The flags laid down for the merchant ships by the Proclamation of 1674 were confirmed by further Proclamations in July, 1694, and December, 1702, with the additional restriction that such ships were expressly forbidden to wear "any kind of pendant whatsoever." As these proclamations were addressed to all "loving subjects" they were presumably binding on the Scots as well as on the English, but the use of the St Andrew canton certainly persisted in the ships of the Scots navy, and therefore presumably in the merchant ships of Scotland. On the legislative union between England and Scotland in 1707 a further Proclamation was issued, which contained a fundamental difference. In the Proclamation of 1674, 1694, and 1702 the merchant ships had been forbidden to use any other colours than "those usually worn," but they were not expressly ordered to wear any colours at all. In the Proclamation of 1707, under which the Union replaced the St George in the canton of the red ensign, a clause was inserted strictly charging and commanding the Masters of all Merchant Ships and vessels belonging to any of our subjects, whether employed in Our service or otherwise, and all other persons whom it may concern, to wear the said ensign on board their ships or vessels. They were further forbidden to wear "any Flags, Jacks, Pendants or Colours made in imitation of ours, or any kind of Pendant whatsoever, or any other ensign than the ensign described." This did not prohibit the use of the St George's jack on the bowsprit, which was expressly recognised by the _King's Regulations_ for the navy[333] as being, together with the red ensign, the appropriate colours for a British merchant ship. In consequence of the legislative union with Ireland, a proclamation was issued on 1st January, 1801, substituting the new form of the Union in the canton of the ensign, but leaving the existing regulations unaltered. The provision for the use of the St George's jack by merchant ships last appeared in the 1808 edition of the _Regulations and Instructions relating to His Majesty's Service at Sea_ in the following terms: Merchant Ships are to carry a Red Ensign with the Union Jack in a canton, at the upper corner next the staff, and a White Jack with a Red Cross, commonly called St. George's Cross, passing quite through it. How far such regulations, which in the preamble are expressly stated to be drawn up for the "Naval Service at Sea," can have been legally binding on the Mercantile Marine is a matter for lawyers to decide, but it seems probable that the merchant service did not generally observe the regulation as to the jack, for in the next edition (that of 1824) all reference to it is omitted. From that date the red ensign alone has been the legal national colours of a British merchant vessel. It must be displayed (_a_) On a signal being made from one of H.M. ships or from a vessel under the command of an officer of the Royal Navy on full pay.