The origin of England's flag dates back to the times of the Crusades.
At that time, English soldiers used a flag with a red background and white cross to distinguish themselves from French soldiers.
Meaning
England's flag
White means purity; the cross, Christianity; and red, courage and sacrifice.
The red cross is known as the “Cross of Saint George”, in honor of the patron saint of England, since the 14th century, Saint George.
History
During the Middle Ages, each feudal lord carried a standard with his family's coat of arms to differentiate his soldiers on the battlefield. The coat of arms was also used on castle doors, shields, seals and wherever it was necessary to identify the nobleman.
In this way, the King of England had as its main symbol a lion or a leopard that would later be incorporated into the symbols of the British royal family.
However, during the Crusades, the symbol adopted by the British was a red flag with a white cross. At the end of the Crusades, the English copied their flag from the French: a white field with a red cross.
It was King Edward III, whose reign was from 1327 to 1377, who ordered soldiers to wear this flag. Likewise, he also made it a symbol of the Order of the Garter, one of the oldest in the British monarchy, founded by him in 1348.
The flag became increasingly popular, especially during the Tudor period (1485-1603) when it was widely used on merchant ships.
Because of this, the cross of Saint George survived the Anglicanism when the worship of saints was abolished. Thus, the flag continued to be used as an English national symbol.
United Kingdom flag
It is important not to confuse the flag of England with that of the UK.
The fusion of the flags of England, Scotland and Ireland forms the flag of the United Kingdom which is also known as Union Flag or "Flag of the Union".
Scheme representing the different flags that make up the British pavilion
Curiosity
Recently, the flag of England was accused of being offensive by some religious groups because it bears a Christian symbol.
Also find out about other flags:
- Brazil's flag
- flag of argentina
- Canada flag
- Paraguay Flag
- France flag
- flag of japan
- United states's flag
- Flag of Portugal
- Spanish flag
- Russian flag
- Chile flag