The earlier flag of Great Britain was established in 1606 by a proclamation of King James VI and I of Scotland and England.

[8] John is a common male forename (going back to the Bible), appearing in Dutch as Jan.

[13] Also later a short flagpole was placed in the bows of a ship to fly the jack, this became known as the jackstaff.

[14] The Union Flag can be flown by any individual or organisation in Great Britain on any day of their choice.

Legal regulations restrict the use of the Union Flag on government buildings in Northern Ireland.

While this is rare, it was used by groups under siege during the Boer War and during campaigns in India in the late 18th century.

[20] Until July 2007, the Union Flag was only flown on UK government buildings on a limited number of special days each year.

[15] On 3 July 2007, the Justice Secretary Jack Straw laid a green paper before Parliament entitled The Governance of Britain.

[21][22][23][24][25][26] James Purnell, Culture Secretary from June 2007 to January 2008 in Brown's administration, subsequently concurred with the abolition of the restrictions – pending consultation on longer term arrangements.

In Scotland, the Scottish Government has decreed that the Flag of Scotland ("the Saltire") will fly on all its buildings every day from 8 am until sunset, but there is no specific policy on flying the Union Flag and as such it is sometimes flown alongside the Saltire and sometimes omitted.

The issue was initially raised by Ian Lucas, another Labour MP, who complained that the flag introduced in 1606 following the accession of James VI of Scotland to the English throne as James I assumed the Welsh population as English under the bracket of England and Wales (represented by the cross of St George) which he then combined with the saltire of St Andrew which represented the union of England and Scotland.

This principle continued in 1801 when the St Patrick cross was incorporated following the Union with Ireland Act 1800.

In the debate, Albert Owen MP said that "we in Wales do not feel part of the union flag because the dragon or the cross of St David is not on it.

[35] Regarding the removal of Scottish heraldic features from the Union Flag, the Court of the Lord Lyon stated in 2012 that "[that] would be speculation at this stage, and we could only cross that bridge if we came to it.