Editing Flag of England (section)

==Origins==
{{Further|Saint George's Cross|Flag of Genoa}}
[[File:Wilton_diptych;_right-hand_panel.jpg|thumb|right|Angels wearing the heraldic badge of King Richard II holding the flag of [[Saint George]] surmounted by an orb displaying a miniature map of England. [[Wilton Diptych]] ({{Circa|1395}}–1399)]]
[[File:Uccello - Saint Georges terrassant le dragon, 1430-35.jpg|thumb|right|Saint George seen in the act of [[Saint George and the Dragon|slaying the dragon]]. He is depicted wearing a [[jupon]] displaying [[St George's Cross]]. [[Paolo Uccello]] ({{circa|1460}})]]
[[File:John Ball encouraging Wat Tyler rebels from ca 1470 MS of Froissart Chronicles in BL.jpg|thumb|right|Illustration of Saint George's Cross, used alongside the Royal Standard by [[Wat Tyler]]'s rebels. ''[[Froissart's Chronicles]]'' [[Royal manuscripts, British Library|BL Royal]] 18 E.I, fol. 165v, {{circa|1470}}]]
[[File:AnthonyRoll-1 Great Harry.jpg|thumb|The Tudor navy [[carrack]] ''[[Henry Grace à Dieu]]'' (launched 1514) as depicted in the 1546 [[Anthony Roll]], with St George's Cross displayed on the [[pennon|streamers]].<ref>The Tudor naval streamer was a long, tapering flag, flown from the top of the forecastle, from 20 up to 60 yards in length. "A streamer shall stand in the toppe of a shippe, or in the forecastle, and therein be putt no armes, but a man's conceit or device, and may be of the lengthe of twenty, forty, or sixty yards." – Harleian MS 2358 on ''the Syze of Banners, Standardes, Pennons, Guydhomes, Pencels, and Streamers'' (cited after Frederick Edward Hulme, ''The Flags of the World'' (1896), p. 26).</ref>]]

In 1188 [[Henry II of England]] and [[Philip II of France]] agreed to go on [[Third Crusade|a crusade]], and that Henry would use a white cross and Philip a red cross (and not vice versa as suggested by later use).{{Citation needed|date=November 2019}}

There then follows a historiographical tradition claiming that [[Richard the Lionheart]] himself adopted the full red cross flag and the patron saint from the [[Republic of Genoa]] at some point during his crusade. This idea can be traced to the [[Victorian era]],<ref>E.g.  "Richard Coeur de Lion embarked on Genoese galleys under their banner of the Red Cross and the flag of St. George, which he brought home to become the patron of Old England". ''The Journal of the Manchester Geographical Society'', Volumes 7–8, 1891, p. 139. There are variants; in another version Richard is impressed with the Genoese [[Siege of Acre (1189–91)|at Acre]].</ref> Perrin (1922) refers to it as a "common belief", and it is still popularly repeated today even though it cannot be substantiated.<ref>"I have been unable to find any solid ground for the common belief that the cross of St George was introduced as the national emblem of England by Richard I, and am of opinion that it did not begin to attain that position until the first years of the reign of Edward I". (Perrin 1922, [https://archive.org/stream/britishflagsthei00perrrich#page/n15/mode/2up p. 15])</ref>
[[Prince Edward, Duke of Kent]] made a variation to this in a bilingual preface to a brochure made for the British Pavilion at [[Genoa Expo '92]]. The relevant passage read:
<blockquote>The St. George's flag, a red cross on a white field, was adopted by England and the City of London in 1190 for their ships entering the Mediterranean to benefit from the protection of the Genoese fleet. The English Monarch paid an annual tribute to the [[Doge of Genoa]] for this privilege<ref>This version was taken at face value on the website of a "Ligurian Independence Movement", presented by Vincenzo Matteucci in an article entitled {{lang|it|L'Inghilterra "pagava" per poter innalzare la bandiera della gloriosa Repubblica di Genova sulle sue navi!}} ("England paid for flying on its ships the banner of the Glorious Republic of Genoa!") on that website ([http://www.mil2002.org/cronaca/2002/021000lo.htm Movimento Indipendentista Ligure] 7 No. 3/4 2002), and posted on flags of the world.</ref><ref name=fotw>[http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/it-genoa.html Genoa page] at ''[[Flags of the World (website)|Flags of the World]]'' by ed. Filippo Noceti, 2001</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/Hansard/Pages/HansardResult.aspx#/docid/HANSARD-1820781676-3515|title=Australian Flag – 21/04/1993 – ADJ |website=NSW Parliament |access-date=25 June 2016}}</ref></blockquote>

