The Meaning and Origin of the Phrase: Union Jack Union Jack 的含义和由来

The Union Jack is the popular name of the national flag of the United Kingdom.

Union Jack是英国国旗的俗称。

Two subjects that arouse passion more than most are language and national identity and， here in the UK， these collide at the name of the national flag.

相比大多数话题，有两个话题更能激发人们的热情，即语言和国家认同——在英国，这两个话题在涉及国旗名称的问题上发生了碰撞。

What’s the flag called？ It’s the Union Jack of course. Pause for an intake of breath amongst purists1; “No， it’s the Union Flag！”.

英国国旗叫什么？当然是Union Jack。主张语言纯粹性的人会吃惊得倒吸口气，顿一顿说：“不，应该是Union Flag！”

Whether you prefer ‘flag’ or ‘jack’， most agree on the union part of the name. I say ‘most’ as even calling the place I live the United Kingdom will raise some hackles. I often get mail along the lines of “You live in England！ England， geddit2， not the UKay！”.

不管你喜欢用flag还是jack，大多数人都认可这一名称中的union部分。我之所以说“大多数人”，是因为即便把我所居住的地方叫作United Kingdom，也会引来一些不满。我经常收到写有这些话的邮件：“你住在England！是England，懂吗，不是UK！”

Nevertheless， let’s press on and try to explain the oddly named standard， the Union Jack. The ‘union’ part is straightforward. The flag originated as a visual representation of the various political unions of the countries that formed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland， the present design being established in 1801.

尽管如此，让我们继续尝试解读这个奇怪的国旗名称，the Union Jack。union部分很简单。英国国旗最初是大不列颠及北爱尔兰联合王国成员地区组成的各种政治联盟的一种视觉呈现，如今的国旗设计方案确定于1801年。

（An aside for those who aren’t quite sure what Great Britain is. Britain is the little green island to the north of France， originally called ‘great’ to distinguish it from what is now called Brittany， which was in the Middle Ages also called Britain. Brittany is now sometimes called Little Britain.）

（题外话，专供那些不太清楚Great Britain是什么的人。Britain是法国以北的一个绿色小岛，最初获称great是为了区别于一个现在被称作Brittany的地方，该地在中世纪也叫Britain。如今，Brittany有时被叫作Little Britain。）

The flag was formed by photoshopping the crosses of the patron saints of England， Scotland and Ireland—St. George， St. Andrew and St. Patrick. Wales was already a principality3 of England by this point so didn’t get visual representation on the flag.

英国国旗由英格兰、苏格兰和爱尔兰的守护神圣乔治、圣安德鲁和圣帕特里克的三个十字架经过图像处理制作而成。威尔士当时已是英格兰的一个公国，所以没有在国旗上单独得到体现。

So， that’s ‘Union’. Now to the tricky part—‘jack’ or ‘flag’. The OED defines ‘jack’ in this way：

以上就是关于Union的说明。现在轮到棘手的部分了——jack还是flag。《牛津英语词典》对jack的定义如下：

A ship’s flag of smaller size than the ensign， used at sea as a signal， or as a mark of distinction; spec. the small flag which is flown from the jack-staff4 at the bow of a vessel （formerly at the sprit-sail5 topmast6 head）， and by which the nationality of a ship is indicated， as in British jack， Dutch jack， French jack.

比国旗小的船旗，在海上用作信号或区分标志;特指挂在船首旗杆上（以前是在斜帆中桅桅顶处）的小旗，用以表明船只国籍，如英国旗（British jack）、荷兰旗（Dutch jack）、法国旗（French jack）。

Both Union Flag and Union Jack are widely accepted as referring to the national flag of the United Kingdom. In reality， although many will argue that they KNOW （and they probably will use capital letters） which is the proper name， neither Union Jack or Union Flag is formally adopted and so you are free to use either.

用来指称英国国旗时，Union Flag和Union Jack 两种名称均被广泛认可。尽管许多人会争辩说他们知道（know）哪个名称更恰当（而且他们可能会大写KNOW以示强调），但实际上，无论Union Jack还是Union Flag 都不是正式用法，所以可以随意用。

The Union Jack is flown from the jack-staff， which is a spar on the bow of a sailing ship， and some say that the only time that the flag should be called the Union Jack is when it is flown from a ship’s jack-staff. If you like you can opt for über7-pedantry8 and call it the Union Jack Flag.

船首旗杆是舰船船头的一根帆桅，Union Jack指其上悬挂的小旗。有人说，只有悬挂在船首旗杆上时，国旗才可以称为Union Jack。如果你乐意，可以迂腐地把国旗叫作the Union Jack Flag。

For and against we have：

以下是正反两方的论据：

‘Union Flag’ is first known in print in 1634 and ‘Union Jack’ is first found in 1674， so ‘Union Flag’ supporters may say that it had the name first and that ‘Union Jack’ is just a nickname.

Union Flag最早见于出版物是在1634年，而Union Jack到1674年才首次出现，因此，Union Flag的支持者可以说，Union Flag先出现，后出现的Union Jack只是昵称。

Union Jack is more widely used and so has the advantage that everyone around the world will know what you are talking about.

Union Jack的使用范围更广，因此它的优势在于，全世界的人都明白这说的是什么。

（译者单位：曲阜师范大学公共外语教学部）