What Happened to the Old (Medieval) English Flag?

[@historywithhilbert]

Thanks for watching everyone, hope yous enjoyed the video! Be sure to check out my other videos on history and flags if you found it interesting and give me a thumbs up or considering subscribbling if you're new!

[@elizabethmerin7489]

wanna be friends?

[@elwolf8536]

I heard an other story that the cross of st George was loaned for a fee to the English from Genoa as a guarantee not to get attacked by genoan pirats.

[@SarynDres]

I think we should change it to white dragon tbh

[@frederickpurscel3614]

The Bavarians and Dutch have lions

[@GarfieldRex]

Time for Russian flags and heraldry 👌

[@Bamiyanbigasf]

For those asking about lions in Europe, lions actually did live in Europe for quite some time and ofc they were extinct in medieval times but the Romans imported lions constantly throughout the empire so lots of people did in fact know about lions and what they looked like

[@yetigriff]

Lions lived in Yorkshire until 1832 when they were hunted to extinction by whippets

[@JamesTheFoxeArt]

yetigriff and then put into a zoo.

[@keighlancoe5933]

@igeto12 Europe had native cave lions until the middle ages, and North African lions could survive in European habitats. However most of our predatory beasts were mostly exterminated, with the exception of wolves, bears and lynxes of which there are still many in Europe

[@keighlancoe5933]

@igeto12 you're probably right, I doubt there were any roaming about in those places in the wild either. I wouldn't be surprised if they were living in the wild in the Balkans and tbe Med though

[@Jeffron71]

Medieval rulers kept exotic animals including lions in their menageries and often gave them as gifts. See www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-29817517.

[@samiulhussain3045]

Simple answer: it's too hard to draw

[@joshuacarre06]

Laughs in welsh

[@CKyIe]

@@joshuacarre06 Cries in Liberian

[@thebrutusmars]

Joshuacarre youtube How do they laugh in Wales? “Zxbbbbzxbbbbzxbbbb?”

[@joshuacarre06]

@@thebrutusmars hahaha

[@AlefeLucas]

Yea this video could have ended in a minute

[@maxis2k]

"Damn French." "But aren't we Normans?" "...shut thee up."

[@mr.w.146]

Barry O was the Illinois Enema Bandit and Michael was his right-hand hand-job man. Look that up in your Funk and Wagnall's.

[@JM-fo1te]

Even Normans aren't French

[@galinor7]

@@JM-fo1te Born in the area which is now modern day France, Speak French Latin, Consider Normandy in France the homeland. Nope not French at all.

[@corneliusngagwayang9428]

theirs no such ting as french or english etnisity anyon can be french or enflish

[@ronniewatson5879]

Luis M ya they are Scandinavian

[@shoutinghorse]

The old England flag would never have been popular as there's no room to put which football team you support during the world cup.

[@atleastimnotgae2124]

shoutinghorse dont you mean soccer

[@shoutinghorse]

@@atleastimnotgae2124 No I mean football. You know, that game played with your feet. (rolls eyes)

[@bigchonkerraccoon5046]

At least I’m not Gae in Europe and the rest of the world it’s called football. That’s why our sport is called American football. It’s just another weird thing we do.

[@shoutinghorse]

@@bigchonkerraccoon5046 It's not that weird really, American football was derived from rugby which is called 'Rugby Football' to difference itself from 'Association Football' (asSOCiation = soccer) and so all three games have their roots in the FOOTBALL games played at English public schools like Eton. Harrow.and Rugby.

[@keighlancoe5933]

The 'real' England flag was a golden dragon on a crimson field ;)

[@RamanShrikant]

you forgot that the english also needed admin tech 10 aswell as some cores on some scottish provinces

[@17kpk]

That or use the subjugation CB to get them as a vassal, then get admin tech 10.

[@elgirl19]

Nah man you gotta conquer England and Scotland as the Isle of Man to form GB

[@raptorbullets]

Levy them troops boi

[@nathangriffiths2851]

Acctually based

[@nathangriffiths2851]

Acctually based

[@thegrandpotato6014]

Fun fact: St Edmund was the original patron saint of England before being replaced by St George.

[@simonruszczak5563]

Nice. George, means "one how works the earth" in Hebrew, so it makes sense why they would swap them, England being mostly arable land.

[@kevwhufc8640]

​@@simonruszczak5563 I don't think king Richard 1st adopted st George because of the meaning of the name, He was praying at his tomb the night before a battle against a larger army, after he won he adopted st George as England's patron saint. Before that st Edmund was patron saint ( as @thegrandpotato rightly says) ..although Richard 1st , the lion heart, is famous king he ruled for 10 years but only spent 6 months of his reign in England.. ..

[@simonruszczak5563]

@@kevwhufc8640 St George never existed, it's a fictional person..

[@kevwhufc8640]

@@simonruszczak5563 st George was supposed to be a Roman soldier, lol . It seems a lot of saints were originally Roman soldiers that met a Christian and were converted. Britain's oldest martyr/ saint, Alban, my city is named after him StAlbans, was also a Roman soldier who sheltered a Christian and was converted to christianity. We have a huge cathedral named after him that has a shrine that held his bones. Apparently the Vikings stole them , I don't know why anyone would bother stealing a few old bones . Obviously there's no evidence he really existed. But the church earned a lot of money from pilgrims visiting the shrine.. I guess most churches invented saints for the same reason, Pilgrims = money ..lol

[@simonruszczak5563]

@@kevwhufc8640 There was no Roman Empire, it was invented by the Holy Roman Empire to give themselves a background history. The main religions of the world, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism were invented only 800 years ago from so called pagan religions. Information from Dr Anatoly Fomenko, books "History: Fiction or Science?". www.youtube.com/@sbelobaba/videos The word Martyr derives from Mars worship, Mar + Tyr ---> Martyr (Tyr, the Norse god of war) The word Saint came from the old French word Seint/Seinte, which meant a pagan demigod or hero. Ancient history is fake BS.

