Flags of the Commonwealth of England

This article is about the flag used during the period of republican government in the British Isles. For the flag of the Commonwealth of Nations, see Flag of the Commonwealth of Nations.

There was a variety of flags flown by ships of the Commonwealth of England and the The Protectorate during the period of interregnum of 1649-1660.

At sea, royalist ships continued to fly the Union Jack of 1606, while the parliamentary navy on 22 February 1649 was ordered by the Council of State (signed by Oliver Cromwell on 23 February) "that the ships at sea in service of the State shall onely beare the red Crosse in a white flag" (viz., the flag of England). On 5 March 1649 the Council ordered "that the Flagg that is to be borne by the Admiral, Vice-Admiral, and Rere-Admiral be that now presented, viz., the Armes of England and Ireland in two severall Escotcheons in a Red Flagg, within a compartment."^[1] A sole surviving example of a naval flag following this description is kept by the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, all others falling victim to the destruction of Commonwealth symbols at the Restoration of Charles II.^[2] Scotland was formally reunited with England in 1654. According to Perrin (1922), the saltire of Scotland did not reappear on naval flags until 1658.^[3]

Cromwell's personal standard as Lord Protector became the 'Standard for the General of his Highnesse fleet' in 1658, while the Cross-and-Harp jack was replaced by the "Protectorate Jack", consisting of the old Union Jack with the addition of the Irish Harp at the center.^[4]

Gallery

• 

  Flag of the Commonwealth flown by the Admiral, Vice-Admiral, and Rear-Admiral (1649–1651)

• 

  Standard of Oliver Cromwell (1653–1658)

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  Flag of the Commonwealth (1649–1653 / 1659–1660)

• 

  Flag of the Commonwealth (1653–1659)

See also

• List of English flags
• Coat of arms of England

Notes

1. ^ cited after [http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/gb-inter.html Dave Martucci, 29 September 1999]
2. ^ image provided by Nick Flowers, 3 May 2010
3. ^ Perrin, British Flags (1922), p. 64.
4. ^ "In 1658 Cromwell's standard as Lord Protector, in which the cross of St. George was quartered with the cross of St. Andrew and the Irish Harp, and surmounted by an escutcheon with Cromwell's personal coat of arms became the 'Standard for the General of his Highnesse fleet' and the Cross and Harp jack was replaced by the old Union Jack with the addition of a harp in the centre." Wilson, Flags at Sea (1986), p. 19

References

• Dave Martucci, Christopher Southworth, Vincent Morley, Jarig Bakker, United Kingdom: Flags of the Interregnum, 1649-1660. Flags of the World (1999, 2010). Retrieved 30 March 2011.

External links

• http://flagspot.net/flags/gb-inter.html
• http://www.vexilla-mundi.com/