Red crosses seem to have been used as a distinguishing mark worn by English soldiers from the reign of [[Edward I of England|Edward I]] (1270s),<ref>Perrin 1922, [https://archive.org/stream/britishflagsthei00perrrich#page/36/mode/2up/ p. 37]</ref> or perhaps slightly earlier, in the [[Battle of Evesham]] of 1265, using a red cross on their uniforms to distinguish themselves from the white crosses used by the rebel barons at the [[Battle of Lewes]] a year earlier.<ref>Curry, Anne (2000). ''The Battle of Agincourt: Sources and Interpretations''. Boydell Press. p. 275. {{ISBN|978-0-85115-802-0}}.</ref> Perrin notes a roll of accounts from 1277 where the purchase of cloth for the king's tailor is identified as destined for the manufacture of a large number of pennoncels (pennons attached to lances) and bracers (worn by archers on their left forearms) "of the arms of [[Saint George]]" for the use by the king's foot soldiers ({{lang|la|pro peditibus regis}}).<ref>Perrin 1922, p. 37</ref> Perrin concludes from this that the introduction of the Cross of St George as a "national emblem" is originally due to Edward I. By 1300, there was also a greater "banner of Saint George", but not yet in a prominent function; the king used it among especially banners of king-saints [[Saint Edward the Confessor]] and [[Saint Edmund the Martyr]] alongside the [[Royal Banner of England|royal banner]].<ref>"Among the greater banners that of St George was not as yet supreme; it was indeed only one of four, for when the Castle of Carlaverock was taken in the year 1300: {{lang|xno|Puis fist le roy porter amont  /  Sa baniere et la Seint Eymont  /  La Seint George et la Seint Edwart}} [...]" (Perrin 1922, p. 37)</ref> George had become popular as a "warrior saint" during the [[Crusades]], but the saint most closely associated with England was Edward the Confessor. This was so until the time of [[Edward III of England|Edward III]], who in thanks for Saint George's supposed intervention in his favour at the [[Battle of Crécy]] gave him a special position as a patron saint of the inceptive [[Order of the Garter]] in 1348.<ref>"The first step towards the promotion of St George to a position of predominance seems to be due to Edward III, who in gratitude for his supposed help at the Battle of Crecy founded the Chapel of St George at Windsor in 1348." (Perrin 1922, pp. 37f.)</ref> From that time, his banner was used with increasing prominence alongside the Royal Banner and became a fixed element in the hoist of the [[Royal Standards of England|Royal Standard]]. Yet the flag shown for England in the ''[[Book of All Kingdoms]]'' of 1367 is solid red (while Saint George's Cross is shown for [[Nice]] and, in a [[Jerusalem Cross|five-cross]] version, for [[flag of Georgia (country)|Tbilisi]]). The [[Wilton Diptych]] from the late 1390s shows a swallow-tailed Saint George cross pennant held by an angel in between (the then reigning) King [[Richard II of England|Richard II]] (accompanied by [[Edward the Confessor]] and [[Edmund the Martyr]]) and a scene of the [[Virgin and Child]] flanked by angels wearing Richard's own heraldic devices.{{Cn|date=January 2024}}

