Yes, folks, that is a Union Jack flying over sovereign American territory under the permission of the U.S. government. The flag and flagpole were provided by Her Majesty’s Government as a sign of friendship. This flag of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland flies over English Camp on the San Juan Islands. (You’ll excuse me for using the full title of the U.K. – being an Irish expat I’ve had to explain the political subtleties of the British Isles more times than I’d care to count. I find it’s helpful to be explicit).
English Camp, on the north-westerly side of San Juan Island is half of the San Juan Island National Historic Park, the other half being American Camp which lies on a south-easterly promontory. These sites were where the English and American garrisons respectively encamped during the negotiations over sovereignty of the Islands. This historical blip is known as the Pig War (1859 – 1872) since the matter of which flag really should fly over the San Juans was brought to a head when an American settler killed a trespassing pig owned by the Hudson Bay Company in June 1859.
Where else does the Union Jack fly in the USA?
When we visited English Camp over Labor Day weekend we chatted to one of the friendly rangers about the history of the place. During the conversation, he mentioned that English Camp is one of two places in the U.S. where the National Park Service flies the Union Jack on it’s own. Do you know the name of the other park? Leave your guess in the comments below.
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I don’t even know this one but thanks to you now I know.
That’s cool info.
It’s hard even explaining to an British person that Northern Ireland is in the United Kingdom but not in Great Britain. I don’t mean that as a political statement but more as a language pedant.
tow places where historic version of Union Jack is flown — Crown Point on Lake Champlain, Castillo de San Marcos in Saint Augustine.
cool to learn this stuff! and what a fun, sunny photo. thanks!
No idea where the other one is, but thanks for the interesting info. Hawaii’s flag has a union jack, does that count?
Note sure if either of these are run by the National Parks, but interesting none the less.
The Union Jack flies over the British cemetery on Ocracoke Island, NC
http://www.hydecounty.org/attractions/cemetery.htm
And there is also a Union Jack flying over the colonial Williamsburg capitol building.
http://www.history.org/Almanack/places/hb/hbcap.cfm
For a completely random guess, how about Bunker Hill?
Guess I can’t say the British High Commission in Washington DC can I?
I don’t have the answer but I love the info!
I’m going to guess Williamsburg — that’s part of a national park, I think. Hmmm…
Now I am curious! where is the other place? I also found it flies over the British cemetery on Ocraoke Island, NC
but I am unsure if the place is run by the National Parks.
I just get excited when people put maps in their blog posts to illustrate the geography. We fly the Union Jack for important soccer games – does that count? 😉
Love the history background! No clue as to the answer to your question…guess I’ll have to wait to find out
Very interesting piece of trivia. Look forward to hearing the answer to your question.
OK folks, here’s the answer: It’s all Hawaii National Parks.
In Hawaii, the park service flies both the US flag and the state flag at all parks and the state flag of Hawaii has a Union Jack on the top left-hand corner because the Union Jack flew as the unofficial flag of Hawaii from 1793 to 1816.
Check out Merriam-Webster for all the details: http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/nytmaps.pl?hawaii.