The History of the English Flag 

You put the St George's flag upside down.

"France Is Rightful English Soil." -History With Hilbert

For some reason i really like English history and lore although I'm not English. And when i see the English flag it brings to my mind all those medieval myths.

Something is wrong... no dutch references... are you dying? on drugs? has someone kidnapped you and this is your way of asking for help? Is someone threatening you? are you in danger?

You forgot to tell the stories surrounding the flag of Genoa and Milan.

Your oratory is getting better and better! (I've been binge-watching your videos) Congrats, keep up the great work

the history of the english flag from history with Hilbert... i expect atleast 5 Dutch references

"It may come from Genoa" Not debunked at all,Genoa had that flag before England and it was a major naval power during crusades as well. I understand anyway that anything related to the pride and history of a nation could lead to mistify facts that could link its pride to other countries or being influenced by them...

Italy: "You're welcome"

S.George cross was first made by a bishop in Geona. It was a frankish guy to use it as has symbol During the First Crusade for Jerusalem in honour of Geona, that is how crusaders got their appellation (Cross --> Crusade).

Nothing better than waking up in the morning with a History with Hilbert's videos

saint georges cross has been the flag of the city of Geona. since the 11th century..

Technically the English are still Anglo Saxons, and the Scottish are still celts, most English have Norman, Scottish, Irish, Viking, And Saxon ancestry. But the Saxon culture has been the most dominant in England. Tho it was mixed for a while after 1066 with the wealthy mainly speaking Norman french and the peasants mainly still using old Anglo.

I'm pretty sure the White Dragon flag has only been around since the 80's , based on the Arthurian myth where the White dragon (Saxons) fought the Red dragon (Britons), there is also the theory that it could be based on Harold Godwinson's battle standard as seen in the Bayeux Tapestry but there is no recorded history of it being white (more likely gold)

"Serpentine-like creature" "Oi, I remember George. He was always a tosser. Going on about how he 'slayed a dragon' - we all knew that he'd really only stepped on a garden snake, and that was by accident!"

This is the ancient flag of genova..

The symbolism of the Salvific banner of the true cross, as Jacopo da Varagine Archbishop of Genoa indicated the cross of San Giorgio, determined in the Middle Ages, for armed pilgrimages, the appellation of crusaders. The Cross of San Giorgio was therefore chosen as a symbol of the pilgrims who went to the holy places of Christianity and who after 1095, the year of conquest of Jerusalem by the Seljuk Turks, moved largely by a sincere spirit of mission, decided to take the cross and arm yourself to free the land where Jesus Christ was born and lived, in response to the repeated attacks suffered by the Turks, determined, once the Arabs were overwhelmed, to push for the conquest of the Byzantine empire. In 1099 she was adopted by Goffredo di Buglione following the capture of Jerusalem in honor of the Genoese forces ("Praepotens Genuensium Praesidium") following Guglielmo Embriaco who, after a long siege, resolved the fate of the battle with a decisive contribution in the conquest of the City Santa. During the Middle Ages it also became a symbol of the Lombard League, which used it as a banner, probably inspired by the banner of the municipality of Milan. The use of the banner by the Genoese, however, seems to date back to remote times, when the Byzantine army was stationed in the city, and the banner of the garrison (a red cross on a white field) was brought as a tribute to the small church of San Giorgio , but it is certainly attested in 1096. The flag, historically used by the Republic of Genoa, had an automatic defense value: the enemy ships if they saw it avoided the conflict. So in 1190 [1] the rulers of London obtained the use of the flag for the British fleet, but in exchange for an annual tribute to be paid to the Republic of Genoa [2]. In July 2018 the mayor of Genoa Marco Bucci asked the English Queen for 247 years of arrears as the concession of the banner was no longer paid since 1771 ( wikipedia the free)

Do you think you could do more flag videos? Especially around the British isles and other areas influenced by them? Northern Europe would also be interesting. I’m kinda into flats, and have been watching your stuff for a while so I think that would be cool.

Few years ago I was working in France. One night I happened to be rather drunk, got into an argument with some French guy..At some point mid argument I started to sing "Rule Britannia" at the top of my voice. Wasnt until my mate grabbed my arm and was like "mate...We're im France, you trying to get beat up or what" luckily..I shut up after that

I really enjoyed the video! Frankly, I didn't expect to learn anything new from this video since I've watched many videos English history (and their flags), but I was pleasantly surprised! I had never seen the White Dragon flag. I'm looking forward to the videos about the other British flags :)

There is a book called "How to Kill a Dragon: Aspects of Indo-European Poetics". It explores myths of indoeuropean speaking peoples and tries to find communality, to speculate of original myths. Apparently the dragon slaying myth is the strongest one. The book is supposedly very learned but almost unreadable (i have not read it myself, only read articles about it). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Kill_a_Dragon

Kudos for using "William the Bastard" who was succeeded of course by William the Pin-Cushion ;)

Albion is everything to me 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Union of crowns was not until 1700s with Queen Anne. 1603 to 17xx was two crowns with one king I think.

