Editing Union Jack (section)

====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>