[@keithorbell8946]

When James acceded to the throne of England in 1603 there was a Union of the Crowns of England and Scotland, not Nations. That unification did not happen until 1707, and that is when the Union flag became official.

[@aaronman2000]

I was looking to see if anyone else had picked this up!

[@kennykerr3930]

Not quite. When James became king in 1603, he wanted enemies at sea to know that they were attacking a ship of a king of TWO countries, so he commissioned a new flag to be flown from the jackstaff. There were a number of designs but the one familiar to us today was preferred. So the Union flag precedes the Union of the Parliaments by about a hundred years. The diagonal stripes didn’t arrive until 1801 though, after Union with Ireland.

[@oml81mm]

@@kennykerr3930 Almost... The flag that you refer to was not the Union Flag, but was a flag used to distinguish a 'king's ship' at sea. It was authorised ONLY for martitme use and was current from 1606 to 1707 when, upon the union of the parliaments, it was then adopted as the Union Flag.

[@poil8351]

It was naval jack.

[@johnorchard4]

The Union Flag was official long before the union of the parliaments. Did you not realise that it was actually designed by James VI/I for the purpose of having a flag for the two kingdoms jointly under his kingship. It was his design that was adopted by the conjoined parliaments in Queen Anne's day as the national flag of the new united kingdoms. The Irish element was not included in either.

[@iafozzac]

The St. George's flag was actually a lease from Genoa, because back then Genoa was a local great naval power and the English thought that having their flag woul offer some protection against pirates. The crown kept paying yearly tributes to Genoa for centuries to continue using their flag. How the hell did you miss all that?

[@gioojisba2758]

Also technically the price is not paid yet

[@tonydelucchi9115]

I was thinking the same thing but for some reason this fellow just left it out.... So be it though

[@jacobvardy]

@@tonydelucchi9115 The English tend to be quite, selective, about their history. They don't often mention killing a few million civilians around the Indian Ocean during WW2. Or, you know, all the genocide that came with the Empire. Just to mention a couple of things they tend to gloss over.

[@mateovandersmissen4753]

jacobvardy you know this guy isn’t English right?

[@keighlancoe5933]

@@jacobvardy The Japanese invading Burma caused the Bengal famine, it's not as if they just turned up and started killing them all and burned all of their grain. And no, we aren't selective about our history, we just don't care because we understand that just about everyone everywhere has a problematic history. When the rest of the world has a long deep think on their past and a period of introspection maybe we'll do the same. Until then, we don't give a damn to be honest. Crying about things people did hundreds of years ago is plain and simply pathetic. This whole trying to collectively shame us and only us is essentially racism, I don't see anyone doing it to the Turks or the Mongolians, and the Mongolians killed 11% of the entire worlds population during their empire and the Ottomans took millions of slaves and built their empire on the skulls of dead Europeans. So, no, we won't be cowed into feeling shame and we won't throw down our culture and our heritage to please racists who hate us.

[@christophernewman5027]

Cracking vid. Cheers, m'dear.

[@historywithhilbert]

Thanks Christpher, glad you enjoyed it!

[@kyedamant1323]

@@historywithhilbert *Christopher

[@jdd109]

Can't tell if American making fun of English or just Yorkshire

[@SuperCrazyfin]

0:59 "Henry the F-Second"

[@samg1879]

Henry the Fuckin' Second

[@edwardblair4096]

When talking about other countries that use the cross of St. George in their flag, how could you miss the flag of Georgia? It's patron saint is also St. George, but their flag has not one but five St. George crosses on it. One in the center, like the flag of England, and one in each of the white quadrants of the main cross.

[@WaterShowsProd]

There’s a beuatiful statue of St. George killing a poor, wee dragon atop a column in a the hub of the economic and administrative section of Tbilisi too. A wonderful city.

[@thesnoopmeistersnoops5167]

Stephen Thomas I can’t recommend Tbilisi enough to visit. The food, the wine, the history.

[@KilapnF]

And Barcelona

[@SeanWinters]

Because Russia lmao

[@hellskitchen10036]

There's one in Jersey also ( New Jersey that is, in front of my house everyday )

[@TheAnon03]

That was never the English flag it's the royal coat of arms. And it's still in use, albeit further modified.

[@rogink]

Exactly - but his point is, it could have been the national flag.

[@ememe1412]

@@rogink it couldn't have been because it was a royal standard relating to a dynasty. The English Standard of the Kings of England has had a (Heraldic) Cross of St. George at the hoist since at least Edward III. George became the Patron saint of England after the Reformation and his symbolism became national. (As it is with Georgia hence the George's Cross on their flag and the Jerusalem Cross.) 'Milan's Cross' (and the other Italian states and City states he mentions other than Genoa), have flags descending from the heraldic Cross of St. Ambrose, Ambrose being the patron of Milan. Genoa as a state did fly the St. George's Cross. (Apparently, the Kings of England paid a tribute to the Doge annually for the privilege to fly the Cross initially only for its shipping back when Genoa was still a maritime power.) They predated the English national use by centuries.

