England and Scotland in four quarters: the flag attributed to Cromwell’s republic shows the union of 1654, when there was no king.
Every fact about the flag, each with what it means.
Historical flagFIAV symbol: the form of the flag.
CivilFIAV symbol: who may fly the flag.The flag in the words of vexillology and heraldry.
It is a rectangular field with a 4:5 ratio divided into four equal quarters.
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 Union flag, which had mixed England and Scotland since 1606
It is associated with the Commonwealth, the republic that ruled England between 1649 and 1660,…
Scotland, conquered by Cromwell, was joined by law to England with an ordinance of 12 April 1654…
Perrin the saltire did not return to the navy’s flags until 1658
In 1660 King Charles II returns and the harp disappears
How it was born, how it has changed and what it means.
This flag brings together in four quarters the Cross of St George of England and the saltire of St Andrew of Scotland. It is associated with the Commonwealth, the republic that ruled England between 1649 and 1660, when there was no king. It is the image many books and websites use for that period, although the documents of the time speak above all of other flags.
In 1649 Parliament executed King Charles I and proclaimed the republic, which was eventually led by Oliver Cromwell. The Union flag, which had mixed England and Scotland since 1606, was the symbol of the kings, and the republic withdrew it: on 22 February 1649 it ordered that its ships should carry only the red cross on white.
Scotland, conquered by Cromwell, was joined by law to England with an ordinance of 12 April 1654 that ordered the Scottish saltire to be added to the arms of the republic. The quartered design on this page reflects that union, but according to the historian W. G. Perrin the saltire did not return to the navy’s flags until 1658.
In eleven years of republic the flags changed almost as much as the government.
1606-1649
The first Union flag, of King James I, who reigned in England and Scotland at the same time.
1649
With no king, the ships of the republic may only carry the Cross of St George.
1649-1658
For the admirals, the arms of England and Ireland in two shields on red.
1654
The quartered design that reflects the union with Scotland of 1654.
1658-1660
The Union flag comes back, now with the harp of Ireland in the centre. In 1660 King Charles II returns and the harp disappears.
Red Cross of St George on white
England.
White saltire of St Andrew on blue
Scotland, joined to the republic in 1654.
Four quarters
the two countries repeated diagonally, as in a coat of arms.
On 22 February 1649 the Council of State ordered that ships should carry ‘only the red cross on a white flag’. Oliver Cromwell signed the order the next day.
The Irish harp was already on the admirals’ flags in 1649, years before the Scottish saltire.
Almost all the symbols of the republic were destroyed when the monarchy returned in 1660. One naval flag of the Commonwealth was saved and is kept in the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, London.
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Test what you have read about the flag of Commonwealth.
Text based on the article “Flags of the English Interregnum (Wikipedia en inglés)” from the Spanish Wikipedia, published under the licence CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sources consulted:
Flag image: Richtom80 at English Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0.
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