Union Jack Union Jack. The Basque Country's flag, the Ikurriña, is also loosely based on the Union Jack, reflecting the significant commercial ties between Bilbao and Britain at the time the Ikurriña was designed in 1894. The Miskito people sometimes use a similar flag that also incorporates the Union Jack in its canton, due to long periods of contact in the Mosquito Coast. The Union Jack was used by the United States in its first flag, the Grand Union Flag. This flag was of a similar design to the one used by the British East India Company. Hawaii, a state of the
Union Jack these arrangements, the Union Jack was subordinate to the National Flag. As the two flags had to be the same size, it meant that the Union Jack was made in the ratio 2:3 rather than the usual 1:2. The flying of the Union Jack alongside the National Flag ended on 6 April 1957. The predecessor of the Union Jack, the flag of Great Britain, came into use in what is now Canada at the time of the Scottish settlement of Nova Scotia in 1621. The Union Flag was also the official flag of the Dominion of Newfoundland and continued in