5i6 



[Proc. B.N.F.C, 



suffered martyrdom in Greece. Its adoption in Scotland dates 

 back to very remote times. It was the blue banner of the 

 Covenant, and has played part in the eventful history of that 

 country. 



CROSS OF ST. PATRICK — ARGENT A SALTIKE GULES. 



The third cross of the Union Jack is the red saltire (or diagonal 

 cross) of St. Patrick, adopted as the national ensign, and named 

 after the patron saint of Ireland, as those of England and 

 Scotland had been. It does not appear as having been in any 

 way associated with the life and labours of St. Patrick. Its 

 adoption, the lecturer thought, dates from the institution of the 

 Knightly Order of St. Patrick, in 1783, when it became the badge 

 of the Order. The Royal Irish Academy in 1785 adopted the 

 same cross, with a royal crown in the centre, as the arms of the 

 Society. A red saltire is the arms of the noble family of 

 Fitzgerald, Duke of Leinster, and it may have been adopted from 

 this ancient house. 



s>'l/M\>h/Jack.lhOG 



2«" Oion^JacK l80l 



The First Union Jack was formed in 1606 by proclamation 

 of James I., so as to put an end to disputes as to precedence of 

 the respective banners of St. George and St. Andrew, by pro- 

 viding a common flag for the nation as a single kingdom. The 

 Second or Present Union Jack was adopted on the legislative 

 union with Ireland in 1801. The peculiar arrangement of the 



