The flag of England is the national flag of England, a constituent country of the United Kingdom. It is derived from Saint George's Cross. The association of the red cross as an emblem of England can be traced back to the Late Middle Ages when it was gradually, increasingly, used alongside the Royal Banner. It became the only saint's flag permitted to be flown in public as part of the English Reformation and at a similar time became the pre-eminent maritime flag referred to as a white ensign.
It was used as a component in the design of the Union Jack in 1606.
The flag of England flying alongside the flag of the United Kingdom in Southsea, Portsmouth, in July 2008
Saint George seen in the act of slaying the dragon. He is depicted wearing a jupon displaying St George's Cross. Paolo Uccello (c. 1460)
Illustration of Saint George's Cross, used alongside the Royal Standard by Wat Tyler's rebels. Froissart's Chronicles BL Royal 18 E.I, fol. 165v, c. 1470
The Tudor navy carrack Henry Grace à Dieu (launched 1514) as depicted in the 1546 Anthony Roll, with St George's Cross displayed on the streamers.
In heraldry, Saint George's Cross is a red cross on a white background, which from the Late Middle Ages became associated with Saint George, the military saint, often depicted as a crusader.
Miniature of Saint George and the Dragon, ms. of the Legenda Aurea, dated 1348 (BNF Français 241, fol. 101v.)
Saint George as a crusader knight, miniature from a ms. of Vies de Saints, c. 1310 (Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, Ms. 588)
Miniature of Saint George and the Dragon, ms. of the Legenda Aurea, Paris, 1382 (BL Royal 19 B XVII, f. 109).
Saint George with an earl of Lancaster (probably Edmund Crouchback), from an English Book of Hours, c. 1330.