[@Otacatapetl]

Darn. You beat me to it.

[@kevwhufc8640]

@@ememe1412 your right about the lions flag being royal and not national, because in StAlbans abbey Henry 5th brother Duke Humphrey is buried there and his tomb is covered in the royal coat of arms, its visible through the open work grill , which underneath leads down to his tomb.

[@eddiejc1]

Thanks. That flag represented the English royal family and their claim to both the kingdoms of England and France. Incredibly, the English still claimed to be the rightful rulers of France all the way up to the French Revolution. I'm having trouble finding the exact year this changed, but I think it was during the brief Peace of Amiens in the early 19th century. Even though that peace didn't last, they didn't change the flag back since Britain's ultimate goal was to restore the French monarchy. Today, the royal standard is still similar to the old flag except the quadrants with the fleurs-de-lis (representing France) are replaced with a red lion in a yellow square representing Scotland and a gold harp in a blue square representing Ireland, and then later just Northern Ireland. That flag is used by the British monarch throughout the UK except Scotland. Within Scotland, the two red squares representing England are replaced with the yellow squares of Scotland, and where elsewhere in the country the yellow Scottish square is used becomes replaced by the red square of England.

[@michael3088]

Love the George cross but the white dragon has a special place in my heart

[@Rynewulf]

@@buzzbolt4387 have the flags of the saints like Edward, Edmund and Cuthbert combine like a voltron to make one super saint flag!

[@Festucius]

@Anglia Alba Correct. Before the Normans England had no known heraldic reference to a lion.

[@strongerasone2403]

@@Rynewulf that's an interesting idea! Better than what we have now.

[@TimDutch]

Good vid as always.

[@historywithhilbert]

Tige dank Tim!

[@_MrMoney]

"This is the old english flag" EU4 players: [Leo Pointing at screen.jpg]

[@wilsons2882]

we should start standardizing image names of many memes of any image format for a greater cause

[@lawrencian]

@Phil Cadey no St. George was Roman. Turkey used to be Christian. Remember Constantinople?

[@frederickthegreatpodcast382]

My heart dropped when Wilhelmus didn’t play.

[@wazzalord3]

isle of walcheren in zeeland D:

[@ecurewitz]

same here

[@erikbertram6019]

I watched the Walcheren segment twice because I just couldnt beleive it

[@Lusitani74]

Same....he had the chance with the walcheren bit... :(

[@realhawaii5o]

Same.

[@phoebus45]

The "lions" on the House of Plantagenet are usually labeled as "leopards" in French early heraldry, although in Normandy they are referred as "lions".

[@MrNicopa]

Lions “passant guardant" that is walking and looking at you like the English lions, are called "Léopards" in heraldry.

[@erracht]

@@MrNicopa Right. In English heraldry (the terminology of which is derived from old French), the lion in this position is described either as a "Lion passant guardant" or a "Leopard", and this should be more or less synonymous, though the former term seems to have more currency today. In French heraldry, the term used for a lion in this position is always "Léopard".

[@stephenfowlie742]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/anTYgGuDj9GrhpY

[@keighlancoe5933]

I'm reading a lot of comments here and feel I need to dispell many myths regarding the Anglo-Saxons They were shorter and uglier and less well-groomed than their Scandinavian counterparts: False. The Saxons did bathe, there are many written accounts describing their hygiene habits; they would comb their hair and beards frequently; the Normans wrote that they found the Anglo-Saxons to be a beautiful people; Carmen de Hastingae described them thus: they tended to have long well-kept hair, they had well-groomed beards or moustaches, some of them also braided or plaited their hair and beards. They brushed their teeth with twigs, salt, and mint leaves. They would wash from buckets of water with a sponge. They were very pious, and it was considered sinful to be dirty in Christianity, much the same way as in Islam and Judaism; they also washed in rivers, lakes, and streams. They averaged the same height as the Scandinavians of the time period. We have many of their skeletal remains recorded and examined from archaeological digs, and along with this, we have written records of their diets. They were surprisingly well fed, before the Norman conquest every man, no matter whether a humble peasant or noble lord had the legal right to hunt in all of the woods and forests; they hunted and ate deer, wild boar, rabbits, swan, duck, and they also ate horse meat along with a great deal of dairy and of course farmed animals such as cows, sheep, chickens, pigs, goats etc. In short, they ate a great deal of protein, and the average English peasant was most importantly allowed to own his own land and pass it down through his family; this meant they didn't have to pay rent, which gave them more income, and they didn't have to give half of their food to the Normans every harvest. Their bones indicate they were, on average, 5'10", the same as modern-day English people and Scandinavians of the time. They were also incredibly strong; what's striking is how jacked they all were, including the women, their bones show markings from where muscles and ligaments had grown, which can give you an accurate reading of how muscular someone was built when they were alive; the Anglo-Saxons were generally quite tall and in very, very good shape. In terms of looks, they wouldn't have looked remarkably different to them either, they shared much of the same DNA and were both Germanic peoples, and they were alot more closely related back then than they are today, so in general they would have had a lot of fair haired and blue eyed folk who looked suspiciously Dutch and Danish, and also a smattering of redheads from mating with the Britons, and a lot of rat-brown and blackheads too. Think Jax Teller from Sons of Anarchy, a lot of them wouldn't look a world a way from what he looked like. They were terrible at battle: False. They had a martial culture and were more or less a warrior society. They had a very organised military system, with officers (hēretoga in Old English) and professional, full-time warriors called Huscarls, backed up by the Fyrd; often maligned as a peasant militia, that's not entirely accurate. They were less conscripts and more like Army reservists in a sense. They had to do military service every year for 3 months; whilst away they were trained by the professional Huscarls, and often saw combat so if they survived, they could end up with a lot of experience over time. They fought behind a shieldwall, much the same as the Vikings, and they had developed many tactics such as the Bāraceafl (Boarsnout), a kind of arrowhead formation. Their shields were round and looked much the same as the Vikings. Their helmets were generally very similar as was the rest of their armour. If you had an actual Saxon Huscarl and a Viking stood in front of you, you probably wouldn't know which was which unless you knew what to look for; a main giveaway is the way they wore their Sēax horizontally across in its scabbard worn on the waist as a belt, the Vikings tended to wear their knives on their sides above their sword scabbard. The Vikings tended to have very baggy, striped trousers whereas the Saxons opted for tighter fitting linen. Even their languages sounded quite similar, and were somewhat mutually intelligible to a degree; the Norse wrote they could understand the Anglo-Saxons very well, and they in turn could more or less understand them, but they noted they could not understand a word of the Germanic peoples living in Germany, whereas the Anglo-Saxons could understand them to a degree (they called them Old Saxons). In other words, just ignore everything you think you 'learned' from the show Vikings.

