United Kingdom
nationalcrosssaltirered-white-blue
The Union Jack combines the crosses of three patron saints: St George of England (red cross on white), St Andrew of Scotland (white saltire on blue), and St Patrick of Ireland (red saltire on white). The overlapping design creates a distinctive composite flag representing the union of the British nations.
The Union Jack is deliberately asymmetric â the red diagonal stripes are offset from center, so the flag can be flown upside down as a distress signal, though few people notice the difference.
Adopted: 1801
