Flag Protocol

The national flag of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories is the Union Flag, which may also be called the Union Jack. The first Union Flag was created in 1606 and combined the flags of England and Scotland. The present Union Flag dates from 1801 when St Patrick’s Cross was added to represent Ireland. It then became possible to display the flag, incorrectly, upside down. There is no Flag Act in UK law, and the Union Flag is the national flag by long-established custom and practice rather than by statute.

In March 2021, all councils received a request that they fly the Union flag every day from all UK government buildings as a sign of national identity and unity. Where UK government buildings have multiple flagpoles, the Union flag must always be flown in the superior position:

• The highest flagpole
• The centre flagpole where there is an odd number of poles of the same height
• The left centre flagpole views from the front of the building, where there is an even number of poles of the same height

The exception is where there is a Royal visit, in which the Royal Standard will take precedence.

The Union flag should be displayed correctly as stated by the Flag Institute:

This is the traditional and historic county flag of Buckinghamshire which features a chained swan on a bicolour of red and black, taken from the arms of Bucks. The swan emblem dates to Anglo-Saxon times, when Buckinghamshire was known for breeding swans for the King. The Bucks swan appears on the arms of some of the historic towns in Buckinghamshire, such as Aylesbury, Buckingham, Chesham, Marlow, and High Wycombe. The flag itself was registered with the Flag Institute on 20 May 2011.