[@lfsg689]

It must be said that the anglo-saxons were different before and after king Alfred the Great, in the 9th century. He defeated the vikings that had invaded the land, he unified and organized England and civilized his people, making them learn to read (mainly the bible and classic roman texts, that he translated) and bringing great european thinkers to London. He used to say that he would like to have lived with the wise in Rome (where he went as a teenager), but he couldn't, so he brought the wise to London. He was the founder of England as a unified country, and he was loved by his successors. William the Conqueror brought some french influence, but respected Alfred's heritage.

[@urseliusurgel4365]

Anglo-Saxon society had slaves (theowas) and some paid rent for their land (gafolgeldas). Anglo-Saxon society was quite stratified, it was not an egalitarian society of free peasants. At the top were the gesithcund, they were the warrior class and included all varieties of lord, ceorls, free farmers who owned their own land, rent payers and semi-unfree classes like the laets of Kent, then the slaves at the bottom of the heap.

[@keighlancoe5933]

@urseliusurgel4365 slavery wasn't necessarily permanent though, it was more like a prison sentence in many ways. If you committed a crime and couldn't pay wergild then you could end up as a slave for a period of time until your debt is paid off, and of course prisoners of war often ended up in slavery; they didn't really have a prison system nor any infrastructure to deal with wayward Scottish warbands they'd captured crossing the border, or a group of Viking raiders that didn't make it back to their ship in time before the Fyrd showed up. So the only other alternative was to execute them if they didn't enslave them. It was certainly a better society than the one the Normans brought in, whilst not perfect.

[@katnerd-Glen]

@@keighlancoe5933 Slavery was a common practice throughout Europe at this time (and Asia, and Africa, and...well, everywhere). The Viking raids of the Northmen were not about raiding churches for gold, they were about raiding villages for people. They'd take them to Frisia, and later Dublin, to be sold to other slavers. There was a huge trade in slaves going from Western Europe to the East. While, as you say, you could buy your way out of slavery at the time you could also be born in to slavery. Also if Aethelfuck raided your village and took you to a larger settlement and sold you, that meant you were a slave Nobody was going to question Aethelfuck and his fifty, armed, happily belligerent, raiders. They didn't exactly regulate it. Might makes right was the word of the time.

[@calebroberts5422]

Actually changes the way I've thought of Anglo-Saxons my entire life😂didn't know that thank you.

[@Corium1]

0:19 okay. Who made that?

[@MineMiguel40]

Klaidi Rubiku or an Irishman

[@dominicclarke2775]

Scione wasn’t the Irish we don’t hate the Scots or welsh

[@LordVader1094]

Someone who has a good sense of humor.

[@greg_4201]

someone with an eye for detail

[@dc-4ever201]

Might have been useful to mention for viewers that the Throne where British Monarchs are crowned in Westminster Abbey is the "Saint Edward's Throne " and he is also entombed there.

[@hblanco5923]

The dutch anthem has copyright anf the british no? XD

[@alexandrub8786]

Kaptalism 0

[@anttibjorklund1869]

@Afrodisiac Copyright as a legal term originates from the Statute of Anne in the early 18th century.

[@vaderbuckeye36]

@Afrodisiac its the specific performance that has the copyright, not the song and arrangement. A modern recording of an old song is a brand new copyright.

[@baltulielkungsgunarsmiezis9714]

@@vaderbuckeye36 "A modern recording of an old song is a brand new copyright." This should not be the case.

[@henrypernoix1793]

British anthem was French before the English stole it.

[@gwawd]

The English actually used the St.George's cross on a lease terms from Genoa so that the English ships could more or less safely travel the seas. They paid an annual ransom for the franchise. That didn't help much though to protect the English coast from Liguarian pirates.

