Union Jack Union Jack The Union Jack, 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 a ceremonial flag in Canada by parliamentary resolution, and known there as the Royal Union Flag. 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, as well as the state flag of Hawaii.
Union Jack blazon for the old union flag, to be compared with the current flag, is "azure, the cross saltire of St Andrew argent surmounted by the Cross of St George gules, fimbriated of the second." Wales had no explicit recognition in the Union Jack as it had been a part of the Kingdom of England since being annexed by Edward I of England in 1282 and its full integration by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542, and was therefore represented by the flag of England. The Kingdom of Ireland, which had existed as a personal union with England since 1541, was