Sunday 13 May 1660". The Diary of Samuel Pepys. Phil Gyford. 13 May 1660 . Retrieved 12 January 2017. The flag days directed by the DCMS include birthdays of members of the Royal Family, the wedding anniversary of the Monarch, Commonwealth Day, Accession Day, Coronation Day, The King's Official Birthday, Remembrance Sunday and (in the Greater London area) on the days of the State Opening and prorogation of Parliament. [27] The Union Flag must be flown the correct way up - in the half of the flag nearest the flagpole, the wider diagonal white stripe must be above the red diagonal stripe. Please see the College of Arms guidance Royal Standard A new flag was created to represent the union between them countriesof Scotland and England, by joining the flags together the Flag of Great Britain and first union flag was created. This was however only to be used at sea as land forces would continue to use their existing banners. At first the flag was called Britain or Britain flag, a name that would continue to be used until 1639. After however it was later referred to as the Union. Any non-official flags flying or due to be flown, such as the Rainbow Flag or the Armed Forces Day Flag, should be taken down and replaced with a Union Flag at half-mast. Other official flags scheduled to be flown can be flown as normal, but at half-mast.

The parliamentary resolution passed on 18 December 1964 assigned two purposes for the Royal Union Flag: a flag representing the United Kingdom and an official ceremonial flag of Canada. [106] When used to represent the United Kingdom, the flag takes precedence before the flag of a Canadian province or territory. However, when the flag is used as a ceremonial flag of Canada, the flag of a Canadian province or territory takes precedence before the Royal Union Flag. [106] Hartland Covered Bridge in 2008. The Royal Union Flag on top of the bridge is positioned to the right of the flag of Canada and the provincial flag, in accordance with protocol. Canadian Heritage (10 March 2008). "Statement by the Hon. Jason Kenney, PC, MP, Secretary of State (Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity) on Commonwealth Day". Queen's Printer for Canada. Archived from the original on 11 November 2011. The Union Flag". The Court of the Lord Lyon. Archived from the original on 25 April 2018 . Retrieved 10 June 2008.The flying of the Union Flag on public buildings is decided by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport at The Queen's command.

A field of air force blue with the Union Flag in the canton and the RAF roundel in the middle of the fly. Union Flag: approved designs". www.college-of-arms.gov.uk. College of Arms. 2023 . Retrieved 23 February 2023. The day of the opening of a Session of the Houses of Parliament by His Majesty, and the day of the prorogation of a Session of the Houses of Parliament by His Majesty. Flags should be flown on these days even if His Majesty does not perform the ceremony in person. Flags need to be flown in the Greater London area. Useful resources Would the blue have to be taken out of Union flag if Scotland became independent?". Daily Record. 7 June 2012. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014 . Retrieved 4 December 2013. It made its earliest appearance in 1606. James VI of Scotland had recently ascended to the throne of England, bringing the two countries together in a new realm he styled "the Kingdom of Great Britain".a b c Perrin, William Gordon (1922). British flags, their early history, and their development at sea: with an account of the origin of the flag as a national device. The University Press. p.59. a b c Chan, Holmes (13 July 2019). "Explainer: The conflicting messages behind protesters' use of the colonial Hong Kong flag". hongkongfp.com. Hong Kong Free Press . Retrieved 26 June 2020. In the event, none of these policies came to pass. Flags continued to fly over buildings much as before, there were no citizenship ceremonies, and the expression of the kind of inclusive patriotism that Brown had in mind was undone by the banking crash and the divisive efforts to avert disaster that followed. Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles (1986) [1904]. The Art of Heraldry: An Encyclopædia of Armory. London: Bloomsbury Books. p.399. ISBN 0-906223-34-2.