Editing Union Jack (section)

=== After 1801 ===
[[File:British flag flown from HMS Spartiate during the Battle of Trafalgar.jpg|thumb|A Union Jack flown aboard {{HMS|Spartiate|1798|6}} during the [[Battle of Trafalgar]] in 1805, which took place several years after the second Union Jack was adopted.]]
The current and second Union Jack dates from 1 January 1801 with the [[Act of Union 1800]], which merged the [[Kingdom of Great Britain]] and the [[Kingdom of Ireland]] to form the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]]. The new design added a red [[saltire]], the [[Saint Patrick's Flag|cross of Saint Patrick]], for Ireland. This is [[counterchanging|counterchanged]] with the saltire of St Andrew, such that the red always follows the white clockwise. The arrangement has introduced a requirement to display the flag "the right way up" (see [[#Specification|specifications for flag use]] above). As with the red cross, so too the red saltire is separated by a white fimbriation from the blue field.<ref name=Flagsofworld /> This fimbriation is repeated for symmetry on the white portion of the saltire, which thereby appears wider than the red portion. The fimbriation of the cross of St George separates its red from the red of the saltire.

Apart from the Union Jack, Saint Patrick's cross has seldom been used to represent Ireland, and with little popular recognition or enthusiasm; it is usually considered to derive from the arms of the powerful [[FitzGerald]] family rather than any association with the saint.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hayes-McCoy |first=Gerard Anthony |author-link=Gerard Anthony Hayes-McCoy |title=A history of Irish flags from earliest times |editor-first=Pádraig |editor-last=Ó Snodaigh |editor-link=Pádraig Ó Snodaigh |publisher=Academy Press |location=Dublin |year=1979 |isbn=978-0-906187-01-2 |page=38}}
</ref>

====Flag speculation after Irish Free State establishment====
When the [[Anglo-Irish Treaty]] was concluded on 6 December 1921 and the creation of the new [[Irish Free State]] was an imminent prospect, the question arose as to whether the cross of Saint Patrick should remain in the Union Jack. ''[[The New York Times]]'' reported that on 22 January 1922:
[[File:Saint Patrick's Saltire.svg|thumb|The [[cross of Saint Patrick]] was incorporated into the Union Jack in 1801 to represent Ireland. However, the imminent creation of the [[Irish Free State]] in 1922 saw some people question the continued placement of the cross on the Union Jack.]] 
{{blockquote|text=At the [[College of Arms]] it was stated that certain modifications were under consideration and that if any action were taken it would be done by the King in Council. No parliamentary action would be necessary. Heraldry experts say that alterations in arms are very expensive. Some years ago there was a demand from Irish quarters that the blue ground of the golden harp on the royal standard should be changed to green. It was then estimated that the alteration would cost at least £2,000,000. To remove all reference to Ireland from the present Union Jack and Royal Arms would be vastly more expensive.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1922/01/14/109830879.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308091829/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1922/01/14/109830879.pdf |archive-date=8 March 2021 |title=May Alter The Union Jack |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=14 January 1922 }}</ref>}}

There was some speculation on the matter in British dominions also, with one New Zealand paper reporting that:
{{blockquote|text=...the removal of the cross of St. Patrick Cross after 120 years will transform the appearance of the flag. It will certainly become a flag under which great victories were won in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but to most minds the sentimental loss will be great. Probably it will be found that the deletion is not absolutely necessary. Other possible changes include the abolition of the title of the United Kingdom, and the removal of the harp from the Royal Standard and the Coat of Arms, and the substitution of the Ulster emblem.<ref name="ashburton">{{cite news |title=Signs of Heraldry |url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=AG19211213.2.31.5&srpos=2&e=-------10--1----2%22Irish+Free+State%22-all |newspaper=[[Ashburton Guardian]] |volume=XLII |issue=9409 |date=13 December 1921 |page=5 |publisher=[[National Library of New Zealand]] |access-date=2012-01-09}}</ref>}}

