nexed the English, and felt so bitter about it 

 that for many years after the union on all 

 shields devoted to Scottish business, and on 

 the flag displayed north of the Tweed the 

 arms of Scotland were placed in the first quar- 

 ter, as they are on the monument to Queen 

 Elizabeth in Westminster Abbey (see also 



112,2). 



The early standard of Ireland contained 

 three gold crowns on a blue field. Henry VIII 

 substituted the harp, and James I finally placed 

 it on the third quarter of the royal standard. 

 The Earl of Northampton, writing in the reign 

 of King James I, suggested that the best rea- 

 son that he could observe for the use of the 

 harp was that it resembled the country it typi- 

 fied in being an instrument that cost more to 

 keep it in tune than it was worth. 



The royal standard is hoisted only when the 

 King is actually within the palace or castle, or 

 at the saluting point, or on board the vessel 

 which flies it. The King's regulations say : 

 "The royal standard, being the personal flag 

 of a sovereign, is not to be displayed in future 

 on board His Majesty's ship or on official 

 buildings, as has hitherto been customary on 

 His Majesty's birthday and other occasions: 

 but it shall only be hoisted on occasions when 

 the sovereign is actually present or when any 

 member of the royal family is present, repre- 

 senting the sovereign." 



834. The white ensign, bearing the red cross 

 of St. George with the union flag of the Em- 

 pire as its canton, is the fighting flag of the 

 British navy. When at anchor in home ports 

 the British ships hoist their colors at 8 o'clock 

 in the morning in the summer-time and at 9 

 o'clock in the winter, and when abroad either 

 at 8 or 9, as the commander-in-chief directs. 

 On the hoisting of the ensign all work stops 

 and all ranks must get on deck, standing at 

 the salute as the band plays the opening bars 

 of the national anthem, the man at the hal- 

 yards timing his pulls, so that the ensign 

 reaches the truck at the last note of the band, 

 just as it reaches the deck in the evening, 

 when it is played down. The regulations pro- 

 vide that British ships shall not on any account 

 lower their flags to any foreign ships whatso- 

 ever, unless the foreign ships shall first or at 

 the same time lower their flags to them. 



835. The blue ensign of the British Empire is 

 now flown by naval reserve vessels, public offi- 

 cers afloat, the consular service, the government 

 vessels of the several colonies, by hired trans- 

 ports, by hired surveying vessels commanded 

 by officers of the royal navy, by commissioned 

 officers serving as mail agents, by the Fishery 

 Board for Scotland, by the Pacific Cable Board 

 ships, by Lloyds (in boats), by the Indian Ma- 

 rine, and by Royal Naval Reserve. The privi- 

 lege of flying the blue ensign is also allowed 

 to British merchantmen commanded by officers 

 on the retired list of the royal navy, or by 

 officers of the Royal Naval Reserve, on condi- 

 tion that either officer commanding the ship is 

 one of these, that ten of the crew belong to 

 the reserve, or that the ship is in receipt of 

 an admiralty warrant. Yacht clubs (except the 

 royal, which flies the white) fly the blue ensign. 

 When flown by ships belonging to the British 

 public service, it bears in the fly the seal or 



badge of the office to which the ship is ac- 

 credited. For example, hired transports fly 

 it with a yellow anchor in the fly (see 846) ; 

 the ordnance department of the War Office 

 displays it with a shield on the fly bearing a 

 cannon and cannon balls (see 854). 



836. No other flag in the world flutters in 

 the breeze of as many ports or sails as far 

 and wide as the red ensign of the British Mer- 

 chant Marine. At the beginning of the present 

 war nearly one-half of all of the cargo- and 

 passenger-carrying ships of the earth sailed 

 under these colors. It is not improbable that 

 more than half of all the passengers and car- 

 goes sailing the seven seas were carried upon 

 them, for no nation's ships were more effi- 

 ciently handled. At that time the tonnage of 

 the British Merchant Marine was more than 

 four times as great as that of Germany. 



837. Uther Pendragon, father of King 

 Arthur, had a vision of a flaming dragon in 

 the sky. This his seers interpreted as mean- 

 ing that he should ascend the throne. After 

 his accession he had two golden dragons fash- 

 ioned, one of which he carried into battle. 

 The Anglo-Saxon kings were impressed with 

 the image and incorporated it into their arms. 

 Not until the twentieth century was it officially 

 restored, a proper only to the race of Uther 

 Pendragon. Under the reign of Edward VII 

 it was incorporated into the armorial bearings 

 of the Prince of Wales. 



838. The lion rampant with the tressure, 

 which is the device of Scotland and which is 

 seen in the second quarter of the British royal 

 standard, first appeared on the seal of King 

 Alexander II about 1230 A. D. Without modi- 

 fication in color or form, it was borne by all 

 the sovereigns of Scotland, and on the acces- 

 sion of James VI to the throne of England as 

 James I, in the year 1603, it became an integral 

 part of the king's standard, and has so re- 

 mained to this day. 



839. The story of the harp of Ireland, which 

 appears on the blue field of the Irish standard, 

 has been told in the account of the history of 

 the British royal standard (833), on which it 

 appears in the third quarter (see also 1133). 



840. The three golden lions of the standard 

 of England are, as told in 833, of doubtful 

 origin. Certain it is that, except for the break 

 which occurred in the years that Cromwell was 

 Protector, they have typified the might of Eng- 

 land for seven hundred years. 



841. The royal family's standard of the 

 British Empire is the same as the royal stand- 

 ard (833), except that it has a white border 

 and bears as an escutcheon of pretence the 

 arms of Saxony (998), proclaiming the conti- 

 nental origin of the royal family. As the name 

 of the reigning family has been changed re- 

 cently, it is probable also that its standard will 

 be changed in this same particular. 



842. The flag of the Lord Lieutenant of 

 Ireland is the national flag of the British Em- 

 pire, with the golden harp of the Irish on a blue 

 escutcheon at the intersection of the crosses. 



843. The County Lords Lieutenant, when 

 on land, fly the union with a crown over a 

 sword borne horizontally along the middle arm 

 of St. George's cross. Each county of Great 

 Britain and Ireland has such a chief official. 



380 



