Although the Royal arms contained a recognition of the King's Hanoverian kingdom, the flag to be used as the "Royal Standard" is ordered to have on it only the arms of the three united kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland.

In the clause of this proclamation the Union flag (50), which had already been designed and approved, was described as follows:

This description defines, with respect to the crosses, that the white cross of Scotland and the red cross of Ireland were joined together quarterly and "counterchanged" and that the red cross of St. George is to "surmount"—that is, to be laid upon the surface of them both. With respect to the grounds of the flag, it is described as being blue, and that the cross of St. George is "fimbriated as the saltire." Much, and almost continuous, controversy early arose upon this heraldic description of the Union flag, particularly with respect to the proportion of the crosses, and specially to the width of the white border to the St. George.

It is to be remembered that heraldry does not, except when specifically given, deal with exact dimensions, but gives the general appearance and particular colourings of the shield or banner. If, as in this case, the arrangement of the flag selected may have been in the opinion of some of the heraldically inclined, "an extraordinary amalgamation,"[129] and by others not made in accord with the heraldic "blazon" or description given of it in the proclamation, yet this division of its parts is not to be attributed to the "officers of arms" of that day, for it has been expressly put on record that "in this allotment they were not allowed the exercise of their own judgment."[130] Suggestions have constantly since been made that the forms in the flag should be changed, because, as is reiterated, "the guide to all heraldic devices is the verbal blazon of the heralds," and with this, they say, the flag does not agree, for the saltire crosses do not bear the appearance of having been "counterchanged"—that is, alternated, share and share alike; and that the "fimbriation" to the red cross of St. George is wider than an "heraldic fimbriation," which on an heraldic shield is only a very narrow edging or border for the purpose of separating one colour from another.

These are objections arising only from the wording of the "blazon" and not from the flag itself; to the description given of it and not to the design.

We have seen that, both in 1707 and in 1801, the changes made in the "Union Jacks" proceeded by a regular and formal progression of, consideration by Sovereign, Committee of Enquiry, Order in Council and registration of the drafts of design then selected and approved, and the promulgation of the Royal proclamation for its use.

The design of the flags preceded the blazon, or description given of them in the proclamations. We must, therefore, refer to the flags themselves as the guide to their proportions and to the intentions of their designers.

It does not appear that any "draft" of the first flag of James I., 1606, was fyled, but a formal proclamation authorizing it was made by the King "according to the form made by our heralds."

On reference to the "Draft C, 1707," of Queen Anne, for the conjoining of the two flags, it will be noted that the crosses of St. George and St. Andrew are of equal width, and that the white border to the St. George is one-third of the width of either of the crosses. The red and white crosses of the two national flags are thus represented, and the whole of the "crosse-flags" by the blue ground of the Scottish flag in the angles, and the white ground of the English flag in the broad white border.

Queen Anne and her Councillors had in mind the union of the two nations, but there was no "verbal blazon" made or issued, the order being that "the flaggs be according to the 'Draft marked C,'" and as "shown on the margent" of the proclamation.

This authorized Union Jack of 1707 was the basis upon which the designers of George III. began when, in 1800, they were instructed to conjoin the cross of St. Patrick, which was to be added to the union flag.

Comparison of the "Draft marked C, 1800," shows that the broad white border of St. George is retained of the same width as in the "Draft C, 1707," being approximately one-third of the width of the red cross of St. George and of the saltire cross, both of which remain of the same size as previously. The form authorized by the Order in Council of 1707 was adopted and repeated by the Order in Council of 1800.

In the bringing in of the additional red saltire cross of Ireland, the diagonal space previously allotted in "Draft C, 1707," to a saltire cross is now equally divided between the white and the red saltire crosses of the kingdoms, and to give them equal recognition and honour, the edging of white necessary to separate the red saltire of St. Patrick from the blue ground of the flag is taken from its own half of the diagonal space allotted to it instead of from the Scotland's blue, and this was duly balanced by the retention of the full broad white border space around the St. George, which in the new flag represented both the white grounds of the St. Patrick and the St. George, as the blue ground did that of St. Andrew's flag.

Thus the intentions of the designers of 1707 were followed, confirmed and extended by the designers of 1800. The drafts and orders in Council issued in pursuance of them are the authority which must be recognized in the making of the flag, and not the interpretation of a description or "blazon" given of it in the proclamation issued after the Union Jack had already been approved and adopted.

