Chapter VIII: The English Jack Restored

AS A SINGLE JACK 1648-1660
IN THE CORNER OF THE ENSIGN RED 1648-1707

The new two-crossed flag of King James had, in 1606, been authorized to be used by the ships of all his subjects, by the merchantmen as well as on the men-of-war. This order caused many heart-burnings among the admirals of the Royal Navy, and especially to the Admiral of the Narrow Seas, whose particular right it was to fly His Majesty's ensign on these much-frequented waters, and whose principal prerogative it was to see that the ships of other nations observed the courtesies and accorded the privileges due to the British flag in its claim to the Sovereignty of the Seas. Under this new arrangement other ships, as well as the ships of the Royal Navy, were carrying the King's Jack at the main, and the officers of the navy felt that their official prominence was thereby much diminished, for, as they said, how were foreigners to distinguish a merchantman from a man-of-war? Sir John Penington, Narrow Seas Admiral, in 1633, sent in his remonstrances, and pressed for the

"altering the Coullers, whereby His Majestie's own ships may be known from the subjectes."

It will be remembered that the ships of foreign nations were required, when meeting any of the Royal ships of the King of England, to dip their colours and topsails. This change the Admiral, therefore, considered,

"to bee very materiale and much for His Majestie's honour; and, beside, will free dispute with strangers; for when they omitt doing theyr respects to His Majestie's shippes till they be shott att, they alledge they did not know it to be ye King's shippe."

The Royal Navy kept up a constant agitation for the repeal of the order, until at length, in 1634, being the thirty-eighth year of the flag from its first establishment by James I., their claim was acceded to by Charles I., and a proclamation was duly issued:

"BY THE KING:

"_A Proclamation appointing the flags as well for our Navie Royall as for the ships of our subjects of South and North Britaine._

"We taking into our Royal Consideration it is Meete for the honour of Oure Shipps in our Navie Royall and of such other shipps as are or shall be employed in Our immediate service that the same bee, by their flags distinguished from the shipps of any other of Our Subjects doe herebye straitly prohibite and forbid that none of our Subjects of any of our Nations and Kingdoms shall from henceforth presume to carry the Union Flagge in the maintoppe or other part of any of their shipps that is the St. George's Crosse and the St. Andrew's Crosse joyned together upon pain of Our High displeasure; but that the same Union Flagge be still reserved as an ornament proper for _Our Owne Shipps_ and shipps in our immediate service and pay and none other. And likewise Our further will and pleasure is that all the other shipps of Our subjects of England or South Britaine bearing flags, shall from henceforth Carry the _Red Crosse_ commonly called _St. George his Crosse_ as of olde time hath been used; and also that all the other shipps of Our Subjects of Scotland or North Britaine shall from Henceforth carry the _White Crosse_ commonly called _St. Andrew's Crosse_. Whereby the several shippes may be distinguished, and wee thereby better discerne the number and goodness of the same; Wherefore wee will and straitly command all Our Subjects foorthwith to be conformable and obedient to this Our Order, as they will answer the contrary at their perill.

"Given at our Court at Greenwich this 5th day of May in the tenth yeare of Oure Reigne of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, etc. God Save the King."

Imprinted at London by Robert Barker, printer to the King's Most Excellent Majestie, and by the Assignee's of John Bill, 1634.

This proclamation of Charles I. made a very great change in the position of the "Union Flagge" of James, by restricting its use to one class of ships. That it had never been intended at that time to serve as a "national" flag is again clearly evidenced by the renewed declaration that it was the special signal of the Sovereign, to be used exclusively on the ships of the Royal Navy. Further, the merchant vessels owned by "subjects of any of our Nations and Kingdoms," which had thus lost the "additional" Jack, were ordered to continue to use, as of "olde time hath been used," their distinctive national flags. For the continued preservation of the peace, it was again required that each ship should display only the flag of the nation to which it belonged, namely, the St. George's crosse, or old English Jack, on English merchant ships, and St. Andrew's crosse, or Scotch Jack, on the Scotch merchant ships.

The position of the three flags at this time was thus clearly distinguished:

A.D. 1634.
_The Royal Navy_ The two-crossed Jack.
_English Merchantmen_ The St. George crosse.
_Scotch Merchantmen_ The St. Andrew crosse.

This first change in the position in the using of this first two-crossed Jack is shown in a drawing given of the "King's ships."

The battleship _Sovereign of the Seas_, which was built in 1637, 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-war of the time, and "so formidable to her enemies that none of the most daring among them would willingly lie by her side."[43]

[43] Phineas Pett: "Journal," 1696.

(From a painting by Vandervelt.)]

The drawing (17) here shown of this ship is copied from a contemporary painting by Vandervelt. At the stern is the Royal Standard of Charles I.; on the two masts ensigns with royal ciphers; and the two-crossed "Union Flagge," which from 1634 was to be the "ornament proper for our owne shipps," is flying on the "Jack staff" at the bow. It was the "King's Flag" calling for the obeisance of foreign vessels.

But another change was yet to come, and after fourteen more years had passed away another Jack was flying at the bow, and the Royal Standard of the King had disappeared from the stern of the gallant vessels. Premonitory symptoms of this impending change had been given even so early as January, 1645, when the headings of the official lists of the ships of the navy had been altered by order of Parliament, so that the ships were officially entered as "The Parliament's Ships," instead of being described, as previously, "His Majesty's Ships."[44]

[44] Hallam.

