I’m British and I’m very proud of it.

Our history, our royal family, our castles and stately homes, our pearly queens, our fish and chips, our Sunday roast, our high tea, our cheese, our strawberries, our tennis... even our infamous rain - I embrace them all. But what could be more iconic than the Union Jack?

The Union Flag, or Union Jack as it’s more commonly known, was created in 1606 by King James VI of Scotland, who became King James I when Queen Elizabeth I died. He wanted a flag that represented both his kingdoms, so he combined the red cross of England with the saltire of Scotland. A white border was added around the red cross because the rules of heraldry state that colours (such as red and blue) cannot touch. The flag was to be used purely on the King’s ships while the original flags of England and Scotland were to be used on land. However this changed in 1707 when Queen Anne proclaimed the flag as the national flag of Great Britain and allowed its use on land and at sea.

When Ireland was unified with Great Britain in 1801 the flag had to be redesigned, so the red cross of St Patrick was added to it. And here’s an interesting fact: many people think that the Union Jack is symmetrical – but look closely and you will find that it’s not. The rules of heraldry are quite complicated but, in a nutshell, as Scotland had joined the Union nearly 200 years earlier than Ireland, its flag was placed in the most honoured position, the top quarter nearest the flagstaff. The Irish cross had the second most honoured position – the top quarter of the fly.

I used to wonder why the Welsh flag was not included in the Union Jack, but then my history teacher explained that Wales was already united with England back in the 13th century so, in effect, it was already represented.

So take care when flying the Union Jack because you may accidentally hang it upside down. To do so could mean one of two things: it could be a signal for help (it is very rarely used for this purpose, but the troops in the Boer War and some campaigns in India in the 19th century did just that), or it could be done as an insult to the crown, which is described by the French term lèse majesté, which means, literally, ‘injured majesty’.