The Union Jack

[Hysteresis]

Of course we all know that the Union Jack is made up of three flags, That of England(St George Cross) Scotland(St Andrews Cross) and Ireland (St Patricks Cross), also the Union Jack is not symmetrical.

aka Wikipedia - Because of the relative positions of the saltires of St Patrick and St Andrew, the UK flag is not symmetrical. The red saltire of St Patrick is offset such that it does not relegate the white saltire of St Andrew to a mere border.

What I can't find the answer to is why the arms of the St Patrick's saltire are misaligned. If you remove the St George Cross and the St Andrews Cross, what remains is not the St Patrick cross, it would be a four diagonal lines which do not meet in the centre to form a true Cross.
Anyone Got any Ideas.
Wikipedia does not explain the misalignment

 

[EddieM]

It's only the union Jack when flown from a ship, otherwise it's the union flag, but to your specific question, no idea. I think if you hoist it upside down it's a distress signal.

 

[EFLImpudence]

https://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-24028,00.html

 

[EddieM]

https://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-24028,00.html

Whoop, seems like someone backed up my ship in distress comment.

 

[JohnD]

I think if you hoist it upside down it's a distress signal.

but much more often it's a mistake.

 

[EddieM]

but much more often it's a mistake.

Yeah I know frequently hung upside down in error.

 

[pete50]

but much more often it's a mistake.

And cost the guard commander 2 days in the pokey if it was hung upside down when I was in the army. We even had a picture on the wall to ensure we hung it the correct way up.

 

[Doug99]

During my time served, one of my duties was to ensure the Union Jack (bow) and White Ensign (stern) were raised correctly each morning at "ceremonial colours" when in harbour. The sh*t would soon hit the fan if we got it wrong, especially if the Base Port Admiral was watching the proceedings.

 

[conny]

Prince Andrew once flew in to RAF Waddington aboard the Queens flight VC10
On the tail plane was a small Union flag. Viewed from the port side it was correct. Viewed from the starboard side it was upside down/reversed. I pointed it out to one of the crew members and asked, with a smile, were they flying in distress.
His reply. "F**k. Don't tell anyone." with a wink. LOL

 

[Hysteresis]

Yeah , I have read all of that before. I know the Flag flown upside down is Sign of distress especially in the Navy, but the integrity of the St. Patrick Cross could have been maintained simply by moving the centre of the cross vertically down, This would have resulted on all arms of the cross having the broader white strip at the top on all four arms. The issue of the flag being upside down would have been then more prominent when the flag is flown upside down.
I rather think JohnD may be have it right in that it was a mistake.
Some heraldic historian somewhere must have researched it, They have very little else to occupy their time !!!

 

[bernardgreen]

This would have resulted on all arms of the cross having the broader white strip at the top on all four arms

Which would have meant the white cross was superior to the red cross. That would in heraldry state that Scotland was superior to Northern Ireland

Some heraldic historian somewhere must have researched it,

That would have been a girlfriend from the 1960's

 

[Hysteresis]

bernardgreen-The Scottish cross was considered superior to the Irish cross, if they had left it with the centres of the crossed identical, then the Irish cross would have appeared on top of the Scottish cross and therefore appear superior.
That would also have removed the asymmetry of the flag and as such disabled the upside down theory.
Simply lowering the centre of the Irish cross would resolve any issue and confirm what was felt as the superiority of the Scottish Cross. This would also amplify the orientation feature of the flag as a distress signal.
I Favour JohnD's mistake hypothesis.

 

[charliegolf]

And cost the guard commander 2 days in the pokey if it was hung upside down when I was in the army. We even had a picture on the wall to ensure we hung it the correct way up.

In a mil setting it's almost impossible to get it wrong due to the toggle and clasp (ie thing) setup on the hoist side.

 

[Bodd]

Lots of flags need to be the right way up... For instance if the Polish flag was hung unside down, do you know what it means.

 

[EFLImpudence]

Just searched for it.