Chapter IV: The English Jack

A.D. 1194-1606.

The original leader and dominant partner in the three kingdoms, which have been the cradle of the British race throughout the world, was England, and it is her flag which forms the groundwork upon which our Union Flag has been built up.

The English Jack (Pl I., fig. 1) is described in simple language as a white flag having upon it a plain red cross.

This is the banner of St. George (8), the patron saint of England, and in heraldic language is described as "_Argent, a cross gules_" (on silver-white a plain red cross).

The great Christian hero, St. George, is stated by those who have made most intimate search into his legend and history[17] to have been descended from a noble Cappadocian Christian family, and to have been beheaded for his faith on the 23rd April, A.D. 303, during the persecution of the Christians by the Emperor Diocletian. The anniversary of that day is for that reason celebrated as St. George's Day. He was a soldier of highest renown, a knight of purest honour, and many exploits of his heroism and courage are narrated in ancient prose and poetry.

[17] Gordon: "Saint George, Champion of Christendom."

About three miles north along the shore of the Mediterranean, from the city of Beyrut (Beyrout), there was in the time of the Crusaders, and still remains, an ancient grotto cut into the rock, and famous as being the traditional place where the gallant knight St. George,

"Y' cladd in mightie armes and silver shielde,
As one for knightly giusts and fierce encounters fitt."[18]

[18] Spenser: "Faerie Queene."

was reputed to have performed one of his most doughty deeds, and had "_redeemed the King's daughter out of the fiery jaws of a dreadful dragon_.[19]

[19] Ludovicus Patricius: "Book of Travels."

The memory of St. George has always been greatly revered in the East, particularly by the Christian Greek Church, by which he was acclaimed as the "Victorious One," the "Champion Knight of Christendom," and early accepted as the protector saint of soldiers and sailors. One of the first churches erected by Constantine the Great, about A.D. 313, and many other Eastern churches, were dedicated to him.

It is to be noted, however, that St. George has never been canonized by the Roman Church, nor his name placed in her calendar of sacred saints. His name, like those of St. Christopher, St. Sebastian and St. Nicholas, was only included in a list issued in A.D. 494, by Pope Gelasius, as being among those "_whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose actions are known only to God_.[20]

[20] Jameson: "Sacred and Legendary Art."

The form of his cross is that known as the Greek Cross, the four arms being at right angles to each other, and in this form is displayed in the upper corner of the national Greek ensign, in this case as a white cross on a blue ground. (Pl II., fig. 3.)

This Greek religious connection has also caused the adoption of the cross of St. George in the insignia of other nations. The Czar of Russia is not only the "Autocrat of the People of the Empire of all the Russias," but he is also the "Supreme Head of the Orthodox Faith," which in Russia is represented by the Greek Church. His Imperial Standard is a yellow flag upon which is displayed a black two-headed eagle bearing upon its breast a red shield on which is emblazoned in white the figure of St. George slaying a dragon. This same colouring, white on red, is followed in the decoration of the Order of St. George, which is the second order of knighthood in Russia, and in the white cross of St. George, as shown in the official flags of the Russian ambassadors.

On the royal arms of Austria the black two-headed eagle bears on its breast a shield with a red ground having on it a white St. George's cross.

The insignia of eight nations bear the Greek cross of the St. George shape, but in four different colours on grounds of three different colours:

Greece a white cross on a blue ground.
Russia a " " " red "
Austria a " " " " "
Denmark a " " " " "
Switzerland a " " " " "
Norway a blue " " " "
Sweden a yellow " " blue "
England a red " " white "

England is, however, the only nation which has adopted the _Red cross of St. George_ as its special national ensign.

The cry of "St. George for Merrie England" has re-echoed through so many centuries that his place as the patron saint of the kingdom is firmly established. Wherever ships have sailed, there the red cross of St. George has been carried by the sailor-nation who chose him as their hero.

