=Uniform.=--Dress of officer or soldier. So-called because men of same rank and duties are clothed in a uniform manner. =Union Jack.=--National flag of Great Britain. The original English flag was the banner of St. George. On the union of Scotland with England the banner of St. Andrew was added, and on the union of Ireland, that of St. Patrick. It now consists of a red and white diagonal cross (the last two being side by side), on a blue ground. =Unit.=--Euclid describes number to be a collection of units. In military organisation the term unit is applied to a single portion upon which any part of an army, regiment, &c., is formed. A company is the unit of a regiment; a battery, that of a brigade of artillery. =Unlimber, to.=--To disconnect the limber from the gun or carriage. =Veldt.=--An open plain. =Victoria Cross.=--A decoration in form of a bronze Maltese Cross, conferred on members of the Army, Navy, or Volunteers who have distinguished themselves in face of the enemy by abnormal deeds of valour at risk of their lives. The V.C. was instituted in 1856 at the conclusion of the Crimean War, when sixty-two were earned. The cross was then made from the cannon captured at Sebastopol with the Royal Crest in the centre, and underneath, the words "For Valour." It is worn with a red ribbon in the Army--a blue one in the Navy. =Vierkleur.=--Four-coloured Boer flag. The colours are red, white, and blue in horizontal lines, with a perpendicular line of green near the staff. =Volunteers.=--Citizen soldiers who voluntarily fight in defence of their country. The oldest Volunteer Corps is the Hon. Artillery Company, instituted in 1485. The Volunteer movement gained ground in 1793-94, when invasion was threatened by France. The force enrolled numbered 70,000, of which 41,000 were Irish. =Voortrekker.=--One of the early trekkers. =War.=--The present war is the fortieth war that has taken place during the reign of Queen Victoria. In 1854 there was the Crimea; in 1838, 1849, and 1878 came wars against Afghanistan; four wars against China in the years 1841, 1856, 1849, and 1860; two against the Sikhs in 1845 and 1848; three against the Kaffirs in 1846, 1854, and 1877; three against Burma, 1850, 1852, and 1885; nine in India, in 1857, 1860, 1863, 1864, 1868, 1869, 1890, 1895, and 1897; three in Ashantee, 1864, 1873, and 1896; a war against Abyssinia, 1867; a war against Persia, 1852; a war against the Zulus, 1878; a war against the Basutos, 1878; a war in Egypt, 1882; three in the Soudan, 1894, 1896, and 1899; a war with Zanzibar, 1890; a war against the Matabele, 1894; and finally two wars against the Transvaal, 1881 and 1899-1900.