In February, 1648, the Revolutionary Parliament of England abolished the office of King, and by this and the subsequent execution of King Charles they cancelled the allegiance of Scotland and dissolved the connection between the kingdoms. A change was made in the Jacks which were to be worn on the men-of-war. The Parliament did not consider the Stuart kingdom of Scotland to be a portion of their State, and ordered that its recognition should be removed from the flags then used on their ships. An order of the Council was therefore passed, February 23rd, 1648, signed by John Bradshaw, "in ye name of ye Counsell of State," which was communicated in a letter to the Commissioners of the Navy, directing the change and ordering that "_the ships that are in the service of the State shall beare the Red Crosse only in a white flagg, quite through the flagg_." Up to that time carvings of the royal arms had been carried on the stern of all royal ships, so the order further directed that these also should be altered, and that "_upon the Sterne of the Shippes there shall be the Red Crosse in one Escotcheon and the Harpe in one other, being the Armes of England and Ireland, both Escotcheons joined according to the pattern herewith sent unto you_."

The form of these escutcheons is well shown in the twenty-shilling piece (18) issued during the Commonwealth, and also on a Parliamentary flag (19) then in use which had on the fly the same two emblems. One of these flags is still preserved in the house of the Admiralty Superintendent at Chatham, the colour of the ground of the flag being red.[45]

[45] W. Laird Clowes: "History of the English Navy."

Thus the two-crossed Union Jack of James ceased to be used and disappeared from the navy, as it already had from the merchantmen, and the single red cross Jack of England was restored to its position as the only Jack carried on the men-of-war of the State, or on any English ship sailing the seas.

The merchant vessels of the two nationalities continued to use their English and Scottish national Jacks as before, but the Scottish ships were especially warned that they must not carry either the King's arms or the red cross of St. George, and in case any of these Scottish ships should be met so doing, the State's colonel-admirals were ordered to "_admonish them not to do it in future_."

The position of the Jacks was now:

A.D. 1648.
_The State Ships_ The St. George crosse.
_English Merchantmen_ The St. George crosse.
_Scottish Merchantmen_ The St. Andrew crosse.

This position the English St. George Jack continued to hold on the ships of the State navy until 1660, when another change took place, and, at the "Restoration" of Charles II., the two-crossed "Union Flagge" returned, without any proclamation, to the places where it had been displayed before the change made by the Commonwealth Parliament.

On the _Naseby_ (20) it will be noticed that the two-crossed Jack is flying at the bow and on the mizzen, instead of the single red cross flag ordered by Parliament. How this came about is told in the next chapter.

Here, then, ended the period during which the English Jack, having been restored as a single flag, had continued to be, from 1648 to 1660, the only Jack authorized to be used on the men-of-war.

After the return of the King his subjects evidently began, in their enthusiasm, to make such indiscriminate use of this "King's Jack" instead of the single St. George Jack that they needed, a few years afterwards, to be reminded of the special instructions respecting the flag which had been given in the previous reign. In consequence of this, in 1663, another proclamation was issued, under Charles II., from which the following extract is made:

"_A proclamation for the regulating the colours to be worn on merchant ships.--Charles R._

"Whereas by ancient usage no merchants' ships ought to bear the Jack, which is for distinction appointed for His Majesty's ships:

"His Majesty strictly charges and commands all his subjects, that from henceforth they do not presume to wear _His Majesty's Jack, commonly called the Union Jack_, on any of their ships or vessels, without particular warrant for their so doing from His Majesty, or the Lord High Admiral of England. And His Majesty doth further command all his loving subjects without such warrant they presume not to wear on board their ships or vessels any Jacks made in imitation of His Majesty's, or any other flags, Jacks or ensigns whatsoever, than those usually heretofore worn on merchants' ships, viz., the flag and _Jack white_, with a red cross, commonly called St. George's cross, passing quite through the same, and the _Ensign red_ with the like cross in a canton white at the upper corner thereof next to the staff."

The distinctive order of the flags was this time arranged to be:

A.D. 1663.
THE ROYAL NAVY--
"His Majesty's Jack," commonly called "The Union
Jack."

ALL MERCHANTMEN--
I. The "Jack White," or plain St. George Jack.
II. The "Ensign Red," or red flag, with the "Jack
White" in the upper corner.

From the time of this proclamation of Charles II. the Jack of King James regained its officially authorized position, but only as a single flag, and even then was ordered to be used only on the royal men-of-war. The merchant ships, however, began again so frequently to fly this Jack instead of their single-cross Jacks, that in the reign of William III., and again in the reign of Queen Anne (prior to the creation of her own two-crossed Jack), it was found necessary to issue special proclamations reiterating the official restriction of this two-crossed Jack of James to the ships of the Royal Navy, and forbidding any other ships to use it.

Although the merchantmen were not always using the single St. George Jack, which had been restored to them, and it had given way in the Royal Navy to the two-crossed Jack, yet it had always continued to be used in the Ensign Red referred to in the proclamation. The creation of this Ensign Flag, in 1648, is told in the next chapter, and in this form the restoration of the English Jack was extended for a further period to 1707, and reserved for a special further honour in later times.

In the British Navy of the present day the St. George Jack has become, and is ordered to be, the distinctive flag of an Admiral. According to the mast upon which it is raised his rank is indicated, and the ship on which it is carried is termed the "Flag Ship." These flags are displayed as follows:

ADMIRAL St. George at main.
VICE-ADMIRAL St. George at fore.
REAR-ADMIRAL St. George at mizzen.

Thus has the English Jack been once more restored, and being the signal of command in the British Navy, it is a continuing memorial of the prowess of the seamen of England, whose ships so early won the sea command for the united empire.