Flag of the Lieutenant Governor of Jersey

The flag of

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label= Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the l ...

is composed of a red

saltire A saltire, also called Saint Andrew's Cross or the crux decussata, is a heraldic symbol in the form of a diagonal cross, like the shape of the letter X in Roman type. The word comes from the Middle French ''sautoir'', Medieval Latin ''saltatori ...

on a white field. In the upper quadrant the badge of Jersey surmounted by a yellow "

Plantagenet The House of Plantagenet () was a royal house which originated from the lands of Anjou in France. The family held the English throne from 1154 (with the accession of Henry II at the end of the Anarchy) to 1485, when Richard III died in ...

crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

". The flag was adopted by the States of Jersey on 12 June 1979, proclaimed by Queen Elizabeth II on 10 December 1980 and first officially hoisted on 7 April 1981.

Status and protocol

The flag of Jersey has been decreed by the Sovereign for use in the Bailiwick of Jersey as the Island's flag. The

Union Flag The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...

may also be flown, but precedence should be given to the flag of Jersey. The Bailiff of Jersey requests the flying of the flag of Jersey on government buildings on a list of official flag days when flags are flown from the seat of the judiciary and legislature; individuals are encouraged, but not obliged, to observe official flag days also. The pre-1981 flag of Jersey continues to be used as part of the re-enactment ceremonies of

Liberation Day Liberation Day is a day, often a public holiday, that marks the liberation of a place, similar to an independence day. Liberation marks the date of either a revolution, as in Cuba, the fall of a dictatorship, as in Portugal, or the end of an oc ...

on 9 May.

History

The current flag is the first to be adopted officially. Unofficially, a plain red saltire had been used since at least the 1830s. The official flag adds the badge and crown to this.

Plain saltire

The origins of the association to Jersey of the red saltire are unknown. A 1906 letter by the Bailiff of Jersey, describing the flag as "the red St Andrew's cross on white ground", states it was used to signal the neutrality of the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

during wars between England and France. A 1483 papal bull guaranteed the islands' neutrality during the Hundred Years' War. The saltire may have been a variation of the

St George's Cross In heraldry, Saint George's Cross, the Cross of Saint George, is a red cross on a white background, which from the Late Middle Ages became associated with Saint George, the military saint, often depicted as a crusader. Associated with the cru ...

. Links to the

St Patrick's Cross Saint Patrick's Saltire or Saint Patrick's Cross is a red saltire (X-shaped cross) on a white field. In heraldic language, it may be blazoned "''argent, a saltire gules''". The Saint Patrick's Flag (''Bratach Naomh Pádraig'') is a flag compos ...

have been proposed. The St Patrick's Cross is commonly identified with the arms of the FitzGeralds, a

Cambro-Norman Cambro-Normans ( la, Cambria; "Wales", cy, Normaniaid Cymreig; nrf, Nouormands Galles) were Normans who settled in southern Wales, and the Welsh Marches, after the Norman invasion of Wales, allied with their counterpart families who settled E ...

family which became powerful in Ireland, and who also owned land in Jersey. N. V. L. Rybot in 1951 suggested that Jersey's flag originated from a mistake in a 1783 flag book by Carington Bowles, which was copied by later authors. Rybot's theory is that Bowles misinterpreted (Dutch for "Irish") as meaning "Jersey" in a Dutch flag-book he used as a source. However, French Admiralty charts show that Jersey was using the red saltire before 1783. In his ''History of Jersey'', Balleine suggests that the saltire had in fact referred to Jersey, and that some had interpreted the flag to mean Ireland. At that date, Ireland would have been written , and the book contains a different entry for . The flag was attributed to in 1757 by French charts. The use of the red saltire became more common during the German Occupation of World War II, as the local population were not allowed to display the Union Flag in occupied territory. Although the heraldic symbols of Jersey were used by the Island's government during this time, all public buildings and landmarks (such as

Fort Regent Fort Regent is a 19th-century fortification and leisure centre on Mont de la Ville (Town Hill), in St. Helier, Jersey. The fort is in close proximity to the fortified South Hill Engineers Barracks at La Collette and overlooks the 16th-century E ...

and

Mont Orgueil Mont Orgueil (French for 'Mount Pride') is a castle in Jersey that overlooks the harbour of Gorey. It is also called Gorey Castle by English-speakers, and ''lé Vièr Châté'' (the Old Castle) by Jèrriais-speakers.The castle is first called 'M ...

) flew the

Flag of Nazi Germany The flag of Nazi Germany, officially the flag of the German Reich, featured a red background with a black swastika on a white disc. This flag came into use initially as the banner of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) after its foundation. Following the ap ...

Addition of the badge

The move to a new flag was begun in 1977 with Queen Elizabeth's Silver Jubilee. It was felt by many in Jersey that the flag was insufficiently distinctive to represent the island, that there was too much confusion with the cross of St. Patrick as an Irish symbol, and that the red saltire had been taken as one of the international maritime signal flags. Others, though, wanted to keep the traditional red saltire that had been used since time immemorial. A third influential body of opinion campaigned for the adoption of a banner of the three leopards ( leopard being the heraldic term for a lion

passant guardant In heraldry, the term attitude describes the ''position'' in which a figure (animal or human) is emblazoned as a charge, a supporter, or as a crest. The attitude of an heraldic figure always precedes any reference to the tincture of the figure ...

), the island's heraldic device. The current flag can, therefore, be seen as a compromise between the various strands of opinion. Although the flag is flown in Jersey, the three leopards are much more widely used as a national symbol by the authorities and civil population alike.

Ensigns

A civil ensign for use by Jersey registered merchant ships was approved in 2010, after a consultation process. The flag, which is the British Red Ensign with the badge and crown in the fly, was approved by Queen Elizabeth II, and subsequently by the States of Jersey in June 2010. A government

Blue Ensign The Blue Ensign is a flag, one of several British ensigns, used by certain organisations or territories associated or formerly associated with the United Kingdom. It is used either plain or defaced with a badge or other emblem. The ev ...

, with the badge without the crown in the fly, was given a general warrant in 1997, having originally been issued in 1907 specifically for the government-owned

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...

''Duke of Normandy''.

Parish flags

Image:Flag of Grouville Parish, Jersey.svg, Flag of

Grouville Grouville is one of the twelve parishes of Jersey in the Channel Islands. The parish is around east of St Helier. The parish covers a surface area of 4,354 vergées (7.8 km²). The parish includes the south-east portion of the main island o ...

Image:Flag of St Brelade Parish, Jersey.svg, Flag of Saint Brelade Image:Flag of Saint Clement Parish, Jersey.svg, Flag of Saint Clement Image:Flag of Saint Helier.svg, Flag of

Saint Helier St Helier (; Jèrriais: ; french: Saint-Hélier) is one of the twelve parishes of Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands in the English Channel. St Helier has a population of 35,822 – over one-third of the total population of Jersey – ...

Image:Flag of Saint John Parish, Jersey.svg, Flag of Saint John Image:Flag of Saint Lawrence Parish, Jersey.svg, Flag of Saint Lawrence Image:Flag of Saint Martin Parish, Jersey.svg, Flag of Saint Martin Image:Flag of Saint Mary Parish, Jersey.svg, Flag of Saint Mary Image:Flag of Saint Ouen Parish, Jersey.svg, Flag of Saint Ouen Image:Flag of Saint Peter Parish, Jersey.svg, Flag of

Saint Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupat ...

Image:Flag of Saint Saviour Parish, Jersey.svg, Flag of Saint Saviour Image:Flag of Trinity Parish, Jersey.svg, Flag of

Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God th ...

References

{{Flag of Europe Jersey