It has been said that the wording of the blazon, "the cross of St. George fimbriated as the saltire," is to be taken as indicating the "width" as well as the "colour" of the fimbriation, and that, therefore, it should be reduced to a narrow heraldic edging. Others consider that as heraldry does not deal with sizes as exact dimensions, the wording means simply, "of the same colour as the saltire," and has no reference to the width, and some criticisms have described the "blazon" as being "very obscure."[131]

In consequence of these interpretations, proposals have, at times, been made for altering the Union Jack, "so as to bring it more into accordance with the blazon and with heraldic rules," but as has been well said, "flag making is not pure heraldry; it is affected by considerations of symmetry, proportion and in no small measure of usage and prescription."[132]

Our Union Jack, in its present form, has unquestionably been made as it was ordered to be made in 1707 and in 1800, and proclaimed in 1801, whether the description in the proclamation be correctly expressed or not.

But in addition to the general form of the design, as given in the "Draft C, 1800," there were also detailed regulations issued for the making of the flag, which are the same as the rules prescribed by the Admiralty of the present day[133] for the several proportions of the Union Jack as always and now issued.

From these regulations it is clearly evident that the recognition which the white ground of St. George's Jack had been given in the flag of 1707 was intended to be continued. While the pattern drafts of the Councils were of square form, the Admiralty adopted a longer form, as "the practice has been, in regard to the dimensions of flags generally, to make the length twice the breadth at the head." This is the usual length adopted for flags which are not square, although the flag of an admiral, which is the old English St. George, still continues to be one and a half times as long as it is broad.

The dimensions are given in full detail in the regulations.

An outline drawing (51) of the flag of the same form as the Admiralty pattern is given for convenience of reference. The proportions of the several crosses and borders are directed in the regulations to be made according to the measurement called the "width of the flag," being the measurement on the "halliard" or "hoist," which is the side next to the flagstaff, and are as follows:

Regulations for the Sizes of the Parts of the Union Jack,

Whether square or oblong, in which latter case the length to be twice as long as the width.

The paramount cross of St. George is to be one-fifth of the width of the flag on the flagstaff, and its width is made the factor by which the measurements of all the other parts are to be regulated in flags of varying sizes.

The crosses of the two other Jacks, which were to be joined, are each allotted a proportion of one-third the width of the cross of St. George.

The divisions of the parts for the Irish Jack are stated separately, being one-third for the red cross of St. Patrick, and one-sixth for its white border; the two measurements, when added together, amounting to a proportion of one-half.

The proportion of one-half allotted to the "broad white of St. Andrew" comprises the due share of one-third for the Scotch cross, and one-sixth for its border, being an exact equality to the proportions given to the Irish cross and its border.

At first sight it would appear that the "broad white of St. Andrew" was given a larger proportion of the flag, but the measurements of the "cross" and its "border" of the Scotch Jack are stated in one figure, because their colours are the same, while those of the Irish Jack are given separately, because the colours are different, the cross being red and its border white.

The saltire space of the Union Jack of Queen Anne has been divided equally, and the national banners of St. Patrick and St. Andrew are thus given each a proportion of one-third for its CROSS and one-sixth for its BORDER or "fimbriation."

The description given in the "blazon" respecting the red cross of St. George, stated that it was "fimbriated as the saltire." The regulations defined this as "for the white border to the cross of St. George," and there was allotted, not simply a one-sixth proportion due a "fimbriation," but the full proportion of one-third, equal to that of a national cross, and in this way the white border to the cross of St. George is as wide as the cross of each of the other nations.

The width of the border cannot this time, as was said of the change of 1707, be the result of the "carelessness of a draughtsman,"[134] for it is made with premeditated carefulness, and, more than that, the measurements are set down in exact figures. Thus the reason for the broadening of the border in the flag of 1707 has been justified by the flag of 1801 and its authority confirmed.

This broad white border, given to surround the red cross of St. George, is not only the formal recognition of the white ground of the English Jack, which had been placed in the flag of 1707, but it is also a recognition of the white ground of the Irish Jack, which was now for the first time entering the Union Jack, so that the broad border in the flag of 1801 represents the grounds of two national Jacks.

