The Chicagoland and Vintage MG Clubs held their annual Christmas Party at Bella Vista Banquets in Bensenville on December 8th. A new tradition was started at last year’s party which is to hang the various flags of the British Isles and of course the United States!

This year there were a number of comments about the flags and so this article is to explain what they mean!
1 – Irish Flag or Tri Color – The green symbolizes the traditional Gaelic culture of Ireland where the orange symbolizes one of Ireland great heroes and his followers i.e. William of Orange. The white symbolizes peace between the 2 factions.

2 – Flag of Scotland or St Andrew’s Flag – The flag represents Scotland’s patron saint, St Andrew. St Andrew was crucified on an “X” shaped cross ergo the cross on the flag. The white is purity and the blue represents the sky or heavens and belief in God.

3 – Welsh Flag – The red dragon is the Dragon of Cadawaladr, King of Gwynedd (a significant part of Wales). The white field represents the House of Tudor as there was always an affiliation between Wales and England. The red dragon was also believed to be the battle standard of King Arthur and generally believed to be a standard of royalty for the leaders of Britain and Wales. The green represents the Celtic-Romano leaders of old and dates back to Roman occupation where it is believed to have originated.

4 – Flag of England or Saint George’s Flag – The red cross known as St George’s cross is the emblem of England. In the middle ages it was adopted as the battle standard by English crusaders. It became the national flag in 1545 and represented both Wales and England.

5. United Kingdom Flag or Union Jack – This flag came about when James the IV of Scotland inherited the English and Irish thrones in 1603. St George’s cross is united with the Scottish “X”. Ireland is represented by the thinner blue cross which is the cross of St Patrick. The name Union Jack has 2 origins. Union is obvious as it symbolizes the union of the British Isles. The term Jack is actually term used by the British navy dating back the 1600. It simply is a term for a maritime bow flag. Its dominance as a name for the flag was probably due to the power and influence of the British navy.

~~Ralph Arata