I think I need to move to England. It would be like being reincarnated without dying. Only found a few ancestors of mine that weren't English.

Also for the Montreal flag which you showed, the pine tree in the centre was recently added representing the native peoples

Not boring at all!

Correct me if I’m wrong but the white dragon flag wouldn’t just be a recoloured Welsh flag. I’ve always seen it depicted as a more vertical, often leg less, dragon

Every time I hear 3 lions I always think of 3 lions on the shirt

Long Live italy English flag is the St George flag and comes from Genova

Thanks again for the history! Love this content bro!

It's a shamrock, not a clover, for Ireland

I don't get why u don't have a few hundred thousands subs your videos are really good .

We are English by the grace of God 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

i think it would be cool to add the Anglo Saxon white dragon symbol over the current st George's cross and just add a red line around the dragon to make it visible

Who ever said this was gonna be boring was so wrong

Why is RU-vid only showing me two videos next to yours and they're singalong animated kids shows about learning to count...

Would like more details about how the final Union Jack came to be showing the Scottish flag and also the New Zeland "red bits" you mentioned. Would also be helpful to put some visual dates for us Yanks.

The flag of England is also included in the Albertan shield of Alberta, Canada, over a blue background. Which is Unique for Alberta, as majority of backgrounds on Canadian flags is red. Also to note, Alberta is the name of I believe it was the fourth child of Queen Victoria.

Very nice! Thank you. But... if I might make a suggestion? Scattering in a few more dates would be helpful. I have a horrible feeling that terms like 'The Middle Ages', 'The Crusades', 'The Reformation', 'The Renaissance' and 'Hammer Time' may not register with some people (mentioning no names, Mr Trump, whoops, sorry). I mean, 300 years may seem an inconceivably long time for some folks, but it barely scratches the surface here. Cambridge has had a University for over 800 years; Ripon Cathedral goes back more than 1,300 years, and I myself - Queen Boudicca's baby sister - am nearly 2,000 years old. Well, you know. I just thought a few more 'markers' might help put the wavy flappy thing on a stick thing in perspective... :-)

Sorry, all I could think of was: "Hello. I'm History with Hilbert, and welcome to fun with flags"

Interesting. Amazing work as always.

Hawaii funnily enough too has a union jack on it. Good video!

Great video. Can you do a video on the flag of Essex?

Hilbert... i just found your comment under Faun Walpurgisnacht

St George was from Turkey and he is also the saint of the country Georgia. As for the English flag it has suppose have come from Denmark`s flag (which Denmark had rule England for a time) with the colours just turned around.

The White Dragon flag us actually quite lit. But I'd still pick the St. George's flag as it is already incorporated perfectly well in the current British Flag which is my favourite. 🇬🇧

0:18 shows wales as well haha

Why didn't we get the white dragon dammit.

It’s my understanding that in heraldry, when a lion faces you, it is called a leopard.

Great video, looking forward to the next one!

5:28 shamrock

Will you talk about the British isle National animals at any point? like why is Scotland National animal is a Unicorn? xD

The Danish coat of arms has 3 lions that look really similiar to that of the English medieval flag, do you know if that has something to do with it?

The Three Lions (or Leopards) was from the Plantagenets (Angevin) not the Normans/Normandy...?

I think this flag design definitely comes from the crusades. Knights templar also had a red cross with white background. The Plantagenet family were the rulers of England at this time and they were also French and ruled about 50% of France all the way down to the Spanish Border. Richard the Lion-heart who was a Plantagenet King of England personally traveled to the Holy Lands to fight in the Crusades.

flag of Genoa granted in use to England in exchange for the payment of royalties

Great video! Just in time, I was almost finished binge watching hehehe Just a little thing though, "Fleur de Lys", the 'S' should be pronounced. Source: There's 4 of them on my flag ;) Not that I should be one to talk after my try at learning some Dutch... lol Oh and if you ever run out of ideas for topics, more Dutch history would be something I'd like to learn about Keep up the good work, you're definitely one of my best finds of the year! :) Edit: Commented before the French in Canada part... hehehe

why the fuck does England have the Fleur De Lis in its flag? England was never- "the joint-Anglo-French..." OH!

Also to add is how the Union Jack shows up on the Flag of Hawaii. A really odd history on that flag alone.