The practical proportions of the pattern drafts are thus fully carried out in the Admiralty pattern. Some twenty years ago the Garter King of Arms had his attention drawn to the Admiralty flag as used in the navy, and he was asked to suggest an alteration. He declined, because, he said, "the flag was made according to the drawing, and it was exhibited in the same way on the colours of the Queen's Infantry Regiments."

It is a serious thing to deface or alter the national flag of a nation, and if any changes have been made in any individual instances they are the result of error, and have not been made with such paramount authority of Sovereign, Parliament and Council, as have been the Union Jacks of Queen Anne and King George III.

In this Union Jack of 1801 we have, then, plainly displayed a complete representation of the three separate crosses, and of the white and blue grounds of the three national Jacks which were then combined together to form our Union Jack.

Since 1801 no change had been made in this Union Jack of George III., which was the first three-crossed Jack of its race, and is our present Union Jack.

From 1801 onward dates this glorious flag, in which all three nations are represented. It was born when the power of Great Britain seemed almost wrecked. Reverses had accumulated upon her. In America many of her possessions among the West Indies and on the surrounding coasts[135] had been wrested from her flag, and thirteen of her longest established and most populous colonies, becoming the United States, and aided by men, money and fleet from the French in Europe, had revolted from her sway and abandoned 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 nation ran their new Union Jack up aloft, and started out to frame that marvellous career which it has since achieved.

This third Union Jack flew at Aboukir when Abercrombie drove Napoleon out of Egypt; with it were won the triumphs of Wellington, from Assaye in India, through Badajoz and Spain, to the crowning victory at Waterloo. It was the flag which floated in the "white ensign" on all the ships at Trafalgar,[137] and on the Victory when Nelson sent aloft his British watchword:

The halo of that signal shone around it at Balaclava, when the heroes of the valley-charge proved it was

and again above the Birkenhead, at sea, when five hundred steadfast men went down beneath its folds, inspired by its duty-call.

In Africa, Melville and Coghill wrapped it around their bodies at Isandula, and won death to save it from the foe; for it the forty mounted riflemen of Matabeleland died in their tracks, singing "God Save the Queen," and yet again at the call of the race the sons of the Flag from all around the world hastened to help it to hold its own upon the veldt.

On the continent of America the impetuous Brock, facing enormous odds, and leading his Canadian volunteers in defence of their native land, 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 battlefield, and rising, won, with the brave De Salaberry as their leader, the victory of glorious Chateauguay.[138]

It was carried far to the Arctic north by Sir John Franklin, in 1846, and in October, 1908, Shackleton planted this ancient Union Jack, with all its crosses and broad white border,[139] upon the farthest Antarctic south (52).

Such a flag with such a history should be held sacred and inviolable.

CHAPTER XX.

THE LESSONS OF THE CROSSES.

The combinations of the Jacks have at length been completed, and the three crosses placed together in the one flag of 1801.

If some of the heralds are not entirely satisfied with the way the divisions are made, due honour has at least been done to each of the Jacks of the three kingdoms, while at the same time the historical value of the "Union" has been greatly enhanced, and its beauty as a flag most certainly increased. If the object of heraldry is the teaching of lessons by the combinations of colour and of forms, then the flag as made is yet more heraldically successful.

In the heraldic and traditional interpretations of colours, red indicates courage, white is the emblem of purity, and blue the emblem of truth.

By this better and more equal division of the colours in the flag much additional emphasis is given to the story which those colours tell.

Lessons are taught which may be deeply impressed upon the minds of our children, so that by reading the history of their nation in its folds they may endeavour to live lives worthy of the ideals of their national flag, and frame their own characters and the character of their empire by its lofty teachings.

That it is a beautiful and easily distinguished flag is admitted on all hands, but it has the still further quality, of immeasurable value in a national flag, that its parts and colours tell the history of the nation whose emblem it is. To those who have acquainted themselves with the story of the three separate national flags, the Union Jack, with its three crosses, its broad white borders and eight blue triangles, tells the story of the influences under which the present Empire has been built up by the three kingdoms which were combined to make it.

Laid broadly upon the whole combination, and "surmounting" it, and also forming the basis for all its measurements, is the plain red cross of St. George, indicating, in such a way as the simplest mind can understand, the leading part which the English nation has taken in the creation of the Union, and the powerful position which it holds in its councils.

