Read about the British Flag and say which country is not represented on the flag of the U.K.?
The Union flag, popularly known as the ‘Union Jack’*, is the national flag of the United Kingdom. It is called the Union Flag because it symbolizes the administrative union of the countries of the United Kingdom. It is made up of the individual flags of three of the Kingdom’s countries all united under one Sovereign¹ – the countries of England, of Scotland and of Northern Ireland (since 1921 only Northern Ireland has been part of the United Kingdom; Southern Ireland is an independent republic). As Wales was not a Kingdom but a Principality² it couldn’t be included on the flag.
* ‘Union Jack’ was officially accepted as an alternative name for the Union Flag by the Admiralty³ and parliament in the early 20th century. The term ‘jack’4 refers to the flag that is flown from the bowsprit5 of a ship, often denoting6 nationality.
* Union Jack - государственный флаг Соединённого Королевства
¹ sovereign [′sÉvrın] – монарх, правитель
² principality [‚prınsı′pælıtı] - княжество
³ admiralty [′ædm(ə)rəltı] – адмиралтейство; военно-морское министерство (Великобритании до 1964 г.)
4 jack [dZæk] – мор. гюйс, флаг
5 bowsprit [′bəυ‚sprıt] – мор. бушприт
6 denote [dı′nəυt] – показывать, обозначать
The flags that appear on the Union Flag are the crosses of three patron1 saints2 :
This is England's Flag.
It is called the "St. Georges Flag".
The red cross of Saint George for England on the white ground.
This is Scotland's Flag.
It is called the "St. Andrews Flag".
The white diagonal cross of Saint Andrew for Scotland on the blue ground.
On the Union Flag, Northern Ireland is represented by the flag of St. Patrick.
The red diagonal cross of Saint Patrick for Ireland on the white ground.
This is Wales’s Flag.
The Welsh flag (the red dragon on the white and green ground) doesn’t appear on the Union Flag.
1 patron [′peıtr(ə)n] - покровитель, патрон, заступник
2 saint [seınt] - святой
Read the following information about national emblems and name them.
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Each country also has its own floral emblem:
| The national flower of England is the rose. The flower has been adopted as England’s emblem since the time of the Wars of the Roses - civil wars (1455-1485) between the royal house of Lancaster (whose emblem was a red rose) and the royal house of York (whose emblem was a white rose). |
| The national flower of Scotland is the thistle 1, a prickly2-leaved purple3 flower which was first used in the 15th century as a symbol of defense. The Scottish Bluebell4 is also seen as the flower of Scotland. 1 thistle [′θıs(ə)l] - чертополох 2 prickly [′prıklı] – имеющий шипы, колючки 3 purple [′pə:pl] – пурпурный, фиолетовый 4 bluebell [′blu:bel] - колокольчик |
| The national flower of Wales is the daffodil1, which is traditionally worn on St. David’s Day. The vegetable called leek2 is also considered to be a traditional emblem of Wales. There are many explanations of how the leek came to be adopted as the national emblem of Wales. One is that St David advised the Welsh, on the eve3 of battle with the Saxons, to wear leeks in their caps to distinguish a friend from a foe4. As Shakespeare records5 in Henry V, the Welsh archers6 wore leeks at the battle of Agincourt in 1415. 1 daffodil [′dæfədıl] – бледно-жёлтый нарцисс 2 leek [li:k] – лук-порей 3 eve [i:v] – канун, преддверие 4 foe [fəυ] – враг, противник 5record [rı′kÉ:d] – записывать, увековечивать 6 archer [a:∫tə] – лучник |
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