[[Saint George's Day]] was considered a "double major feast" from 1415,<ref>It was first introduced as a minor feast day observed in the Church of England in 1222, but its omission from later lists suggests that it was not universally adopted. (Perrin 1922, p. 38).</ref> but George was still eclipsed by his "rivals" Saints Edward and [[Edmund the Martyr|Edmund]].{{Cn|date=January 2024}}

[[John Cabot]], commissioned by [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]] to sail "under our banners, flags and ensigns", may have taken a Saint George's banner to [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]] in 1497.{{citation needed|date=April 2013}}

That Saint George is the primary patron saint of England is among several lasting changes of height of the [[English Reformation|English Protestant Reformation]], via the content which [[Edward VI of England|the teenage king]] and his Protestant advisors issued to all churches and clerics. These rules were the [[Book of Common Prayer|revised prayer book of 1552]]. Just as with the [[Marian persecutions]] (four years of counter-revolution after his natural death) all defecting clerics faced likely deprivation which was the loss of their office and if more broadly heretical, burning at the stake. The book made clear all religious flags, including saints' banners except for Saint George were abolished.<ref>"When the Prayer Book was revised under Edward VI (1547–1553), the festival of St George was abolished, with many others. Under the influence of the Reformation the banners of his former rivals, St Edward and St Edmund, together with all other religious flags in public use, except that of St George, entirely disappeared, and their place was taken by banners containing royal badges" (W. G. Perrin (1922). ''British Flags''. Cambridge University Press. p. 40).</ref> 

Further use of this cross as a [[maritime flag]] alongside royal banners, is found in 1545.<ref name=fotw/>

''[[Henry V (play)|Henry V]]'', the [[history play]] by [[William Shakespeare]], believed to have been written near 1599 includes the fictitious scene of the [[battle of Agincourt]] where the king's final rally is:
<blockquote>Cry 'God for Harry! England, and Saint George!"<br />
[Exeunt. Alarum, and chambers go off.]<ref>[https://gutenberg.org/files/1521/1521-h/1521-h.htm ''The Life of King Henry V''] Act 3, end of Scene 1 France. Before Harfleur...with scaling ladders, William Shakespeare, Project Gutenburg, Release Date: November, 1998 [eBook #1521]</ref></blockquote>
thus promoting the notion that the cult or festivities specifically to the saint, or focus on the Order of the Garter put him significantly ahead of two other national saints &ndash; instead of depicting that they were approximately equal.  The quote became rapidly well known in London, across social classes, and thus imagery entrenched that Saint George was "historically" the primary saint.{{Cn|date=January 2024}}

In 1606, after the [[Union of the Crowns]] in 1603, it was combined with the Scottish [[flag of Scotland|St Andrew's Cross]] to form the [[Union Jack]], which [[James VI & I]] ordered be flown from the main [[Top (sailing ship)|tops]] of ships from both England and Scotland. The "Red Crosse" continued to be flown from the fore-top by James' subjects in "South Britaine"—i.e., the Saint George cross was used with the new union flag on English vessels.{{Cn|date=January 2024}}

In the 19th century, it became desirable for all nations of Europe (and later worldwide) to identify a national flag.{{Citation needed|reason=nations clearly had recognizable flags long before the C19th, as the above makes plain|date=November 2019}}  During that time, the terms [[British Empire|Britain]] and England were used largely interchangeably, the [[Union Flag]] was used as national flag de facto, even though never officially adopted. The observation that the Cross of St George is the "national flag of England" (as opposed to the Union Flag being the flag of all of the United Kingdom) was made in the context of [[Irish Free State|Irish irredentism]], as noted by [[G. K. Chesterton]] in 1933:

[[File:Union Jack in London 2016.jpg|thumb|The Union flag]]

<blockquote>As a very sensible Irishman said in a letter to a Dublin paper: "The Union Jack is not the national flag of England." The national flag of England is the Cross of St. George; and that, oddly enough, was splashed from one end of Dublin to the other; it was mostly displayed on shield-shaped banners, and may have been regarded by many as merely religious.<ref>[[G. K. Chesterton]] (1933). ''Christendom in Dublin''. p. 9.</ref></blockquote>