[@Valencetheshireman927]

There was a historiographical tradition claiming that Richard the Lionheart himself adopted both the flag and the patron saint from the Republic of Genoa at some point during his crusade. This idea can be traced to the Victorian era, Perrin (1922) refers to it as a "common belief", and it is still popularly repeated today even though it cannot be substantiated as historical. Via Wikipedia

[@arrelite]

First time here, love the narration, sounds like a history nerd at a dinner party who is getting too deep into things but refuses to stop and actually keeps people entertained

[@rextheroyalist6389]

8:55 Me: *happy British noises*

[@The_Sigillite]

I approve this message for reasons.

[@firstnamelastname7003]

Happy British noises, of course, being vague 'hoorah!'s and 'hear hear!'s mumbled through a moustache

[@davidfarrer4332]

@@firstnamelastname7003 Along with "marvellous!" :)

[@larsrons7937]

Interesting video. 5:35 I lost track here, but I'm glad that you kept it for the fun of it. I got back on track after that.

[@Conorp77]

Interesting during the reign of Richard II the hundred years war flag (three lions quartered with the fleur de lis) were also combined with the cross of Edward the Confessor. Richard really did see himself as his successor in terms of piety and even had paintings commisioned showing him being blessed by Edward the Confessor. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_coat_of_arms_of_the_United_Kingdom#/media/File:Royal_Arms_of_England_(1395-1399).svg

[@giftbox2369]

In 1190 Richard the Lionheart, ruler of England, asked the Genoese ships, sailors, admirals and escorts to transport his army to Jerusalem. During the crossing he noticed that Muslims, Turks, Spaniards, French and Catalans were staying well away. Intrigued, he asked Admiral Lercari, the commander of the expedition, for the reason. He probably gave an answer similar to this: “You see your Majesty, pointing to the Cross of St. George, everyone knows that who dares to attack the battle against a wood defended by this sign , will incur certain death "(the body of the crossbowmen, with which the Genoese galleys were equipped, in fact instilled respect and terror in all seas). The King then asked, by paying an annual fee, to be able to fly the Genoese flag in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, so that no one dared to attack. After a couple of centuries, following the good relations established, the Genoese gave the British the use of the flag which, still today, is a symbol of England, London and the British Navy.

[@elliskaranikolaou2550]

That is my understanding too. There was a historiographical tradition claiming that Richard the Lionheart himself adopted both the flag and the patron saint from Genoa at some point during his crusade. This idea can be traced to the Victorian era,[5] Perrin (1922) refers to it as a "common belief", and it is still popularly repeated today even though it cannot be substantiated as historical.

[@rob5197]

No permission given ever - - English just went demential

[@garbancitolentejas486]

Catalans were Spaniards ...

[@fredjohnson9426]

Love this! You've definitely won my subscription! On a tangent, it's interesting to note that the image of a lion lying down facing the viewer, as in the English arms, can be termed a 'lion passant guardant', whilst French heralds of the Medieval Period termed it a 'leopard'. Thus both mean the same and are interchangeable, with lions being more common today but leopards likely more so in the Medieval Period.

[@BOABModels]

My alma mater, the University of East Anglia in Norwich, still uses those three crowns on a blue background as part of their crest. I've noticed it's also used as the crest of Sweden. Is there a reason for this or just coincidence?

[@asmrwithdora8464]

Really wanted to watch and listen to this but the background music made it impossible. History with Hilbert, please note: some of us can't listen to two sources of sound at the same time! Your voice is enough.

[@MrDeadhead1952]

The quartered fleur d'lys and lions' banner was the monarch's royal standard and represented the monarch not the nation. And it's design changed as new Kings took the throne.

[@thehappyprince8012]

The flag quartered with the arms of England and France was not the old flag of England, it’s the former Royal Banner or Royal Standard. It was not not replaced by the St. George’s flag because it’s still used today (except that the modern version is quartered with the arms of England, Scotland and Ireland).

[@qwertyuiopzxcfgh]

I did not expect Walcheren to show up in this video. I grew up on the island, so it makes me happy that you even know of its existence.

[@gilgalbiblewheel6313]

Is there any association of the England's flag of the red cross in the white background to the Knights Templars? Another story I heard is that when England would sail into the Mediterranean they were advised to bear this flag by the Genoese to avoid being sunk.

[@FritzyFreakout]

Great video! I would love to see one about the different saint’s flags.

[@12345678900987659101]

It got discarded for being too F*ench.

[@x-a-]

You're still mad that the French kicked your ass haha

[@MW_Asura]

@George S Kay, but this is about England and France so what the Norse did or didn't do is irrelevant here

[@lecapetien3223]

the Saint Georges Cross was the flag of the Templiers.

[@Neion8]

@@x-a- Not sure if just about managing to defend your country from an invading army who hail from a country with 1/3 of your population due to a religious fanatic and her favourite child-molesting, mass-murdering general really counts as kicking ass tbh.

[@lockyhocky2]

@@x-a- When are you talking about?

[@ecaterinavisan8178]

The one with the birds and cross was actually really lovely. Is it still used today for any region or symbols of old noble families?

[@paulwilliams493]

I believe that the "lions" were actually referred to as Leopards in the Mediæval period. The combination of St. George's & St. Andrew's crosses began with the union of the Crowns under James I/IV and until well into the 19th Century it was common for Scottish versions of the flag to have the Saltire atop the St George's cross. This continued even after the addition of St. Patrick's cross in 1801 and can still be found in the standard of The Northern Lighthouse Board, Scotland's equivalent to Trinity House. Wales, being completely incorporated into the Kingdom of England in the 1540's, is represented by the St. George's cross.

