triple-crossed

Gary Denness, of The Mexile, caught me trying to slip an anachronism past you in yesterday's post.


I told you I put the British flag out on Independence Day.  I realize it sounds a bit contrarian.  And, of course, it is.  Especially, considering my general dislike of symbols.


But I have always had a certain fondness for flags.  That may say more about my attention span than I care to admit.  But anything flapping in the breeze will cause me to sop conversation in mid-sentence.


Over the years, I have collected quite a few flags.  When I am in the mood, I will pick a favorite and post the colors outside my house.  They tend to be great conversation starters with my neighbors.  Several years ago, I got into a long discussion about the proper pronunciation of Liechtenstein.


But, I digress.  That little alpine principality is not the topic of this post.  The British Jack is.


My flag is the modern emblem of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.  It is the flag you would see if the British prime minister came to your house for dinner.  Or not.  The British are not as banner-oriented a we Americans.


But it is not the flag that flew over the colonies prior to July 1776.


The flag in 1776, looked like the flag at the top of this post.  If you take a close look at it, it looks very familiar.  But something seems to be missing.  As if Bruce Willis had failed to wear his toupee.


And there is something missing.  Because that flag is the flag of Great Britain -- representing the union of the kingdoms of England and Scotland.


It really is a lot like arithmetic.  So, let's set up the problem.  If you want to end up with Great Britain, you take the cross of St. George -- the symbol of the Kingdom of England:

And add it to the cross of St. Andrew -- the symbol of the Kingdom of Scotland.

What you end up with is the flag at the top of the post.  The flag Lord Cornwallis and the Howe brothers fought under in their attempt to keep tea as the American breakfast beverage.


All of that was to change in a few years.  The flag, that is, not the tea. 


In 1801, Parliament added another cross to the flag.  This time the cross of St. Patrick -- to symbolize the Kingdom of Ireland.  Of course, the "kingdom" has now been truncated to Northern Ireland.  But the cross remains ensconced on the current flag.

In our little addition example, if you add the three crosses together, you get the current British flag.  The one I flew yesterday.  The one with a cross too many.

Now, I knew all of this before I posted the photograph yesterday.  And, in the back of my mind, I knew someone (most likely Gary, if not Kim) was going to catch it.


Even so, it gave me an opportuinity for another post.  And that is never a bad result.


The Mexican connection?  Well, there is one.  Gary caught me.  He lives in Mexico.


Now, I need to get my Mexican flag out.  It has its own tale.