# The British flag **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 23, 2000, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-british-flag/30479 "2000-08-23T18:44:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2000, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-british-flag/30479/1 "2000-08-23T18:44:04Z")
According to historian Virgil Hillyer, the British flag combines the cross of St. George, red on a white field (England); the cross of St. Andrew, white diagonal bars on a blue field (Scotland); and the cross of St. Patrick, red diagonal bars (Ireland, or at least Northern Ireland). It’s interesting that Wales is not represented; and besides, what color is the _field_ on the Irish cross? Was the flag different before 1801, supposedly when Ireland became officially part of the United Kingdom? And why aren’t the arms of the St. Patrick cross straight? (They do not line up; that is, they are not continuations of lines broken only by the center of the St. George flag.) ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2000, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-british-flag/30479/2 "2000-08-23T20:23:46Z")
[Union Jack](http://fotw.digibel.be/flags/gb.html#design) > [@](#): > > what color is the field on the Irish cross? The Irish cross is red on blue. > [@](#): > > And why aren’t the arms of the St. Patrick cross straight? (They do not line up; that is, they are not continuations of lines broken only by the center of the St. George flag.) This site refers to the striping as “fimbriations.” > [@](#): > > If the St Patrick’s Cross was centred on the St Andrew’s Cross, then it would look like Andrew was just a fimbriation for Patrick. In reality, they are equal, and so you will note that the thin white stripe next to the St Patrick’s Cross is a fimbriation, whereas the Saint > Andrew’s Cross of course needs no fimbriation. Why the anticlockwise attitude of St Patrick vis-à-vis St Andrew? Because The St Andrew’s Cross, representing Scotland, the older member of the United Kingdom, comes before Saint Patrick for Ireland, a younger addition. And so the Saint Andrew’s Cross is first when we start in the canton and move downwards. I had another site (but cannot now find it) that described in less vexillilogical terminology that the crosses are colored as if each had been “folded back” to display the cross over which it was laid. The “folding” goes around the center of the flag so that the colors are offset in the same _rotational_ direction. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2000, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-british-flag/30479/3 "2000-08-23T22:12:01Z")
Thanx 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-british-flag/30479/4 "2000-08-24T00:28:56Z")
This is, in fact, the actual reason why the Continental Congress declared independence from England; we wanted a flag with parallell stripes. ---
**Author:** ![SILENT-BOB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@SILENT-BOB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SILENT-BOB)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-british-flag/30479/5 "2000-08-24T00:38:15Z")
😕