Liked because France is rightful english land

Good video Hilbert! Looking forward to Scottish flag video

I’m not British but I don’t think there’s any flag more beautiful than the Union Jack

Could you do a special about the Dutch anthem? Perhaps about the fact that it's just about a guy who starts by saying he's German, then goes on to mention the Spanish occupation. Also, no mention of the Netherlands of even Holland, just Orange (which is... in France) and ends by declaring his allegiance to the king of Spain??? WTF? Just admit it, Marseillaise is better.

Great video, keep it up!

It is not incorrect to call the Union Flag the Union Jack. Either term can be used.

As I understood it, and I say this as someone who hasn't done much research and who lives in a not too patriotic area: Saint Edmund of East Anglia's attributed banner was in fact three golden crowns on a blue field. Similar to the Swedish arms, but with all three in a vertical arrangement akin to the Hull Rugby team badges. I knew of the white dragon banner, but from my understanding it was a much later invention (to be fair, basically all pre-Norman banners and arms are), and the pre-1066 English instead likely used the Golden Wyvern of Wessex.

Really good channel bro

Hey Hilbert, the Lion/Leopard thing references their stance. Leopards have that horizontal pose as in the English coat of arms, whereas the standing pose such as in Scotland (or *cough* Holland, Flanders, Brabant etc...) is what's known in heraldry as a Lion

Also interesting is that the Union Jack is on the US state of Hawaii’s Flag :D

Nice video

Just a minor mistake. The Union Jack wasn't created on the death of Queen Elizabeth in 1603, but around 1707 with the act of Union. The last Stuart monarch, Queen Anne, had no heirs and with her death the union with Scotland would end. To keep that from happening they got the Scottish Parliament to agree to a merger into the UK. Also you didn't say much about why they added the extra diagonal red cross. That happened around 1800 when they also merged Ireland into the UK.

Was the proto union jack used right at james's ascension? I thought it didn't get widespread use until the act of union in 1707 as despite the personal union both kingdoms largely considered themselves independent. Sorry for lack of punctuation. I am on my mobile.

You should have done a video explaining the difference between the UK, Great Britain, Britain and England. Still a lot of people couldn’t tell the difference.

Spectacular! Flag of Scotland (navy blue, 3-2).svg St Andrew's Cross 16th c. (Scotland) Flag of England (3-2).svg St George's Cross 16th c. (England and Wales) Flag of Great Britain (1707, 3-2).svg King's Colours of 1606 1707 (Great Britain) Saint Patrick's Saltire (3-2).svg St Patrick's Cross (Ireland) Flag of the United Kingdom (2-3).svg Union Flag of 1801 1801 (United Kingdom) Bigger RenderEvolution of the Union flag

Hilbert is the greatest human that has ever existed

St georges flag was borrowed from Genoa. Is Genoa's Flag

Could you do a history of the lombard flag (The snake eating a man)?

can you do history of the german flag or french maybe

Then there was the Ensign of the Governor and Company of Merchants of London trading with the East Indies which consisted of St. George's flag along the upper hoist of the Red Duster, with six white stripes.

Hilbert, I think the topic is interesting, being born and living in England. I suppose it's your overseas viewers who aren't interested in the history behind the St George cross.

Heraldry books explain everything concerning this subject matter!

The Fleur-de-Lys were not added to the Royal Standard until the English claimed France under King Edward III. It had nothing to do with the French character of the Norman Monarchy.

return the flag to Genoa

what a great video now I have to go to sleep

5:36 The New Zealand flag does not have the seven pointed large star and the small stars are simple 5 point stars (with red edges). That is my only problem with the video except that we didnt keep a dragon on the flag.

Yes another. Histeoy vidoe 3 in a row

St Edmund is England's true patron saint and the white dragon is the true English flag.

I wish the english flag was the white dragon that would be immense

as an Englishman the flag of the three lions on the shield used in the Crusades is rather NOICE

2:00 In heraldry lions and leopards are the same animal but leopards have their head turned so that the whole face is visible.

the st george is simply an inverted danish flag, Dannebrogen en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Denmark. most likely taken from william the conquerer.

Will they use the dragon again?

I was hoping you were going to explain where the red X came from and why it was added.

The true original English flag and was used pre the Norman Conquest comprised of the White Dragon on a red background and it flew over the Saxon forces at Hastings. However, apparently the design was stolen from the Welsh Red Draghon design.

Everything good, except the Montreal flag. Montreal was always primary french and even tody it's majoritly speaking french. Of course the irish and scotish later came in as immigrants. So the flag of Montreal is basicly just a simbol of the oppresing english assimilation of french speaking Canada.

Missed the chance to compare the coat of arms of Guyenne, Normandy, and House of Plantagenet

0:18 wales is a part of england apparently

This has been demonetized, hasn’t it...

Every time I watch a Hilbert video I have a urge to play some Crusader Kings 2 or Europa Universalis 4