Scot-free! Union Jack gets a Yes vote makeover: Secret Government papers reveal how flag will look if Scotland votes for independence



Symbol has represented Britain for two centuries and is respected globally

Plan s wou ld see the cross of St Andrew ditched from the design

Would be the first change since 1801, when Ireland's red saltire was added

Details revealed by a Downing Street adviser as he stepped out of his car



For more than two centuries it has been respected around the world as a sign of Britain’s greatness.

Now the Union Jack, the nation’s proudest symbol, is poised to get a history-making new look – minus the Scottish saltire.

Secret Government papers propose ditching the cross of St Andrew, a white X on a blue background, that makes up a third of the current design if Scotland votes for independence, the Daily Mail can reveal today.

Banishing the blue: How the new Union Jack will look, according to secret Government documents Iconic: The flag that has been famous for more than 200 years

That would leave a modified Union Jack comprising only the red cross of St George – representing England and Wales – and the red saltire of Ireland’s St Patrick.

The dramatic change to our national flag – the first since 1801, when St Patrick’s cross was added – was accidentally revealed in confidential papers carried by a Government adviser in Downing Street.

Briefing notes seen as he stepped from a ministerial car show a detailed design for the new flag and appear to list strategies for introducing it post-referendum.

The Daily Mail can confirm that the Scot-free flag is already in production at Britain’s longest-established producer.



Undercover pictures taken inside Flagmakers of Chesham, Buckinghamshire, show a red and white design exactly as described on the Downing Street papers.

Flagged up: An aide accidentally shows papers detailing the plan as he steps out of a car

TEN KEY FACTS ABOUT OUR FLAG

A hand sewn Union Jack contains 27 pieces of material.



Poles should be at least four times the length of the longer edge of the flag.



Red, white and blue were combined to form the current flag in 1801.



In 1606, after James VI of Scotland became King James I of England, it was known as the Flag of Britain.



Legislation decrees that the flag should be flown from state buildings on designated dates.



Flagmakers has been making flags since 1837, when Victoria came to the throne.



Opinion is divided over whether to call it a Union Flag or Union Jack. Both are correct.



Only the Royal Standard flies at Buckingham Palace when the Queen is in residence. The Union Flag flies when she is not.



Legend assigns symbolism to the colours – red: valour; white: peace, honesty; blue: loyalty.



St Andrew’s cross was used as a hex sign to stop witches flying down Scottish chimneys.

Manufacture is going ahead despite the fact that no vote will be held on Scottish independence until September 18, and no decision has been made in Scotland yet on whether to keep the Union Jack or use only the Scottish saltire.



Machine-room workers at Flagmakers are believed to have produced hundreds of Scot-free versions and are confident they can meet demand if necessary.

Changing the flag would need both political and royal approval.



It is understood the Downing Street strategy maps out a timeline to include liaising with Buckingham Palace.

The race to get everything completed inside six months began after experts at the Flag Institute, an advisory charity, released a set of possible designs for a post-independence flag six weeks ago.



A survey last year found nearly 65 per cent would be in favour of the change in the event of a Yes vote.

But the haste with which the Government is anticipating ditching the saltire is bound to cause outrage among No vote supporters.



Yesterday UK-OK organisers in Scotland told the Mail they would ‘fight to the end’ to save the Union Jack and resist any moves to make Scotland a saltire-only zone.

Campaigner Avril McTickle explained: ‘There is no constitutional need to change the flag, and no justification whatsoever for Downing Street to hatch a policy in secret to do so.