The incident from which came his adoption as patron saint is thus narrated in the early chronicles. In 1190, Richard I., _C[oe]ur de Lion_, of England, had joined the French, Germans and Franks in the third great crusade to the Holy Land; but while the other nations proceeded overland to the seat of war, Richard built and engaged a great fleet, in which he conveyed his English troops to Palestine by sea. His armament consisted of "254 talle shippes and about three score galliots." Sailing down the eastern shore with these and arriving off the coast, he won a gallant sea-fight over the Saracens near Beyrut, and the grotto of St. George, and by this victory intercepted the reinforcements which their ships were carrying to the relief of Acre, at that time being besieged by the combined armies of the Crusaders.

St. George, the redresser of wrongs, the protector of women, the model of Christian chivalry, and the tutelary saint of England, was not a seafaring hero, nor himself connected with the sea, but it was after and in memory of their sailors' victory near the scene of his exploits that the seafaring nation adopted him as their patron saint.

The red cross emblem of St. George is stated by the chroniclers to have been at once thereafter adopted by Richard I., who immediately placed himself and his army under the especial protection of the Saint, raised his banner at their head, and is reported to have introduced the emblem into England itself after his return in 1194. Further evidence of its introduction and its continued use is given by the record that in 1222 St. George's Day was ordered to be kept as a holiday in England.[21]

[21] Butler: "Lives of the Fathers and Martyrs."

Some aver that the emblem was not generally accepted until under Edward I., in 1274. This prince, before his accession to the throne, had served in the last Crusades, and during that time had visited the scene of the victory and the grotto of the Saint. It is pointed out that this visit of Prince Edward to Palestine coincided with the change made in their badge by the English Order of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem from an eight-pointed Maltese cross to a straight white Greek cross, and that at the time of this change came the appearance upon the English banners of the St. George's cross, but of the English national colour red,[22] therefore they deduce that the further employment of the emblem as the national flag was then additionally authorized by Edward I.

[22] Bloomfield: "The National Flag."

From this last date (1274) onward the St. George's cross and the legend of "St. George and the Dragon" in England are, at all events, in plain evidence. An early instance is that found in the borough of Lyme Regis, in Dorset, to which Edward I., in 1284, granted its first charter of incorporation and its official seal. A photo reproduction of a wax impression of this borough seal (9), taken from an old "Toll lease" is here given. The flag of St. George is seen at the mast-head, and below it the Royal Standard of Richard I., with its three lions for England, carried by Edward in Palestine during the lifetime of his father. At the bow of the ship is the figure of the Saint represented in the act of slaying the dragon, and having on his shield the St. George's cross.

"And on his breast a bloodie crosse he bore,
The deare remembrance of his dying Lord,
For whose sweete sake that glorious badge he wore,
And dead, as living, ever Him adored:
Upon his shield the like was also scor'd,
For soveraine hope which in his helpe he had.
Right faithful true he was in deede and word."[23]

[23] Spenser: "Faerie Queene."

The religious and Christian attributes of St. George are commemorated on the seal by the representation of the Crucifixion and by the Saint, the head of whose spear is a St. George's cross, being shown as in angel form. The sea tradition of his adoption is also sustained by the characteristic introduction of the "galley" into the design.

Around the edge of the seal is the rude lettering of the inscription in Latin: "_Sigillum: Comune: De: Lim_" ("The common seal of Lyme"). Near the top may be seen the "star and crescent" badge of Richard I., adopted by him as a record of his naval victory, and which is still used as an "admiralty badge" upon the epaulettes of admirals of the British navy.

This seal of Lyme Regis is said to be the earliest representation of St. George and the dragon known in England.

The same form of cross was placed by Edward I., in 1294, upon the monumental crosses which he raised at Cheapside, Charing Cross and other places, in memory of his loved Queen Eleanor, to mark the spots at which her body rested during the funeral procession when her remains were carried from Lincoln through Northampton to London.

Another instance of a later date is found on a "sepulchral brass" (10), placed to the memory of Sir Hugh Hastings in Elsing Church, Norfolk, and dated 1347.

These plates of engraved brass, inserted in the stone coverings of so many graves in the interior of the churches in England, are most interesting examples of early memorial art. The figure of the deceased is usually drawn in full length upon them in lines cut deeply into the metal, and is accompanied by an inscription setting forth his deeds and his name.