Under this cross, and supporting it, are the white and red crosses of the two junior nations, which are themselves, in their turn, supported on the white and blue grounds, which form the basis foundations of the flag, the whole being embraced and bound together by the broadspread arms of the plain red cross.

Thus clearly does the position of the crosses and their grounds teach the vivid lesson of how the three sister nations, supporting each other, are all united by Courage in building their realm upon the sure foundations of Purity and Truth.

The position of the red cross of St. George, in front and full view, tells plainly how England was the first of the nations to enter the lists and lead the way in acquiring the glories of the Empire.

Another lesson there is which the crosses also plainly tell respecting the relations between the Scotch and Irish nations themselves.

The flag is divided by the cross of St. George into four quarters, in all of which the saltire crosses of St. Andrew and St. Patrick, as the heraldic blazon of the proclamation says, are "quarterly per saltire counterchanged."

Discussions have arisen between heraldic experts as to whether the descriptive word in the blazon should be "countercharged" or "counterchanged." The latter is the word given in this proclamation, and although at first sight it looks as though the red cross only had been "charged"—that is, been placed upon the original white diagonal cross—it is to be remembered that the saltire cross has been equally divided between the two nations.

It will be noted that the broad white of the cross of Scotland occupies the higher position in the first and third quarters, which are next the flagstaff, and the red cross of Ireland is in the higher position in the second and fourth, which are the quarters at the end or fly of the flag; the relative position of the Irish and Scotch crosses, as they are placed in the first and third quarters, are reversed in the second and fourth quarters; that is to say, the positions of the crosses are alternately changed about, or "counterchanged."

The quarters of the flag next the flagstaff are considered to be of higher importance than the others, and in these more important quarters the cross of St. Andrew and its border is thus given precedence over the red cross of St. Patrick and its border.

The lesson intended to be taught by the position of the crosses is plain. The kingdom of Scotland had entered into the union with England before the kingdom of Ireland, and, therefore, as being the senior, the white cross of St. Andrew is given the precedence over the red cross of St. Patrick, but this, in its turn, is given the upper position in the remaining quarters.

The utmost care must, therefore, be taken to see that the Union Jack is correctly raised on the flagstaff, with the broad white of the St. Andrew uppermost.

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. VII., fig. 1). No more distressing act can be done to the Union Jack than to thus carelessly reverse its crosses by putting the wrong end next the staff, with the broad white saltire down, nor greater indignity be done to its supporters than by thus reversing the correct positions of their national Jacks.

Flags are sometimes to be seen (Pl. VII., fig. 2) in which the white border around the red cross of St. George is reduced to the same narrow size as the border of St. Patrick, and thus the white ground of the Jacks of England and Ireland has been wiped out.

PLATE VII

Still more often the red cross of St. Patrick is set full in the centre of the diagonal cross, and thus the cross of St. Andrew is completely expunged, for its white is reduced to only two narrow white margins on both sides of the Irish red cross. The broad white of St. Andrew has thus been entirely lost. (Pl. VII., fig. 2).

Such errors as have been mentioned cannot be too greatly lamented, or be too carefully avoided, for by them dishonour 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 positions of the crosses and borders cease to tell the consecutive history of the empire nation whose combined union emblem they form.

In Pl. VII., fig. 3, a further error will be noted, that the opposite ends of the combined saltires are not in continuous line with one another, as in the correctly made Jack (Pl. V., fig. 3). This has occurred from the centre lines of the combined saltires having been drawn directly from the inner corners of St. George to the outer corners of the oblong flag.

We have seen that as the space of the one saltire of 1707 was to be divided equally between the two saltires of 1801, the two ends of the saltire should be in line, and the division run equally through the centre.

In view of these errors it may be well to give some simple instructions by which the flags may always be correctly made, and which are in accordance with the Admiralty regulations.

Union Jacks must be made either square (53), or oblong (54), in which latter shape the length must always be twice the width on the staff.

It will be noticed that in the square Jack (53) the diagonal lines drawn from the opposite corners of the flag intersect the corners of the white border of St. George and of the cross, which latter is shown in dotted lines, and that in the oblong Jack (54) they do not. It is this difference which has usually created the difficulty.

