Name________ _ Class_______ ___ Date_______ _A controversial flag Ever y countr y in th e wo rl d ha s a na ti onal fl ag, but the Un it ed Ki ng dom’ s fl ag ha s a ve ry complicated history. It is also a very controversial flag – even the name is controversial!ost people call it the "Unio n #ac$’, but e% perts say that t he correct name is the "Union flag’. !ost places in the world ma$e decisions about their flag in &arliament, but this doesn’t happen in the UK. 'here is no written constituti on, so there are no specific rules about the flag. 'here are four countries in the UK( England, )cotland, *ales and +orthern Ireland, but the Union flag incorporates the national flags of only three of these countries – another cause of controversy'he colours of the Union #ac$ have a complicated history. In -/ichard I of England introduc ed the 0ross of )t 1eorge, a red cross on a white bac$ground , as the national flag of England. In 234 #ames I became the King of England, but he was already #ames 5I of )cotland, too. )o, in 232 he decided to combine the 0ross of )t 1eorge with the )cottish flag of )t Andrew, a diagonal white cross on a blue bac$ground. In 63, +orthern Irela nd became part of the UK and the flag of )t &atric$, a red diagonal cross on a white bac$ground, became part of the Union flag. 7ut what about *ales8 'he *elsh flag is a red dragon on a green and white bac$ground, but it doesn’t appear on the Union fl ag. !a ny *e ls h pe ople feel th at th is is not fair and th ey wo ul d li $e to see thei r coun tr y represented on the Union flag. 'oday, )cotland has its own parliament in Edinbu rgh, and *ales has a national assembly in 0ardiff. !any people in both countries would li$e to be independent from England. 'he 0ross of )t Andrew and the *elsh dragon are more popular in these countries than the Union flag. 'he 0ross of )t 1eorge is also becoming very popular in England, and many people in the UK would li$e to modernise, or even abolish, the Union flag. )ome people see it as a symbol of imperialism and they do not want to be associated with this. 7ut other people see the flag as a symbol of national patriotism an d they are ver y proud of it. 'he debate continues, but it will probably be many years before the Union flag changesRead the text carefully and answer the following questions: *hat i s the cor rect na me for th e United Kin gdom’s flag 8 9 *hy ar e there n o rule s about t he fla g’s e%a ct col ours8 4 *hic h thre e flag s does t he Un ion f lag in clud e8 *hy di d #ames I co mbin e the Eng lish a nd )co ttis h flag s8 : *hen did the f lag of )t & atric$ beco me part o f the Uni on fla g8 2 *hic h UK cou ntry ’s flag h as a pict ure of an a nima l8 ; *hy do s ome pe ople want to ab olish the Union fl ag8 6 *hy are so me pe ople prou d of the flag 8 - *hat do you thi n$ of the Union flag8 <o you li $e it8 *hy 8 *hy not 8 3 *hat do you thin$ of your country’s flag8 <o you li$e it8 *ould you li$e to change it8
