A red saltire on a white ground, used by tradition since the nineteenth century, to which in 1981 the arms of the three lions of the island were added.
Every fact about the flag, each with what it means.
Normal flagFIAV symbol: the form of the flag.
Civil and stateFIAV symbol: who may fly the flag.YesIt carries the coat of arms on the cloth.The flag in the words of vexillology and heraldry.
It is a rectangular field with a 3:5 ratio, white, with a red saltire and the arms of the island at the top.
Each element and how many of the 1,390 flags in the catalogue carry it. In yellow, the rarest.
Every date in its story, at a glance.
The red saltire was used in Jersey by tradition from at least the 1830s
In 1906, the highest authority on the island wrote that Jersey ships hoisted it to show their…
In 1977, with the jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II
The Parliament of the island approved it on 12 June 1979 and it was officially hoisted on 7 April…
How it was born, how it has changed and what it means.
The flag of Jersey is white, with a red saltire, a cross in the shape of an X running from corner to corner. At the top it bears a red coat of arms with three golden lions and a crown. Jersey is an island in the English Channel, very close to France, which depends on the British Crown but is not part of the United Kingdom.
The red saltire was used in Jersey by tradition from at least the 1830s, although nobody had ever approved it. Its origin is a mystery. In 1906, the highest authority on the island wrote that Jersey ships hoisted it to show their neutrality in the wars between England and France.
In 1977, with the jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, the debate over an official flag began. Many thought the saltire on its own was confused with St Patrick’s cross, the symbol of Ireland, and with a maritime signal flag. Others wanted to keep it as it was, and others preferred the three lions of the coat of arms. In the end an agreement was reached: the old saltire with the coat of arms on top. The Parliament of the island approved it on 12 June 1979 and it was officially hoisted on 7 April 1981.
Jersey has only had two flags: the traditional saltire and the current one, which adds the coat of arms to it.
1830-1981
The red saltire on white is used by custom, with no law recognising it.
1981
The arms of the three lions and a yellow crown are added to make it unmistakable.
Each element recalls the history of the island:
Red saltire on white
the traditional flag of Jersey. Its origin is not known with certainty.
Three golden lions on red
the arms of Jersey, the same as those of the kings of England. They recall that the island belonged to the duchy of Normandy and stayed loyal to the English kings.
Crown
the crown of the Plantagenet, the dynasty that reigned in England when Jersey received its arms, in the thirteenth century.
In 1951 a historian proposed that the flag was born of a confusion: an English book of 1783 would have misread the Dutch word Ierse, “Irish”, as if it said “Jersey”. It is a much-debated theory, because there are earlier French nautical charts that already show the saltire for Jersey.
During the Second World War the Germans occupied the island and banned the British flag. Ships travelling between the Channel Islands then used the red saltire.
The current flag was first hoisted in 1981, on the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Jersey, in which the island repelled a French invasion.
Where it is and what borders it.
Test what you have read about the flag of Jersey.
Text based on the article “Bandera de Jersey” from the Spanish Wikipedia, published under the licence CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sources consulted:
Flag image: Desconocido, Wikimedia Commons · Public domain.
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