[@nairedja6524]

The most ironic part is that probably not a single medieval european has ever seen a lion in his life

[@peterholden2016]

No, the most ironic part is the choice of meme used to comment on Edward the Confessor's celibacy.

[@larson0014]

on pilgrimage to the middle east they would in captivity

[@Conorp77]

they didn't understand the difference between lions and leopards yet, so while we may say 'three lions', if you asked Richard I he would've said otherwise.

[@AlanGChenery]

Richard's royal menagerie had (I believe 3) lions. So at least some had seen them. :p

[@PyrusFlameborn]

@@Conorp77 leopards, lions, tigers, and panthers were all just called panthers.

[@ianprince1698]

the three lions is the personal flag of the king. today Buckingham palace only flies the royal standard when the Queen is present, that flag follows her from place to place in England.

[@constantdrowsiness4458]

Wasn't Richard's lions derived from his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine's coat of arms?

[@Conorp77]

even earlier, the arms of Geoffrey Plantaganet, Count of Anjou, whom fathered Henry II (Plantaganet). This is the point the royal house spins off from the House of Normandy itself and is among the earliest examples of heraldry as it became.

[@Conorp77]

@Joshua Morgan sure, but we still know him as Geoffrey Plantaganet in modern terms

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

@Joshua Morgan the broom plant (plantae genista) was use as an emblem of the house of Aquitaine. The Latin became corrupted over the years to become Plantagenet.

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

To be pedantic they're not lions but leopards.

[@stuartc9149]

@@neiloflongbeck5705 Not sure how that works since Hen ry I was Henry of Anjou, not Aquitaine

[@TheLucanicLord]

0:27 The one on the left is the monarch's personal flag. A variant of it still serves that role.

[@toveychurchill6468]

7:37 could that ship be Mary Rose? Hilbert,would you like to talk about how that lion-flower(?) flag evolve into today’s royal standard ? That flag was also used as naval command flags at some point.

[@greybeardcanadian1036]

Very interesting video! Thank you. I enjoy how you are both informative and casual.

[@danti8510]

The flag on the far left at 6:35 kinda looks like tbe swedish coat of arms

[@rag0t2010]

oh hi, why do Bulgarians and Norwegians also use (or used) lions?? I heard that the Persians and Greeks stole the Lion image from the Hittites, but I don't know if to believe that

[@TheRealKingLeopoldII]

A lot of European countries use lions. The Belgian coat of arms has 14 lions on it

[@Drewski-hw1yi]

Actually lions were present in ancient Greece and Persia in fact the range of lion habitats stretched far beyond what it is today.

[@einarbolstad8150]

@George S Take a look at the Norwegian coat of arms, that ain't no leopard.

[@rag0t2010]

@Michal Blaszczak the Hittites came first

[@gonk534]

Einar Bolstad Europeans called Lions leopards in medieval times, I think.

[@theplatypus104]

Awesome video and really informative. But I think the video graphics is a bit glitchy and tears sometimes. Might be the software? So I'd maybe work on the graphics quality. Keep it up!

[@CarthagoMike]

No matter what historical region is talked about, and no matter which time period is being discussed, There is always a way to sneak some Dutch history or territory in.

[@TheMelbournelad]

8:57 okay that gave me a good chuckle LOL

[@gavingrewal2733]

u should do a video about the Irish Saint Patrick's flag and their harp flag

[@northernli4491]

St.Patrick was a British saint not Irish. He is the patron saint of Ireland though.

[@jovanweismiller7114]

The first Book of Common Prayer was, indeed, issued in the reign of Edward VI, but it was in 1549. The 1552 BCP was the 2nd edition thereof.

[@Enzo012]

Three lions on a flag, jewels remain still gleaming.

[@ememe1412]

You skipped the addition of St. Patrick's Saltire added to the Union flag after the Act of Union of the Kingdom of Ireland to the Kingdom of Great Britain. That explains the other red bits superimposed on St. Andrew's cross part.

[@HansLemurson]

5:00 excellent use of the distracted boyfriend meme

[@comradeedwin1006]

Love your videos keep the great work up!

[@archeofutura_4606]

As requested, here is my F for the loss of Wilhelmus

[@davidwarren719]

Is there an editing omission in there at 6:18? It just jumps from a rhetorical question about Walcheren to seemingly the middle of a different sentence about some heraldry. Is it just me?

[@bloodonmyboot5176]

I heard that the St George was adopted because our trading ships were trading from Genoa so they had to sail under the Genoa flag

[@Epicrandomness1111]

Sounds like Ligurian propaganda to me

[@rob5197]

True very true - - it's originally a genoves flag

[@jordi6795]

It is also the flag of the Principality of Catalonia, and currently a second flag of Catalonia, this is why it is also present in Barcelona's flag, also Saint George is the patron saint of Catalonia as well, and shares its veneration with Aragon due to the shared medieval crown.

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

Edward the Confessor would be Edward -I not Edward -II. He was the last Edward crowned king before Edward I.

[@poil8351]

The three crowns on a blue background is used by sweden on their air force roundels and is on their coat of arms.

[@EmperorConnor]

0:19 norf FC up the EDL hate the missus love stella

[@EmperorConnor]

@Daniel Crutcher Ermm..ok? Don't see how that relates to what I said mate

[@ideclaredwaronyourfrenchas4123]

Asda has some cheap beer innit?

