when is the british flag called a union jack
Union Jack The terms Union Jack and Union Flag are both historically correct for describing the de facto national flag of the United Kingdom. Whether the term Union Jack applies only when used as a jack flag on a ship is a modern matter of debate.[9]
Union Jack When the first flag representing Britain was introduced on the proclamation of King James I in 1606,[19] it became known simply as the "British flag" or the "flag of Britain". The royal proclamation gave no distinctive name to the new flag. The word "jack" was in use before 1600 to describe the maritime bow flag.[9] By 1627 a small Union Jack was commonly flown in this position. One theory goes that for some years it would have been called just the "Jack", or "Jack flag", or the "King's Jack", but by 1674, while formally referred to as "His Majesty's Jack", it was commonly called the "Union Jack", and this was officially acknowledged.[8]
Union Jack The Union Jack,[note 1][2][3] or Union Flag, is the national flag of the United Kingdom. The flag also has an official or semi-official status in some other Commonwealth realms; for example, it is, by parliamentary resolution, a ceremonial flag in Canada and known there as the Royal Union Flag.[4] Further, it is used as an official flag in some of the smaller British overseas territories. The Union Flag also appears in the canton (upper left-hand quarter) of the flags of several nations and territories that are former British possessions or dominions.
Union Jack In 1606, James VI gave orders for a British flag to be created which bore the combined crosses of St. George and of St. Andrew. The result was the Union Jack, Jack being a shortening of Jacobus, the Latin version of James".