Oh boy, are you about to start a row!

OK, the full version goes like this:

Within these islands there are 4 countries; England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales (in alphabetical order).

In a period I am not that familiar with the last Wesh king (David I think, need someone elses knowledge here) got wasted by the current English king. England and Wales became one kingdom.

In 1602 England ran out of monarchs when Elizabeth I died with no heir. Enter James VI of Scotland, who became James I of Great Britain - what they called the amalgamation of the 2 (or possibly 3 depending on who you're talking to) countries.

A bit later on, and I'm not going here as it's still too volatile, the island off to the west was conquered. After many scraps the southern part of the island became Eire, and the top bit Northern Ireland, or Ulster. That gave us The United Kingdom Of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

As with the US, every time a bit was added, they added the new bit's flag to the existing one - hence the term "Union Flag" (it's only a "Union Jack" when it's flown from one of Her Majesty's ships). The appearance of the flag depends on which period you're seeing it.

Your comment about the "GB flag" (sic) is therefore technically incorrect as it's the UK's flag. It's a bastardisation of the flags of St George (England), St Andrew (Scotland), and St Patrick (Ireland). Yes I know that's only 3, but that's another argument altogether!

Right then, there you go - two thousand years of history in 5 paragraphs.

The only thing you need to know is that everyone hates the English. This we can bear as we know it is only jealousy.

You may now be surprised by the level of flaming I take for that last sentence!