Do you hail from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland? Most people simply refer to it as the U.K. or (incorrectly) England. No matter what you call it, if that's where your heart lies, you need several flag patches proclaiming your British loyalty. One such patch is the England Flag Shield Patch. This patch makes use of the British flag and a bright yellow outline to really stand out. You'll find it under the Flag Patches category on The Cheap Place.
This patch, which is shaped like a shield, features the British flag, called the Union Flag or Union Jack, with 'England' over it. The flag itself is pretty well known: it's made up of a blue background and four crossing red and white lines. These four lines create three crosses: the St. George's Cross (made of the horizontal and vertical red lines outlined in white ), the St. Andrew's Cross (made of the two white diagonal lines), and the St. Patrick's Cross (made of the two diagonal red lines). The Union Flag is usually twice as long as it is wide, unlike most flags which have a ratio of 3:5.
The Union Flag was created in 1606 to represent the union of the English and Irish thrones by King James I. It incorporated the red cross of the flag of England with the blue background and white St. Andrew's Cross of the flag of Scotland. Later, in 1801, the flag was updated to incorporate the union between Ireland and Great Britain. Since then, the Union Flag has not been changed. In addition to representing Great Britain, the Union Flag has inspired or been incorporated on flags of countries that were originally park of the U.K., such as Australia and Canada.