However, the fact that it was likely that [[Northern Ireland]] would remain in the United Kingdom gave better grounds for keeping the cross of St. Patrick in the Union Jack. In this regard, [[Sir James Craig]], the [[Prime Minister of Northern Ireland]] remarked in December 1921 that he and his government were "glad to think that our decision [to remain part of United Kingdom] will obviate the necessity of mutilating the Union Jack."<ref name="ulster">{{cite news |title=The Position of Ulster |url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=AG19211216.2.25.5&srpos=14&e=-------10--11----2%22Irish+Free+State%22-all |newspaper=[[Ashburton Guardian]] |volume=XLII |issue=9413 |date=16 December 1921 |page=5 |publisher=[[National Library of New Zealand]] |access-date=9 January 2012}}</ref> Though remaining within the United Kingdom, the new government of Northern Ireland dispensed with the St Patrick's Saltire in favour of [[Ulster banner|a new flag]] derived from the [[House of Burke|coat-of-arms of the Burkes]], Earls of Ulster, and quite similar to England's St George's Cross.
[[File:A soldier sitting in a room in a military hospital in Harrow Wellcome V0029742.jpg|thumb|A soldier in a military hospital in [[Harrow, London]], with a Union Jack displayed in the right background, 1922]]
Ultimately, when the British [[home secretary]] was asked on 7 December 1922 (the day after the Irish Free State was established) whether the [[Garter Principal King of Arms|Garter King of Arms]] was "to issue any Regulations with reference to the national flag consequent to the passing of the Irish Free State Constitution Act", the response was no and the flag has never been changed.<ref>{{cite Hansard |title=National Flag (Irish Free State) |house=House of Commons |date=7 December 1922 |volume=159 |column_start=2015W |column_end=2016W |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1922/dec/07/national-flag-irish-free-state |access-date=14 August 2013 |archive-date=24 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121224034625/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/written_answers/1922/dec/07/national-flag-irish-free-state |url-status=live }}</ref>

A [[Question Time|Dáil question]] in 1961 mooted raising the removal of the cross of St Patrick with the British government; Frank Aiken, the [[Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade|Irish Minister for External Affairs]], declined to "waste time on heraldic disputations".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1961-08-03/17/ |title=Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. – Cross of St. Patrick on British Flag |volume=191 |number=15 |page=18 |website=[[Oireachtas]] |date=3 August 1961}}</ref>

====21st century====
[[File:Union Flag (including Wales).svg|thumb|left|One suggested redesign of the Union Jack with the red dragon from the [[flag of Wales]] added in the centre]]
The lack of any Welsh symbol or colours in the flag is a result of Wales having been considered an integral part of the Kingdom of England at the time the [[flag of Great Britain]] was created in 1606. Since there is no Welsh element in the Union Jack, [[Wrexham]]'s [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] [[Member of Parliament|MP]] [[Ian Lucas]] proposed on 26 November 2007 in a [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] debate that the Union Flag be combined with the [[Flag of Wales|Welsh flag]] to reflect Wales's status within the UK, and that the [[Welsh Dragon|red dragon]] be added to the Union Flag's red, white, and blue pattern.<ref name="welsh">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7114248.stm |title=Welsh dragon call for Union flag |publisher=BBC |date=27 November 2007}}</ref> He said the Union Jack currently only represented the other three UK nations, and [[Department for Culture, Media and Sport|Minister for Culture, Creative Industries and Tourism]] [[Margaret Hodge]] conceded that Lucas had raised a valid point for debate. She said, "the Government is keen to make the Union Flag a positive symbol of Britishness reflecting the diversity of our country today and encouraging people to take pride in our flag." This development sparked design contests with entries from all over the world.<ref name="face">{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1572168/The-new-face-of-Britain-Flag-poll-results.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1572168/The-new-face-of-Britain-Flag-poll-results.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=The new face of Britain Flag poll results |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=5 December 2007 |first=Matthew |last=Moore}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In the run-up to the [[2014 Scottish independence referendum]], various non-official suggestions were made for how the flag could be redesigned without the St Andrew's Cross if Scotland left the Union. However, as Scotland voted against independence, the issue did not arise.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25205017 |first1= Sam |last1=Judah |title=What would the union jack look like if the Scottish bit were removed? |website=BBC |date=4 December 2013 |access-date=3 December 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/galleryguide/0,,184378,00.html |title=The Union Jack: your designs |website=The Guardian |access-date=3 December 2015}}</ref>