other stations.
At the Royal a.r.s.enal and a few other stations the Union flag is displayed daily. At others, such as Sandgate Castle and Rye, it is flown only on anniversaries. At Tilbury, Edinburgh Castle, and other places, it is hoisted on Sundays and anniversaries. And there are similar rules for foreign stations.
On board her Majesty's s.h.i.+ps the Union is sometimes displayed, but only on special occasions. It is hoisted at the mizen top-gallant-masthead when the Queen is on board, the Royal Standard and the flag of the Lord High Admiral being at the same time hoisted at the main and fore top-gallant-mastheads respectively. And an Admiral of the Fleet hoists the Union at the main top-gallant-masthead. The Army Regulations, however, referring to the presence of the Queen on board s.h.i.+p, again confound the two flags, and prescribe that a salute shall be fired by forts whenever a s.h.i.+p pa.s.ses showing the flags which indicate the presence of the sovereign, and among these is specified ”_the Union Jack_ at the mizen top-gallant-masthead.” If the commandant of a fortress acted on this, her Majesty might pa.s.s every day of the year without a salute, as he would certainly never see the Union _Jack_ in that position. The mistake is the more curious as the Regulations elsewhere distinguish the Union Jack from the Union by speaking of the latter as the ”Great Union.”
The Jack when flown from the mast with a white border is the signal for a pilot. In this case it is called the Pilot Jack. When flown from the bowsprit of a merchant s.h.i.+p it must also have a white border.
It has been said that the term ”Jack” is derived from the name of the sovereign James I. (_Jacques_), in whose reign it was constructed. This is the legend at the Admiralty, but it is of doubtful authority. The Oxford Glossary says there is not a shadow of evidence for it, and traces the word to the surcoat worn of old by the soldiery called a _jacque_--whence jacket. But this also is doubtful.
The Union, or junction of the three crosses, is used in other cases in the royal navy, and also in the merchant service, not by itself, but in certain combinations.
THE ENSIGN.
The flag under which all our s.h.i.+ps now sail is the Ensign.
In early times every chieftain or knight, whether serving in the field or on board s.h.i.+p, had his own distinguis.h.i.+ng flag, and if several knights were embarked in one s.h.i.+p, the s.h.i.+p carried the flags of them all. In one of the illuminations of the reign of Henry VI., the sides of a s.h.i.+p are covered with s.h.i.+elds, and in other examples armorial devices are even shown painted on the sails. When engaged in any active service, a s.h.i.+p would carry also the flag of the leader or admiral, and, in addition to this, the emblem of some patron saint, depending in this on the caprice or superst.i.tion of the owner. Besides these a s.h.i.+p usually bore the flag of her port--a usage which, so far as merchant s.h.i.+ps are concerned, still holds among us in the practice of carrying what are known as ”house flags,” though now strictly subordinated to that of carrying the national ensign. With s.h.i.+ps of other countries the usage continued till comparatively lately. In France, down to the Revolution, merchant s.h.i.+ps flew the flag of their port more commonly than the flag of France; as for instance, of Ma.r.s.eilles, white with a blue cross; or of Dunkirk, barry of six argent and azure, with the alternative of the old English white ensign, white with a small St. George's cross in the upper corner next the hoist, derived from the English sovereignty in the seventeenth century.[39] In the same way in the Baltic: in the Netherlands almost every port had its own flag, and the free towns of Germany till quite recently followed the same practice. It was the same in England in early times--a sailor being more a sailor of his port than of his country.
[39] Laughton's _Heraldry of the Sea_.
Now, as a rule, the s.h.i.+ps of all countries sail under their national colours. With us the flag under which all our s.h.i.+ps sail is the Ensign, of which there are three--the white, the blue, and the red. It is a large flag of one of the colours named, with the Union in a square or canton at the upper part of the hoist. I may explain that the portion of a flag next the staff or rope from which it is flown is called the hoist, the next is called the centre, and the outer portion the fly.
Besides the Union in the canton, the white ensign has the St. George's cross extending over the whole field.
Although the Union flag of Great Britain was appointed by royal order in 1606, it was not inserted in the Ensign till 1707. Previous to that the Ensign bore only the English cross in the canton.
In the royal navy, not always, but for some time previous to 1864, the fleet consisted of three divisions called the White, the Blue, and the Red Squadrons, each carrying its distinctive Ensign, and, latterly, each having its admiral called after the colour of his flag. But till 1805 there was no admiral of the Red. Previous to that the admiral commanding in the centre flew at the main, not the red flag, but the Union.
The first notice of the division of the fleet appears in a MS. report by Mr. Pepys, secretary to the Admiralty, in which it is stated that in the Duke of Buckingham's expedition against the Isle of Rhe in 1627 the fleet was thus divided. The notice is interesting:--”The Duke now lying at Portsmouth divided his Fleete into squadrons. Himselfe, Admirall and Generall in Chiefe, went in y^e Triumph, bearing the standard of England in y^e maine topp, and Admirall particular of the b.l.o.o.d.y colours. The Earle of Lindsay was vice-Admirall to the Fleete in the Rainbowe, bearing the king's usual colours in his fore topp, and a blew flag in his maine topp, and was admiral of the blew colours. The Lord Harvey was Rear Admirall in y^e Repulse bearing the king's usual colours in his mizen, and a white flag in the maine topp, and was Admirall of y^e squadron of white colours.” In this instance it will be observed the blue flag took precedence of the white. Under the Commonwealth the blue was put down to the third place, and when on the Restoration the Union flag was reintroduced, the precedence of the three colours remained as it had been determined by the Commonwealth. The arrangement of the fleet into three divisions continued till 1864; but it often proved puzzling to foreigners, and it was found inconvenient in action. It was for this last reason that Lord Nelson, on going into action at Trafalgar, ordered the whole of his fleet to hoist the White Ensign, and it was under that flag that that great victory was gained.
During the wars of the seventeenth century the Dutch fleets were also divided into three squadrons, distinguished, like the English, by the three colours--orange or red, white, and blue, and both with them and in our own service this was perhaps necessary when fleets consisted of such a large number of s.h.i.+ps--our own numbering often as many as 200 sail.
Latterly, when fleets were comparatively so much smaller, the distinctive colours became of less importance, and in 1864 the cla.s.sification was discontinued. Now the White Ensign only is used by all her Majesty's s.h.i.+ps in commission. Previous to this it had been ordered by royal proclamation, in 1801, that merchant s.h.i.+ps should fly only the Red Ensign, and this is still the rule; but since the three divisions of the fleet were abolished, the Blue Ensign is allowed to be used by British merchant s.h.i.+ps when commanded by officers of the Royal Naval Reserve, provided one-third of the crew be men belonging to the Reserve. By permission of the Admiralty the Blue Ensign is also allowed to be used by certain yacht clubs; and the members of one club--the Royal Yacht Squadron--have liberty to use the White Ensign.