“Three lions on a shirt
Jules Rimet still gleaming
No more years of hurt
No more need for dreaming”
What on earth does this mean? Imagine for a moment that you have no idea what shirts and lions have in common and, even if you did, why someone would embroider that specific motif on an item of clothing? Add to that, you have no idea who or what “Jules Rimet” is, or was, nor why the person singing the song was hurt, or what they are dreaming about.
What does semiotics have to do with it?
Welcome to the world of semiotics, the study of how human beings use signs, in both language and image. One of the founders of the study of semiotics, Swiss researcher Ferdinand de Saussure (1857–1913) introduced the concept of sign and signifier – the word/ image, and the person who is using it.
American semiotics researcher Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1914) proposed that a sign was “something which stands to somebody for something”, and that signs most generally fell into three main types:
- An ‘icon’, which resembles its referent (e.g., a picture of the winning goal in the 1966 World Cup final)
- An ‘index’, which is something associated with its referent (e.g., the Jules Rimet trophy that England won in that contest)
- A ‘symbol’ which is only related to its referent by convention (e.g., the three lions on the shirt)
Peirce did however emphasise that a sign can never have a definite meaning; the meaning must be continuously qualified. The story of how the ‘three lions’ came to acquire their modern significance is an example of such qualification in action. But when the Union Flag is similarly analysed, it becomes clear that it has, to some extent, become frozen in time.
The three lions: shifting semiotics
The emblem of a lion was used in the heraldic emblem of Henry I, son of William the Conqueror, and then in the emblem of Henry’s son-in-law, Geoffrey Plantagenet, and later in the emblem of Plantagenet’s son, who became King Henry II, inheriting along the maternal line through his mother, Henry I’s daughter Matilda.
After a period of armed struggle between Henry II and his sons, his middle son Richard finally inherited the throne. It is no surprise that he then decided to encompass three lions on his coat of arms, symbolising his right to inherit the crown through the lineage of his father, grandmother and great grandfather.
Richard’s successes in battle earned him the nickname of Coeur de lion, the lion heart – the heroic, absent king in the Robin Hood legends.
Nearly three centuries later, Henry V’s royal banner, famously used at Agincourt in 1415, included Richard’s three lions. More than four centuries after that, England’s football association adopted the three lions motif, and it subsequently appeared on the England shirt at the team’s first official international match in 1872, “as a nod to the nation’s royal history, and as a symbol of strength and courage on the field”.
That’s a very long time, and a lot of shifting semiotics, as predicted by Peirce.
A Union Flag for a uniting kingdom
In 1603, King James VI of Scotland became King James I of England. England and Scotland remained independent nations, but a new ‘realm’ was instigated, the Kingdom of Great Britain.
In 1606 the King issued a proclamation, to instruct his subjects in “South and North Britain” on what flags ships should fly to identify themselves at sea. Eventually this evolved into the first Union Flag: an English St George’s Cross combined with a Scottish St Andrew’s Cross. When flown at sea, it was called ‘The King’s Jack’ or the ‘Union Jack’, but nowadays, both ‘Union Flag’ and ‘Union Jack’ are used to denote the current UK flag, and both are equally valid.
In 1707, England and Scotland passed an Act of Union, which heralded closer ties between the two nations, with the unitary parliament for Great Britain located in London. The situation leading into this agreement was complex, and many of the debates are still current.
In 1801 The British Parliament passed an act of union with Ireland, subsequently incorporating the St Patrick’s Cross into the Union Flag. This was controversial in many ways, principally because of a long history of invasion and conquest. It endures in the Union Flag, however, as a symbol of Northern Ireland, which is still part of the United Kingdom.
Ongoing omissions in the Union Flag
I vividly remember finding out that although Wales was part of the United Kingdom, it didn’t have a representation in the Union Flag. I was seven years old and working on a Brownie flag-construction project. Looking back as an adult, I’m sure my persistent questions were not wholly welcomed by Brown Owl!
Flagmakers.co.uk explains: “Wales had already been conquered by England in the 13th century” and that therefore “Wales was already part of England, thus was not represented in the new union’s flag”. My seven-year-old self, given a similar but simplified explanation responded “That’s not fair” – an opinion that has remained with me.
In 1987, historian Paul Gilroy published a now famous book entitled There ain’t no black in the Union Jack which reviewed Britain’s history of colonialism and imperialism. In 2019, he was asked about the inclusion of the Windrush story in the 2012 Olympics opening pageant. He replied:
“The Windrush moment was visibly if belatedly acknowledged in Danny Boyle’s pageant … [but] the energetic, tropical immigrants with battered suitcases were effectively being visited on the green nation from the outside.”
A Union Flag for the 21st century
We are currently embroiled in a heated national debate about the semiotics of our national flags, both the St George’s Cross and the Union Flag, which is becoming bitterly divisive. A timely response might be to make some adjustments to the Union Flag to reflect the contemporary construction of our current British population, and their collective histories.
The first adjustment, long overdue, would be to include a Welsh dragon to fully acknowledge all four nations of the United Kingdom, the smaller three of which now all have devolved parliaments.
Another appropriate addition would be to add colours and/or motifs that represent the heritage of mid-20th century immigrants from Commonwealth nations who answered the call to help the UK rebuild after World War II.
It would formally recognise how much they have contributed to contemporary British society, both in terms of wealth and culture, and sign to them, in Gilroy’s terms, that they are most definitely “inside”.
Telling our national story
The flag of union should represent our national story as it is now. Kings Richard I and James VI/I clearly understood this; so then, should we.
The four nations of the United Kingdom and its regions would still retain their own flags (such as our own Yorkshire White Rose), of course. They have their own stories to tell, and the symbols on their flags represent these.
American presidents give an annual ‘state of the union’ address. Maybe this is something the United Kingdom should adopt. The need for a Union Flag that brings us together rather than divides us should be at the top of its first agenda.
