The kingdom of England for centuries had its own St. George's Jack, and the kingdom of Scotland its cross of St. Andrew. These red and white crosses had been the accepted symbols of their respective nationalities. Each of the kingdoms had its own separate Parliament, differing, it is true, from that of the other in methods and in many details, but representing the constitutional machinery adopted in each community for consultation between the King and his subjects, who, through their representatives, were advised upon matters connected with the government of their country, whether in its internal laws or in its relations with foreign powers. In course of time the same sovereign, in the person of James I., had by virtue of his birth succeeded to the throne of England, as well as to that of Scotland. The kingly office in both the kingdoms had thus been merged in the person of one and the same King. A new flag had been created representing the allegiance which had then been joined in the one sovereign. In this the crosses of the two kingdoms had been joined together in one design, but the separate national Jacks of each had been still retained and their use continued in force. These separate national Jacks were certainly intended to evidence the continued separate national existence of each kingdom, while the new personal Jack or banner of the King would appear to have evidenced the union of the thrones in one person, and to represent the united fealty offered to the one King. Yet it is fairly open to question whether this Union Jack of James I. was at first created to mean as much as this, or whether it was not, after all, introduced more for the purpose of avoiding trouble between the sailors of the two nations, and only intended at first to be a local convenience for the preventing of dissensions. The new Union Jack certainly did not represent a union of the nations, else why did the two national Jacks still remain? If it had been intended to represent the fealty of his subjects to their King, why was it not introduced immediately upon his accession, and why was not the red cross of the Irish included as well as the crosses of the English and Scots, for the Irish were equally at the time subjects of James I.?