In the upper part of the architectural tracery surrounding the figure on the brass in question is a circle 8-1/4 inches in diameter, in which the figure of St. George is as shown. The Saint here appears as a knight, clad in full armour and mounted upon horseback, representing him in his character as the leader of chivalry and knightly manhood. A further development of the attribute of manly vigour will be noted in that, instead of being shown as piercing, as previously, the fiery dragon of the ancient legend, he is now represented as slaying the equally typical two-legged demon of vice. This representation still further exemplifies the teaching and allegory of the emblem of "St. George and the Dragon."

St. George represents the Principle of Good, the Dragon the Principle of Evil. It is the contest between virtue and vice, in which the knight by his virtues prevails--a splendid emblem for a Christian people.

This photo reproduction is from a "rubbing" in black lead recently taken from the brass, and shows, so far as the reduced scale will permit, the St. George's crosses upon the surcoat and shield of the knight and the trappings of his horse.

In 1350, on St. George's Day, the "most noble Order of the Garter" was instituted by Edward III., with magnificent ceremony in the St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. This is the highest order of knighthood in the kingdom. Its jewel, called "The George," is a representation of St. George and the Dragon, and in the centre of the "Star" of the Order is the red cross of St. George.

So onward through all the centuries, and now St. George is the acclaimed patron saint of England and all Englishmen.

It was under this red cross banner of St. George that Richard I., the Lion-hearted, after proving their seamanship in victory and giving his men their battle-cry, "Saint George--forward!"[24] showed the mettle of his English Crusaders in the battles of the Holy Land, and led them to the walls of Jerusalem. With it the fleets of Edward I. claimed and maintained the "lordship of the Narrow Seas." Under this single red cross flag the ships of England won the epochal naval victory of _Sluys_, where the English bowman shot his feathered shafts from shipboard as blithely as when afterwards on land the French battlefields resounded to the cry of "England and St. George," when the undying glories of Cressy and Poictiers were achieved, and again at Agincourt when Henry V. led on his men to victory. Under it, too, Cabot discovered Cape Breton, Drake sailed around the world, Frobisher sought the Northwest passage, Raleigh founded Virginia, and the navy of Elizabeth carried confusion into the ill-fated Spanish Armada.

[24] Orton: "Saint George."

This is a "glory roll" which justifies the name of England as "Mistress of the Seas." Her patron saint was won as a record of naval victory. With this red cross flag of St. George flying above them, her English sailors swept the seas around their white-cliffed coasts, and made the ships of all other nations do obeisance to it. With it they penetrated distant oceans, and planted it on previously unknown lands as signs of the sovereignty of their king, making the power of England and England's flag known throughout the circle of the world.

All this was done before the time when the sister-nations had joined their flags with hers, and it is a just tribute to the seafaring prowess of the English people, and to the victories won by the English Jack, that the single St. George's cross is in the British fleets the _Admiral's Flag_, and flies as his badge of rank; that it is in the _Command Pennant_ of all captains and officers in command of ships, and that the English red cross flag is the groundwork of the White Ensign of the British navy (Pl. VIII. , fig. 2). This is the "distinction flag" of the British navy, allowed to be carried only by His Majesty's ships-of-war, and restricted, except by special grant, solely to those bearing the Royal commission.[25]

[25] A special permission has been granted to the yachts of the "Royal Yacht Squadron," of England, to use the white ensign. A penalty of £500 may by law be imposed for hoisting on any ship or boat belonging to any of His Majesty's subjects any flag not permitted in accordance with the Admiralty's Regulations. (See Art. 86, "Admiralty Instructions.")

Thus has the memory of Richard I. and his men been preserved, and all honour done to the "Mariners of England," the sons of St. George, whose single red cross flag, the English Jack, has worthily won the poet's praise:

"Ye mariners of England!
That guard our native seas,
Whose flag has braved a thousand years
The battle and the breeze.

* * * * *

"The meteor flag of England
Shall yet terrific burn,
Till danger's troubled night depart,
And the star of Peace return."[26]

[26] Campbell.