_THE EVOLUTION OF THE RED ENSIGN._ The history of the Jacks as single flags having been traced through these periods, we may revert to the changes brought about by their being made part of a larger flag, and note how the exalted position at the stern of the ships was transferred to a new flag, a National Ensign, in the upper corner of which the English Jack was placed alone, when this flag was first created. Under James I. and Charles I., as also under the previous sovereigns of England, the flag flown at the stern of the men-of-war had been the Royal Standard of the Sovereign, of which an example is given in the drawing of the _Sovereign of the Seas_ (17). The Royal Standard bearing upon it then, as it does now, the armorial bearings or "arms" of the Sovereign, was the banner of the King, and, as then placed at the stern of the ships, signified his direct management and control of the royal fleet. Before the close of the reign of Charles I. the money control of the Royal Navy had been jealously assumed by Parliament, and the ships had been enrolled as "the Parliament ships." With the advent of the Commonwealth the ships of the navy were no longer the ships of the King, but became the ships of the State. [Illustration: PLATE IV. 1 COMMONWEALTH ENSIGN 1649 2 CROMWELL'S "GREAT UNION" 1658 3 ENSIGN RED--CHARLES II.--1660] It was to take the place of the King's Standard at the stern that the Commonwealth Parliament created a flag, called the Commonwealth Ensign (Pl. IV., fig. 1), to be carried on their men-of-war. This was a red flag, having in the fly a yellow Irish harp, and in the upper corner next the staff the St. George cross upon a white ground. Ireland had early been overrun by the Commonwealth armies, so her emblem was included in the flag, but Scotland had warmly espoused the cause of the Stuarts, and was, therefore, not recognized. Cromwell, after he had been raised to the position of Protector, and had dragooned Scotland into submission, put out, in 1658, another flag as the "Great Union," or banner of the Commonwealth (Pl. IV., fig. 2), in which the crosses of St. George and St. Andrew were shown for England and Scotland, and the harp, on a blue ground, for Ireland; but they were each placed in separate quarters of the flag, instead of being joined together in one union, and on a black shield in the centre he caused to be displayed a lion rampant, as representing his own coat-of-arms and himself. This "Great Union" of Cromwell does not appear to have entered into much use, although it certainly was displayed at his funeral. The fleets of the navy were then flying ensigns of three different colours--red, blue and white--according to the rank of the admirals who were in command, red being the colour of the admirals of highest rank and the typical colour of England.[46] [46] Langton: "Heraldry of the Sea."