Having decided the size, either square or twice as long as wide (1 × 2), then draw two diagonal lines from corner to corner upon the shape of flag selected, then place the St. George cross and its border upon the flag according to the measurements in the "Outline Jack" (51), the red of St. George being one-fifth of the height or width of the flag. The diagonal lines will be the centre and dividing lines of the saltires, as shown by the dotted lines which are thus in continuous line from one corner to the other. The St. Patrick and St. Andrew saltires and their borders are then to be added according to the proportions shown in (51), the red saltire being placed touching the diagonal, below it in the first and third quarters of the flag, and above it in the second and fourth. The St. Andrew, being in one colour and above the diagonal in the first and third, and below it in the second and fourth, completes the combined saltire.

By following these directions the making of a Union Jack is much simplified.

That the utmost care should be exercised in the making of our flag is beyond all question. It is the record of our history, the flag of our British nation; to display one in incorrect form is to do dishonour to it, to our history and to our nationality. No patriot would do this intentionally, and yet some may do this ignorantly. It would be well for their help and the avoidance of error that they should be taught how to make their flag correctly, and be educated in the lessons which it conveys.

Once these have been learned, the amount of increased interest in our flags is immeasurably advanced. Each flag as it comes before the eye becomes a study and a lesson, an historic reminder and a patriotic inspiration.

If those crosses could themselves but speak, what glories they could tell; and yet the outlines of the flag, when they are properly displayed, signal the stories of their colours and their crosses as plainly and as eloquently as if they voiced it in burning words.

CHAPTER XXI.

THE PROPORTIONS OF THE CROSSES.

The division of proportions allotted to the crosses and to the white border of St. George in the Union Jack has hitherto been treated solely by inference and also by comparison of the "drafts" selected and regulations which were issued for the construction of the flag. It may be well now to revert to some actual examples showing the details of flags early in use, which will further substantiate the reasons which led to the proportionate division of the spaces when the Union Jack of 1707 was altered in 1801, and our present Union Jack was designed to record the addition of Ireland to the Union.

It has sometimes been stated that the red cross and white border of St. George indicate the presence of two crosses, the impression, formed by those who, as they admit, were "better acquainted with heraldic definitions than historic expression," being that they give the appearance of a red English cross placed over a white French cross.

As reason for this, they point out that King James I. and all his successors until King George III. had been styled "Kings of Great Britain, France and Ireland." The successive Union Jacks had been created during the existence of this royal title, and, therefore, it is suggested that two crosses had been placed upon this part of the flag, one being the white cross of France, upon the face of which the red cross of St. George had been laid to thus present the ancient and long-past union of the kingdoms of France and England under the one sovereignty.

The white cross of France, however, was not a straight-sided cross, such as that of St. George, but one of Maltese shape, being wider at the ends than at the centre.

An instance of this flag is given in the copy (55) of the flag shown on the mainmast of a French caravel of the sixteenth century, as drawn in an old manuscript illustration.[140]

It is quite evident that the rectangular white border to the St. George could not be formed by a cross of this shape, and, therefore, this suggestion for the origin of the white border must be taken as erroneous.

Further, it was not unreasonable, seeing that the Royal Standard is composed of the personal arms of the sovereign, that the successive kings and queens of England should have continued the fleur-de-lis in one of the quarterings of their royal arms, as a sign of family succession, and as evidence of personal claim by descent to the old sovereignty of France; but the British nations brought into union did not themselves claim any such sovereignty, Calais, the last foothold of England in France, won by Edward III. in his claim to the succession of the throne of France, having been lost in 1558 under Queen Mary. There would, therefore, be no corresponding reason for inserting the French cross in the union flag, nor any historical connection which would justify its being so used.

In the illustrations given of the two-crossed Jack of 1606 (Pl. III., fig. 2, and cut 16), the white saltire of St. Andrew is represented as of the full size of a wide saltire cross; so also in the Jack of Queen Anne, 1707 (Pl. V., fig. 1), in which the broad white of St. George was first given its full width.

This is the proportion of size which is given to it in heraldic drawings, and the way in which it is usually drawn in later representations, the white saltire cross of St. Andrew being thus shown broader than the white border to St. George; but the earlier practice in the actual making of flags appears to have been different.

