England

The flag of England is the famous Cross of St. George, a red cross on a white background. Graphically it is complementary to the cross of St. John the Baptist. Originally a banner of the Republic of Genoa, it was later used by the Crusaders and later adopted by England, as well as by many other nations and cities. In 1190 London and England requested and obtained the possibility of using the Crusader flag to have their ships protected by the Genoese fleet in the Mediterranean Sea and part of the Black Sea by numerous piracy attacks. For this privilege the English monarch corresponded to the Doge of the Republic of Genoa an annual tribute. England, the city of London and the Royal Navy still hoist the flag of Saint George and is their national flag (following the creation of the current United Kingdom, the Union Flag was created, or Union Jack, turned out to be from overlapping, the flags of England, Scotland and the old flag adopted by the British crown for Ireland).