The Flag and the Colonies
A global power1714 to 1901
The cross of St Andrew stood for Scotland: a diagonal cross, white against a blue ground. Ireland's cross came next. The cross of St Patrick stood in the same flag, its own diagonal cross, red this time, set on a white ground.
Wales was not part of that design. The official Welsh flag is a separate one, showing a Welsh dragon, a symbol that has never appeared on the flag flown for the rest of the United Kingdom.
Britain's American colonies had their own quarrel with Parliament. The American colonists complained that they were taxed without being given any representation in Parliament, a grievance that pushed the colonies toward breaking away. Europe was unsettled too: revolution broke out in France in 1789, and the new French government soon went to war with Britain, a conflict that dragged on for years.
What to remember
| The cross of St Andrew | being a diagonal white cross on a blue ground St Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland; his cross is one of the three on the Union Flag. |
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| The cross of St Patrick | being a diagonal red cross on a white ground St Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland; his cross is one of the three on the Union Flag. |
| The official Welsh flag | showing a Welsh dragon The dragon is not on the Union Flag. |
| Said there should be no taxation without representation in the British Parliament | the American colonists The British government wanted to tax the colonies; the colonists saw it as an attack on their freedom. |
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| The revolution in France that led to war with Britain | 1789 The new French government soon declared war on Britain. |
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