Flying Colours: an alternate history of flags

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Squidfam

Squidfam

So yeah, this is exactly what it says on the tin. Some people do entire ATLs on presidential elections, some on music and some on tech. My attempt is to make one entirely about flags.

There are a few "rules" I'll adhere to while making this

1. I will not change OTL political history (I.E. The communists won't lose the Russian civil war in order to cause an alternate Russian flag)
2. I'll try and stick to the flag POD as close as possible and only change flags directly affected by that symbolism (hopefully you'll see what i mean)
3. I won't shy away from awful flags (sorry folks, you may see SOBs and swastikas)

Now, if anyone can mention an occasion were a flag had an important role in say, a battle (like if someone in OTL mistook one flag for another or something like it) please inform me and I'll all that into the timeline.

That said, let's change some flags!
 
Crosses Red and Wite: England, Britain and France.
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    Squidfam

    england-flag.jpg
    ​

    A moth-eaten rag on a worm-eaten pole,
    It does not look likely to stir a man's Soul,
    'Tis the deeds that were done 'neath the moth-eaten rag,
    When the pole was a staff, and the rag was a flag.
    -Sir Edward Bruce Hamley
    ​
    From "Flags - A European history". ( 2013, Rosefield Books, Oxford)

    Flags are today a common and beautiful way of expressing identity wether it be ethnic, religious or simply related to the soccerfield. In older times however, coats of arms were favoured and can even in many ways seem the predecessors of flags; flags themselves were mostly used as identifiers in battle and it is from there we indeed get two of the most influential flags across the world, those of England (Later Britain) and france. In 1188 Henry II of England and Phillip II of France agreed to go on a crusade, and that Henry would use a white cross and Philip a red cross. 13th-century authorities are unanimous on the point that the English king adopted the white cross, and the French king the red one and it is from these simple battle standards we derive a large amounts of flags the world over.

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    Humble beginnings: the crusader flags of England (top) and France (bottom)

    As is familiar to anyone who has done a cursory study of history, the english and french would not remain steadfast friends forever and around 1337 the two found themselves in what would later be referred to as the hundred years war. With the burgundians on the opposite side of the french, local commanders realized that in battle the cross may be hard to discern from the saltire and would thus come up with an ingenious solution: Simply adding blue and the three fleur-de-lis of the french royal house in the corner would provide a clear contrast to the red and white used by the English and Burgundians, in the process creating a flag that would define france for the next several hundred years.

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    Necessity is the mother of invention: a simple way to avoid confusion on the field of battle would grow to become a lasting French symbol.
    ​
    The first major change to this concept would be the french tricolore, which itself would come to inspire countless other revolutionary movements later down the line as far afield as africa and america. The revolutionary flags combine the green cockade worn by the first to rebel agains the monarchy following the lead of Camille Desmoulines combined with the red and blue of the city of Paris. This flag was flown intermittently during the turbulent years following the revolution, but only really won out over the red Jacobin flag during the reign of Napoleon.
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    The revolutionary french Tricolore    ​
    Meanwhile, the English stubbornly stuck to their white and red flag until the act of union in 1707 with Scotland, when the need to create a new national banner was put forward as a symbol of the new bond between the twin realms. After some debate, it was concluded that a flag in blue and red with the saltire and cross converging in the middle would constitute an appropriate symbol.

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    The famous British "Union Jack" before union with Ireland​
    This flag would go on to figure in a number of naval ensigns across the later British Empire and would thus lend its colours and design to new nations across the world.

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    The famous British "Blue ensign" prominently featuring the Union Jack in the corner.​
     
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