[@cliverogers4933]

Mercifully brief- thanks for the concise light touch.

[@Rob-n7i]

White dragon of England for me

[@shanemize3775]

Outstanding video! I learned a bunch.

[@Shaden0040]

Did Wales have a flag and why was it not incoporated with the English and Scottish flags?

[@michael3088]

When the Normans took over England they conquered Wales very soon after also so for a long time they were legally represented as part of England so Wales is also represented by the George cross in this instance. It wasn't until pretty recently that Wales got it's own government (which is called the National Assembly)

[@stevethomas5849]

Whilst I am English but have Welsh blood throughout these veins. I'm I mistaken, but was St Patrick ( the cross in the flag ) Welsh born. If so then Wales is represented in a roundabout way. I am referring to the Union ( Jack ) Flag.

[@TheMoonRover]

Indeed. Wales was effectively an English-controlled territory for several centuries, and had been fully merged into the Kingdom of England before the union of England and Scotland. All laws passed between 1689-1948 simply consider it to be part of England. Even now, the Welsh Assembly (est. 1999) has less devolved power than the Scottish Parliament or even Stormont (Northern Ireland), and it's not unusual for laws to specify "England and Wales"

[@forbesmeek6304]

St Patrick probably born in Welsh speaking Strathclyde which became Scotland.

[@RogerS1978]

Wales was a principality, not a kingdom, and as such, it didn't warrant the same respect. The red dragon was still a symbol for Wales as was the British English white.

[@bryn1890]

I read somewhere that the English merchants first adopted whilst trading with Genoa, because the Genoese were at war with so many other city states/ pirates, that their warships would attack anything that wasn't flying a Genoese flag. The English, with whom they were not at war, were instructed to fly it as they approached Italy.

[@LordBitememan]

Did. . . did you cheat me out of a Het Wilhelmus there?

[@ecurewitz]

but you got a Rule Britannia instead!

[@BrindleChase]

Nicely done. I'm sure you know, but I thought I would mention the current Union Jack got its diagonal red stripes by incorporating Northern Ireland's flag over the combination of England's and Scotland's flags, when it joined the UK.

[@Dmcs1917]

*Forced/bribed into the uk (same goes for Scotland)

[@Eppu_Paranormaali]

Ireland's flag, not just Northern. It's St. Patrick's cross, so the Union Jack consists of the symbols of the patron saints of all three kingdoms which originally formed the United Kingdom.

[@wilsonkeith3]

In Danish the word "Lion" is spelled "Løve", was Richard engaging in some sort of ancient punnery?

[@jesusislukeskywalker4294]

good comment. yes someone is having a laugh. possibly loki or satan. or the royal society for covering things up and tricking everyone lol. history all seems dodgy under scrutiny.

[@aenorist2431]

Wait what. Been on edge all video, and then you come around with *that* ? How dare you, I was waiting for a hilarious dutch tangent :P

[@ladyliberty417]

Love the combination of English and Scottish flags!! Should have known that, ha!! Hope you’re ok Hilbert and escaping out into the woods once in awhile🌲

[@DavBlc7]

Well, the combination of English and Scottish flags may not be for much longer if Scotland decides to vote yes for independence.

[@ladyliberty417]

David Black Of course!! It’s complicated 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿✌🏼

[@golddiggerdave]

Have you done anything on the house of Hanover? I've being researching for a while, interesting to see this house spans centuries and many other ruling families

[@johnorchard4]

The easy answer to the question "What Happened to the Old (Medieval) English Flag?", "Why did it change?" is that it didn't. The flag with Lions (or Leopards), and the Fleurs-de-Lys is the personal banner of the king of England. It's successor is the Sovereign's personal standard which is flown wherever Elizabeth II happens to be at the time. The other is the flag of St. George which someone in the mediaeval period thought might make a nice national flag.

[@saidhammar5006]

I love the three lion flag. You really should get it back. But the Edward III flag, with the golden three lions on red quarters, and the many golden fleur-de-lys on blue quarters is even the most beautiful flag I've ever seen. So so so class

[@phampshire6864]

Had any medieval European kings actually seen a real lion ?

[@tomg7913]

P Hampshire yes. Henry III started a zoo in the Tower of London and it had lions in it

[@JustDaniel6764]

We invented lions like we invented everything else.

[@olisargent9877]

Great vid, love this kind of stuff

[@sabaruengineering3843]

Countries with Cross in their flag England, Scotland, New Zealand, Australia Georgia, Greece Iceland, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway Portugal, Spain

[@Elmaxo1989]

Switzerland, Malta, Tonga, Fiji, Jamaica Brazil, if you count the Southern Cross constellation

[@watcherzero5256]

Tuvalu and 16 British and 3 New Zealand Overseas Territories. Then theres another two dozen states or cities which incorporate the Union Jack. And of course the Union Jack flys above Hawaii to this day as the state flag.

[@sharizaslam]

at 6:34 the crest on the left looks a lot like the one of the University of Oxford and the one on the right (of Edward the Confessor) is exactly the crest used today by University College, Oxford - the oldest constituent college of the University (which now has almost 40 colleges, but the oldest one confusingly has the word University in the name). Surely not a coincidence, as the University was founded around 1096, so I wonder what the history is behind that.

[@finnklapproth6023]

When you cant be patriotic with your first half of heritage, than bei it with your second :D

[@ants5233]

Excellent video, thank you very much!

