Happy Birthday Union 'Flag'

[Banquo's Ghost]

You know, I always thought that the cross of St. David was on the Union Flag. I used to think that it was a red saltire on a white background.

Wouldn't it be a good idea if this was the case? Then the Welsh would be part of the flag and the Irish not - like it should be

Can saints swap flags?

[Duke of Gloucester]

More to the point, why is the cross of St Patrick (the saltire) still on the union flag when the Republic of Ireland is no longer part of the union?

(The flag of Ulster, as you can see in ShadesPanther's sig, is the St George cross with a red hand + not x ).

Well obviously it represents Northern Ireland, which is still part of the UK. It would not make sense to replace St Patrick's cross with the Ulster flag: whilst the six counties are not the whole of Ireland, neither are they the whole of Ulster.

[Marcellus]

I always found this version of the Union Flag rather amusing - as you might be able to guess it's a Scottish protest at the fact that the cross of St George came on top of the cross of St Andrew.

Anyway

[Banquo's Ghost]

Well obviously it represents Northern Ireland, which is still part of the UK. It would not make sense to replace St Patrick's cross with the Ulster flag: whilst the six counties are not the whole of Ireland, neither are they the whole of Ulster.

I know. I was just teasing

[Duke of Gloucester]

I know. I was just teasing

I knew you were teasing: I was just making sure you knew that Ulster and Northern Ireland are not identical.