In a few days time. Scotland will have referendum to answer a three hundred year old question “Should Scotland be an independent country?”
Voters can either votes ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. If the decision is affirmative, then a process of negotiations will inevitably lead to the creation of a new independent country. If this happens, there are many scenarios where this dissolution of the union will affect us for better or worse and it will probably take decades to fully understand the ramifications of this decision. But one symbol, the Union Flag and how it represents the United Kingdom may have a more immediate effect on the British psyche.
The proclamation of King James which lead to the creation of the Union flag on April 12 1606 stated –
“By the King: Whereas, some differences hath arisen between Our subjects of South and North Britaine travelling by Seas, about the bearing of their Flagges: For the avoiding of all contentions hereafter. We have, with the advice of our Council, ordered: That from henceforth all our Subjects of this Isle and Kingdome of Great Britaine, and all our members thereof, shall beare in their main-toppe the Red Crosse, commonly called St. George’s Crosse, and the White Crosse, commonly called St. Andrew’s Crosse, joyned together according to the forme made by our heralds, and sent by Us to our Admerall to be published to our Subjects: and in their fore-toppe our Subjects of South Britaine shall weare the Red Crosse onely as they were wont, and our Subjects of North Britaine in their fore-toppe the White Crosse onely as they were accustomed.”
The design of the flag probably had a similar process when designing a logo today. The brief was that we need to combine three national flags, the red cross of St George of the Kingdom of England, the white saltire of St Andrew for Scotland and the red saltire of St Patrick to represent Ireland. I imagine the designer was quite pleased with the clean lines and clever solution of the Union Flag and then someone probably looked over their shoulder and said ‘Where’s the Dragon for Wales?’ An ink pot was probably spilled and a disgruntled designer stormed off and came back with a piece of parchment that was the Wikipedia of it’s day and quoted
“Wales had no explicit recognition in the Union Flag as it had been a part of the Kingdom of England since being annexed by Edward I of England in 1282 and its full integration by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542, and was therefore represented by the flag of England”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Jack
The Union flag wasn’t without it’s critics. Scotland was unhappy that saltire of St Patrick wasn’t on top of the cross of St George and group of Scots sent a letter of complaint to King James, which stated that the flag’s design “will breid some heit and miscontentment betwix your Majesties subjectis”. How those words echo today.
Now that we are in a period of ‘miscontentment’.It is an interesting subject to discuss the future of the Union flag and how it represents the remaining United Kingdom. Do we just remove the Scotish saltire? and maybe add a dragon? Do we have a rethink and design a flag that represents the country today?
I would argue the case that if the remaining countries refer to themselves as the ‘UK’ and ‘Great Britain’ then the Union Flag is safe from change. The union flag represents countries and people joining together under a shared banner and this is just as relevant today as it was in 1606. The United Kingdom is made up off many different people from multiple ethnic backgrounds who choose to live, work and contribute to our society. Scotland has been part of an incredible 300 years of history where Britain has contributed in an unprecedented scale to human technology and scientific achievements. The rights and wrongs of empire are incredibly complex and shouldn’t overshadow the future of the Union Flag. Our position in the world and Brand Britain is associated with the Union Flag and changes to this flag will inevitably weaken our awareness on a global scale.
The newly independent Scotland will be keen to distance itself from anything that connects itself from the Auld Union and the fact that Scotland will no longer be part of Union can be put aside. National flags do carry designs based on historical context rather than current trends. For example, the current EU flag carries fewer stars than the present number of EU countries. There has been few calls to update it each time a new member joins.
This argument is based on the belief that England, Wales and Northern Ireland wish to continue with the Union Flag. There is a strong possibility that the independence of Scotland will fuel similar desires for independence in the remaining union and we will see each country assert there own flags over the Union Flag. Flags are important associations of a shared nation, shared beliefs and to discard this would be a tragedy of Shakespearian proportions…
James Chantler is a creative thinker and Creative Director at Happy Creative, a full service marketing and creative agency based in Blackpool, Lancashire. To learn more or contact us please go to www.happy-creative.co.uk