[@mitchell4567]

I shed a tear when 'God save the Queen' was played over images of the Empire

[@ulyssescpt]

What I think is funny, for me, is that I always thought the modern British flag was symmetrical till 2 months ago. What I mean by symmetrical, is that the stripes(crosses) are evenly spaced. It was only when I saw a video on youtube, where they explained the meaning of the term Great Britain, that I realized the lines(a cross) are off-set.

[@kevwhufc8640]

It would make things a lot easier if they were central instead of being offset.

[@micahistory]

It seems like everyone just used the St. George's flag

[@Icorosify]

You’re starting with the French kings - what about the flag of Alfred and Athelstan?

[@phbrinsden]

The Royal standard is flown where the Queen is in residence as the sovereign of the United Kingdom and shows the lions of England, lion of Scotland and the harp of Ireland. The lions of England go all the way back to the Angevins. The cross of St. George refers only to England. Scotland has the cross saltire of St. Andrew etc .

[@forbesmeek6304]

In Scotland the monarch uses the Lion in 2 quarters and English leopards in 1. An insult to Ireland using their harp at all. The double red tressure used with the Scottish Lion was a wee present from a king of France. 🇫🇷

[@MrWertheron]

Fleur de Lys is not the symbol of the monarchy but the Capetians, and Edward III used it because he was the grandson of Philipp IV, and was a Capetian by his mother Isabelle.

[@jaybatsford]

They weren't referred to as Lions at the time but as ‘lion passant guardant’ though more widely called Leopards, it just sort of evolved into lions on account of people not truly understanding that both big cats were actually separate species.

[@elizabethmerin7489]

Only getting better.

[@not_juice_man9867]

Those diagonals come from the old Irish flags, when they conquered Ireland.

[@JPCardington]

Also remember that the Red Cross, white background was the standard of the guelfs who supported the pope, while the reverse (white on red background) was for the ghebellines for the Holy Roman Emperor during the mid-late medieval period in Italy. That is why many such symbols can be found on northern Italian city symbols as they sided with either party,. All a bit messy, hence the ‘snake pit of Italian politics’. I don’t know whether this influenced the selection for English usage.

[@theirishcenturion8347]

The “Union Flag” as referred too in the video, from my own experience, has always been called the “Union Jack” Edit: In 1908 the UK parliament stated, in line with the Admiralty’s verdict in 1902, that ‘the Union Jack should be regarded as the national flag’.

[@JohnMacbeth]

It's only a "Union Jack" when it's flown on a ship. The "Union Flag" is the correct term.

[@RealBadGaming52]

@@JohnMacbeth your right, i learned that on DoctorWho

[@alwantamalus3709]

In fact It's not a lion but a leopard, exactly leopards with lion's head!!... This old english flag is composed by the "fleur de lys" symbol of the kings of France (and Angevins), and 3 Normand leopards. 2 leopards represent the 2 parts of Normandie (haute & basse) and the 3rd leopard represents England (as new part of Normandie). The leopard was a frankish symbole of courage for both Normands and Angevins. This old english flag was initially the Plantagenet's flag since Geoffroy de Plantagenet have married Mathilde de Normandie in 1128, they joined Angevin and Normand flags. Until today the flag of Normandie is 2 léopards.

[@nirnman]

actually, those three lions were leopards and the quartered flag was the personal coat of arms of the king similar to the Scottish royal "standard" of a red lion rampant on a gold field with a double red border.so neither was the national flag the Scottish is the white satire on a blue background. During the crusades, the English wore red surcoats with a white cross and they brought back the St George's flag which became the national flag of England and was up unit the Act of Union in 1707 to distinguish English regiments from Scottish regiments in the army after that he first version of the Grand Union national flag from 1603 when the crowns of England and Scotland were united in the person of James VIth of Scotland and Ist of England it became the kings colour of all regiments except the Guards (who just had to be different lol)

[@wannabehistorian371]

Its been a while I’ve watch your video. Wow you’ve improved a lot!

[@colinfeist1890]

They're not lions of course, they're leopards. Common mistake.

[@alisonrandall3039]

Colin Feist Three leopards on my shirt.

[@no2palacegateholidayrental8]

It’s one of those situations where “it’s a common mistake” is, in fact, the mistake. Medieval French heralds sometimes referred to a lion depicted as walking (passant) as a lion leopardé. This is one of those nit picky distinctions that has confused people and led them to assume the lions are in fact leopards, when the term refers to the lions’ attitude, not the species. The Lions of England are three lions passant (walking) guardant (facing the viewer) or (gold).

[@hammer7808]

The secondary school I went to was St Edward The Confessor School in Richmond & that standard you showed of his Blue background, White Cross surrounded by five White Doves was our school badge !

[@diegoragot655]

Why Bosnia during Ottoman times had a special flag but other countries like to say: Bulgaria and Syria didn't??? (Syria in Europa Universalis uses a weird flag imo)

[@mundt_]

I find it odd that you got a copyright strike for the Dutch national anthem. Generally, National Anthem are in the public domain. So it might of just been the certain composition that you were using. You might be able to find a copyright free/public domain performance of it to use.

[@genericusername4316]

It's hard to find a good rendition that is public domain. Most of the public domain anthem are quite old, and are mostly archives. Generally, when someone makes a good rendition they are tempted to copyright it even if it is an anthem that everyone sings.