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Wales is its own country with its own language, football team , devolved government and flag.

It's also part of the United Kingdom, made up of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, which is represented by the Union Jack across the globe.

But Wales is not represented on the flag, also known as the Union Flag, because of decisions made hundreds of years ago.

Back in 1216 the kingdom of England controlled the south of Wales, but the north was ruled by Welsh princes.

Welsh independence ended with Edward I's conquest between 1277 and 1283. But Wales did not become a part of the Kingdom of England at this point, still having its own laws.

This was until the Laws in Wales Acts of 1535 and 1542 formally incorporated Wales into the kingdom of England, and ended the existence of the principality of Wales.

So by the time the Acts of Union were enacted in 1706 and 1707, unifying the kingdoms of England and Scotland under one kingdom of Great Britain, Wales had already been part of the kingdom of England for more than 150 years.

Honorary president of the Flag Institute, the world's leading group for the research and documentation of flags, Malcolm Farrow, said: "Wales is not represented because when the Union Flag was created in 1606 [when the earlier flag of Great Britain was created] Wales was already long a principality of England, and Wales had been incorporated into England constitutionally when the Union Flag was created."

(Image: Peter Powell/Propaganda) (Image: Getty Images Europe)

The two flags of England and Scotland were combined, but Wales as part of England would be represented only by St George's Cross.

The creation of the Union Flag first started in 1606 when the St George's Cross of England and St Andrew's Cross of Scotland were combined to create the earlier flag of Great Britain.

Later, St Patrick's Cross was added in 1801 to create the Union Flag which remains unchanged today. Here are 28 other fascinating things you should know about Wales but probably don't.