British Union Jack
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Although the British flag underwent a number of changes in the 17th century, the St. George's Cross
continued as the official national flag. For seagoing ships, however, the official banner was the
Union flag (better known as the Union Jack), which combined England St. George's Cross with Scotland's
St. Andrew's Cross (a white saltire on blue). In 1707, the Union flag became Britain's national land
flag. As of that date, all of present-day Georgia was included within the area claimed by the second
Carolina charter (1665), so the Union flag would have been the official flag of what would one day
become Georgia.
In 1721, Britain authorized construction of Fort King George at the mouth of the Altamaha River. Although the post was abandoned in 1727, the Union flag probably flew at the fort.
The current national flag of Great Britain did not come into existence until 1801, so throughout
Georgia's existence as a colony, the official land flag would have been the 1707 flag.
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