Flag of Hawaii in command of the H.M.S. Discovery. During the Visit Vancouver met with Kamehameha I and presented him with a Red Ensign. At this time Ireland was not part of a united kingdom which meant the union jack did not contain Saint Patrick's Cross. This version of the Red Ensign, as well as the current version which added the cross in 1801, was the unofficial flag of the Kingdom of Hawaii until 1816. An adviser to Kamehameha noted that the Union Flag could draw Hawaii into international conflict, as his kingdom could be seen as an ally of the United Kingdom,
Union Jack decommissioned. The most recent decommissioning of the Union Flag came on 1 July 1997, when the former Dependent Territory of Hong Kong was handed over to the People's Republic of China. All administrative regions and territories of the United Kingdom fly the Union Jack in some form, with the exception of Gibraltar (other than the government ensign) and the Crown Dependencies. Outside the UK, the Union Jack is usually part of a special ensign in which it is placed in the upper left hand corner of a blue field, with a signifying crest in the bottom right. Four former British