National colours of the United Kingdom National colours of the United Kingdom The national colours of the United Kingdom are usually identified as the combination of red, white and blue in that order. These colours are the same as in the flag of the United Kingdom. The colours of the flag are in turn taken from the flags of England (white and red) and of Scotland (blue and white), which have been combined to form the union flag; to this was later added a red saltire for Ireland. In maps of the 19th and 20th centuries, the territories of the British Empire were usually coloured red
Flax health of linseed oil. Eventually, Flanders became the major center of the linen industry in the European Middle Ages. In North America, flax was introduced by the colonists and it flourished there, but by the early 20th century, cheap cotton and rising farm wages had caused production of flax to become concentrated in northern Russia, which came to provide 90% of the world's output. Since then, flax has lost its importance as a commercial crop, due to the easy availability of more durable fibres. Flax is grown for its seeds, which can be ground into a meal or turned into