How to make your own VE Day 75 flag

29th April 2020

How to make your own VE Day 75 flag

Want to learn how to make a flag to celebrate 75 years since Victory in Europe? You've come to the right place! And best of all it's #PlasticFree!

History of the Union Flag

The Union Flag, or Union Jack, is the national flag of the United Kingdom. It is so called because it combines the crosses of the three countries united under one Sovereign - the kingdoms of England and Wales, of Scotland and of Ireland (although since 1921 only Northern Ireland has been part of the United Kingdom).

The flag consists of three crosses:

1. The cross of St George, patron saint of England since the 1270's, is a red cross on a white ground. After James I succeeded to the throne, it was combined with the cross of St Andrew in 1606.

2. The cross saltire of St Andrew, patron saint of Scotland, is a diagonal white cross on a blue ground.

3. The cross saltire of St Patrick, patron saint of Ireland, is a diagonal red cross on a white ground. This was combined with the previous Union Flag of St George and St Andrew, after the Act of Union of Ireland with England (and Wales) and Scotland on 1 January 1801, to create the Union Flag that has been flown ever since.

The Welsh dragon does not appear on the Union Flag. This is because when the first Union Flag was created in 1606, the Principality of Wales by that time was already united with England and was no longer a separate principality.

Did you know?

It’s not actually called the Union Jack… Surprisingly, with a flag that is known so synonymously as the Union Jack, its official name is the Union Flag! The only time the Union Flag is officially called the Union Jack is when it is being flown at sea. The “jack” part comes from a jack being another name for a national maritime flag flown at the head of a ship.

To make the flag you will need:

The flag can be made with fabric, paper, flower petals, cake frosting or just about any material from living plants to sand and still be recognisable as this time-honoured symbol! The traditional colours are red, white and blue, but you can use other colours or patterns and still create a recognisable Union Jack pattern.

How to make the flag:

1. Lay a sheet of blue paper on a table.

2. Use the ruler to draw a rectangle twice as long as it is wide.

3. Use the scissors to cut out the rectangle. 

4. Measure the field diagonally from one upper corner to the opposite lower corner.

5. Cut two strips of white paper of that length.

6. Make each strip one-fifth of the height of the field in width.

7. Glue these strips on the field from corner to corner on the field, overlapping them to form the X-shaped cross. This forms the national symbol of Scotland.

8. Cut strips of red paper the same length as those you made for the Cross of St. Andrew, but one -fifteenth of the field in width.

9. Lay these strips on top of the diagonal strips of the Cross of St. Andrew, in the centre of those strips.

10. Glue them in place. This creates a representation of the Cross of St. Patrick (a red saltire on a white field).

11. Cut one strip of white paper the length of the blue field from right to left. Make it 7/15 the height of the field.

12. Cut another white strip of the same width, but make it the length of the field from top to bottom.

13. Center the longer one on the Union Jack from top to bottom and glue it in place.

14. Center the shorter one on the Union Jack from right to left to form a cross and glue it in place. This forms the field of the Cross of St. George.

15. Cut two strips of red paper the same length as those in Step 1, but only one-fifth the height of the field in width..

16. Center these two red strips on the white strips that form the filed of the Cross of St. George, and glue them in place. These form the arms of the Cross of St. George.

And there we have it! Your Union flag. Now you can attach this to a piece of wood/a stick to form a flag, or make a few of them and attach them to string to make bunting. Voila.