On 06/02/2010 00:56, Mick wrote: > I realy don't care whether any ex colony or commonwealth country wants > to change its flag. But in the interest of accuracy it's the Union Flag; > it's only a Jack if it's mounted on a ship or boat. In the interests of even more accuracy, it isn't! See http://www.flaginstitute.org/index.php?location=7.1 for a more detailed discussion. In essence: for the last hundred years, both the House of Lords, House of Commons and Admiralty have accepted that either term can be used, interchangeably, reflecting the common usage. John -- Maintainer of the s.g.b FAQs, at http://www.genealogy-britain.org.uk/ Currently researching LEE and BEDFORD families from Islington LOOK OUT, SPAM BLOCK AHEAD! To email me, please remove ".invalid" from the email address

"John Prentice" <johnp@john-prentice.com.invalid> wrote in message news:7t57biFtbnU1@mid.individual.net... > On 06/02/2010 00:56, Mick wrote: >> I realy don't care whether any ex colony or commonwealth country wants >> to change its flag. But in the interest of accuracy it's the Union Flag; >> it's only a Jack if it's mounted on a ship or boat. > > In the interests of even more accuracy, it isn't! > > See http://www.flaginstitute.org/index.php?location=7.1 for a more > detailed discussion. In essence: for the last hundred years, both the > House of Lords, House of Commons and Admiralty have accepted that either > term can be used, interchangeably, reflecting the common usage. > > John > -- > Maintainer of the s.g.b FAQs, at http://www.genealogy-britain.org.uk/ > Currently researching LEE and BEDFORD families from Islington > > LOOK OUT, SPAM BLOCK AHEAD! > To email me, please remove ".invalid" from the email address Wikipedia agrees.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Flag But does anyone know if there is a connection between the jack, a small flag at the front of a ship, and the jack, a small white ball thrown out in front in a game of bowls?

On 7 Feb, 19:44, "Cwatters" <colin.wattersNOS...@TurnersOakNOSPAM.plus.com> wrote: > > But does anyone know if there is a connection between the jack, a small flag > at the front of a ship, and the jack, a small white ball thrown out in front > in a game of bowls? Cwatters wrote: > > But does anyone know if there is a connection between the jack, a small flag > at the front of a ship, and the jack, a small white ball thrown out in front > in a game of bowls? I think that the point is that the jack is a smaller version of the Union Flag, and a (bowls) jack is so called because it is a small in comparison with the bowls themselves. Jack is an old term which refers to smallness and inferiority of some kind; e.g. a small waxed vessel for holding liquor was called 'a jack' and jack was an inferior kind of armour worn by soldiers, made of leather, canvas and quilted material as opposed to steel. A jack is also an old term for a farthing. Richard L

"Cwatters" <colin.wattersNOSPAM@TurnersOakNOSPAM.plus.com> wrote in message news:noKdnSeSP6yThfLWnZ2dnUVZ7tadnZ2d@brightview.co.uk... > > "John Prentice" <johnp@john-prentice.com.invalid> wrote in message > news:7t57biFtbnU1@mid.individual.net... >> On 06/02/2010 00:56, Mick wrote: >>> I realy don't care whether any ex colony or commonwealth country wants >>> to change its flag. But in the interest of accuracy it's the Union Flag; >>> it's only a Jack if it's mounted on a ship or boat. >> >> In the interests of even more accuracy, it isn't! >> >> See http://www.flaginstitute.org/index.php?location=7.1 for a more >> detailed discussion. In essence: for the last hundred years, both the >> House of Lords, House of Commons and Admiralty have accepted that either >> term can be used, interchangeably, reflecting the common usage. >> >> John >> -- >> Maintainer of the s.g.b FAQs, at http://www.genealogy-britain.org.uk/ >> Currently researching LEE and BEDFORD families from Islington >> >> LOOK OUT, SPAM BLOCK AHEAD! >> To email me, please remove ".invalid" from the email address > > Wikipedia agrees.. > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Flag > > Wikipedia is an unreliable source Britanica online disagrees http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/614768/flag-of-the-United-Kingdom#ref=ref275862 '...It was commonly called the Union Jack by the late 17th century, and that name became official in the late 19th century. The Union Jack is flown on land for government and military purposes................' As does the British Admiralty