In the allotment of the proportions in the new three-crossed Jack of 1801, when the cross of St. Patrick was added to the flag, it has been pointed out that the white border to St. George was continued in its full width, as in the previous flag of 1707, and was given the same width as each of the two national crosses, which were then first placed side by side, and between which the saltire space was then divided.

It will be interesting to show, by reference to early original documents and flags, that this was the same equality as had previously existed between the cross of St. Andrew and the border of St. George in the old two-crossed Jacks of James I. and of Queen Anne.

In the time of William III. it appears that objections had been raised in England to the using of the King's two-crossed Jack by merchant ships of the American colonies, permission to do this having been granted to the colonial ships by the Governors of the colonies.

The English Lords Justices in Council at Whitehall, on 31st July, 1701, considered these objections to the using of what their report termed "the King's Colours," and thereupon issued an order that the ships of the colonies shall

The Lords Commissioners of Trade were accordingly instructed to write to the Governors of His Majesty's plantations,

An exact tracing of the "sample hereunto annexed," taken from the original manuscript report,[141] which was sent to the then Governor of the colony of Massachusetts, is shown in fig. 56, and in colours in Pl. III., fig. 3.

This flag is the Jack of James I., which is still described in this report of July, 1701, as it had been of old, as the "King's Colours." It will be noted that the white cross of St. Andrew is a narrow cross, and that the white border to St. George is of the same width as the St. Andrew's cross.

In the centre of the Jack is the "white escutcheon" described in the report, to be used on the colonial flags. This is the first instance of the creation of a special flag for the overseas colonies, and reference to it will be made in a subsequent chapter. Similar instructions were sent to the Governor of the colony of New York in 1709, and the flag is repeated with an escutcheon in the same form.

A coloured sheet, "Schouw-Cart Aller Scheeps Vlaggen" (Examples of all ships' flags), was published in 1711 by P. Schenk, at Amsterdam, "correcting errors in previous editions." In an old atlas[142] of maps, which were bound together in "old Amsterdam," in 1763, there is included one of these sheets. Among the flags represented on it is the "Jack of England" (57), showing the white of St. George of the same width as the St. Andrew's cross.

References to many drawings of Union Jacks, as used on the American side of the Atlantic, show similar proportions, of which some examples may be given.

Fig. 58 is a copy of the Jack on the bowsprit of a three-masted ship shown in a large three-sheet engraving, entitled "A Prospect of Charleston, Carolina," published by R. Roberts, June 9th, 1739.[143]

On page 187, a view of the port of New York (44) shows the flag as used in 1770. Both on the ship and on the King's fort is the narrow St. Andrew.

Fig. 59 is a portion of an old engraving of the combat between the French frigate, La Surveillante, and the English frigate, Quebec, 6th October, 1779.[144] This was one of the most gallantly contested actions of the many engagements between single ships during the progress of the war. The two frigates met in the English Channel, and flying at one another at sight they battled hand to hand. All their masts had been carried away, both ships were on fire, more than half of the crew on either side had been killed or wounded. All the boats except one on the French ship had been destroyed, when the Quebec blew up, and Captain Farmer, her commander, went down in her with nearly all who were left alive of his crew. The French captain, de Coudic, who was himself severely wounded, received the forty-three survivors, with a seaman's gallantry, on board the Surveillante, saying that "as their ship had perished with her colours flying, they would be treated, not as prisoners, but as brothers rescued from shipwreck."

The white flag with the fleurs-de-lis is at the stern of the French ship, and at the stern of the English ship is the red ensign on which the St. Andrew cross and the white border of St. George are still shown of equal width.

In addition to these instances from illustrations, reference to actual flags of these early periods, and which are still in existence, proves that the Union flags carried by regiments of the British army were made on these same proportions.

The drawing (60) is reproduced from a photograph of the King's colour of the 7th Royal Fusiliers, which is stated to have been obtained at the capture of Fort Chambly, in 1775, and is now deposited in the chapel of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, and shows its present appearance.[145]

A further example is given in the drawing (61) made from a regimental flag[146] surrendered by the British forces at the capitulation of Yorkton, by Lord Cornwallis, on 20th October, 1781. This is the "King's colour" of one of the British regiments. These flags had most probably been given to the regiments at much earlier dates, and had still continued in use. In both the cross of St. Andrew and the border to St. George are of the same width.