Symbols and national emblems of Britain

Each country in Britain has its own patron saint and floral emblem:

 As for the national emblems of Great Britain they are very unusual and surprising.
Everybody knows about the War of the Roses (1455-1485), which was led
between the two contending Houses for the English throne. The emblem of one of
them, the Lancastrians, was the red rose, and the emblem of the Yorkists was the
white rose. Since the end of the war the red rose has been the national emblem of
England.
 The people of Scotland chose the thistle as their national emblem. They say that it
saved their land from foreign invaders many years ago. During a surprise night
attack by the invaders the Scottish soldiers were awakened by the shouts of one of
the invaders, whose bare feet stepped on the thorns of the thistle. The alarm was
given and soon the Scottish won victory over the enemy and the thistle became
their national emblem.
 The little shamrock is the national emblem of the Irish. It is worn in memory of
St. Patrick. A legend says that St. Patrick used a small green shamrock when he
was preaching the doctrine of the Trinity to the pagan Irish.
  The leek or daffodil is Welshmen’s national emblem. There is a legend according
to which St. David lived for several years on bread and wild leeks. So Welshmen
all over the world celebrate St. David’s Day by putting leeks on to their clothes.
They consider the leek their national emblem. By the way, the daffodil is also
associated with St. David’s Day, it flowers on that day.

The United Kingdom flag was officially adopted on January 1, 1801. The flag of the
UK (is called Union Jack) is a combination of the flags of England (the cross of St.
George), Scotland (the cross of St. Andrew), and Ireland (the cross of St. Patrick).
The Welsh dragon does not appear on the Union Flag. This is because when the
first Union Flag was created in 1606, the Principality of Wales by that time was
already united with England and was no longer a separate principality.
 The term 'Union Jack' possibly dates from Queen Anne's time (r. 1702-14), but its
origin is uncertain. It may come from the 'jack-et' of the English or Scottish soldiers, or
from the name of James I who originated the first union in 1603.
Another alternative is that the name may be derived from a proclamation by Charles II
that the Union Flag should be flown only by ships of the Royal Navy as a jack, a small
flag at the bowsprit; the term 'jack' once meant small.
LESSON 1.
Brief Geographical Outline of United Kingdom

The British Isles lying to the north-west of Europe include two large islands – Great
Britain and a great number of small islands.
The island of Great Britain is divided into three parts – England, Wales and
Scotland, theirs capitals are London, Cardiff and Edinburgh. The capital of Northern
Ireland is Belfast.
Great Britain (GB) is separated from the continent by the North Sea and the English
Channel, which in its narrowest part, the Strait of Dover, is only 32 kilometers wide.
GB has a very good geographical position, as it lies on the crossways of the sea routes
from Europe to other parts of the world. The sea connects Britain with most European
countries such as Belgium, Netherland, Denmark, Norway, Russia and some other
countries. The main sea route from Europe to America also passes through the English
Channel.
The scenery of GB is varied. One can find here low-lying land, hilly areas, flat fields
and high mountains. The surface of Eastern England is flat. Scotland and Wales are hilly
and mountainous. The mountains are not very high, the highest mountain is Ben Nevis
(in Scotland) 4400 feet (1343 m) in height.

Rivers
The rivers of Britain are short; their direction and character are determined by the
position of the mountains.
Due to the humid climate, the water level is always high. The rivers seldom freeze in
winter, most of them remain ice-free but they are not navigable for ocean ships. The most
important rivers are the Thames, the Severn, the Ouse, the Tyne, the Tees, the Tweed, the
Eden.
 Lakes
Owing to the fact that British lakes are rather small and remote, with no outlets, they
afford limited economic possibilities in the system of navigable waterways. The largest
of them are Lough-Neagh in the north-east Ireland, Lough-Lomond and Lough-Ness in
Scotland. The deepest lake is Wastwater; Rydal Water is a shallow reed-covered lake.
The largest lake is Windermere which lies in the long narrow basin of the valley.
Mineral Resources
It’s not the variety of mineral resources of the land that made the British Isles a place
of abode for people a long time ago.
Though since times immemorial people have had here all the necessities; coal to
keep their heaths warm, iron, copper, tin and silver ore to make hardware of intricate
designs. Coal is still the mineral that contributes much to the development of many
industries in Britain. By the absolute deposits of coal Great Britain claims the sixth place
in the world and is one of the most important coal basins along with the USA, Russia and
several other countries.
Coal-mining is one of the most developed industries in the places where coal deposits
are estimated to be of the highest economic potential. There are coal basins of
Northumberland and Durham, Lancashire, Yorkshire, Nottingham and Derby,
Staffordshire, South Wales, North Wales and Glasgow.
Among other mineral resources, iron ores found alongside coal layers are of primary
importance, but the iron content of the most ores is very low
There are tin and copper mines in Cornwall and Devonshire, copper and lead mines in
England.
Lead and silver ores are also mined in Derbyshire and Cumberland and Lancashire.
There are deposits of salt in Chester.
 England
Of the four countries which make up British Isles, England is the largest. It occupies
an area of 131.8 sq. kms with the population of 45.9 million people. The highest part is
that lying to the west.
The Atlantic ocean washes the rocky and broken west coast of England, Wales and
Scotland and is gradually wearing it away, leaving caves, little covers and beaches of
gleaming sand. On the south coast white chalk cliffs are facing the English Channel and
cliffs of Dover, the Seven Sisters and Beachy Head can be seen gleaming with many
miles out at sea.
The Mainland of England can physically be divided into: Northern England; the
Central Plain; South-East England; South-West England.
Wales
Wales is a peninsula washed by the sea on the three sides – by Bristol Channel in the
south, St. George’s Channel in the west, the Irish Sea in the north. Its territory is 20.8
thousand sq. kms.
Geographically Wales may be considered part of Highland Britain and is noted for
high mountains with the highest peaks of Great Britain, rivers, waterfalls and lakes. Its
climate is rather mild.
Wales has never been densely populated. Its population is about 2.7 million people
who reside principally in 3 industrial counties of south – Glamorganshire, Cardiganshire
and Monmouth. The Welsh keep their own language, but English is spoken in towns as
well.
Scotland
Scotland is the most northern of the countries that constitute Great Britain. It occupies
the area of 78.8 thousand sq. kms. with the population of 5.2 million people.
The name “Scotland” (the ancient “Caledonia”) originated in the 11 th century, when
part of the country was called “Scotia”.
The mainland of Scotland can physically be divided into structural regions: Highlands,
the Central Lowlands and the Southern Uplands.
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland occupies the north-east section of the island of Ireland. In the south-
west it borders on the Irish Republic (Eire), it is separated from the island of Great
Britain by the North Channel.
The landscape is hilly; the mountains are not very high and are mostly situated on the
fringe of the plateau. The coastline of Northern Ireland is rugged with rocks and cliffs, it
is indented by gulfs and bays.
Northern Ireland has a typical oceanic climate with mild damp winter (mean
temperature in January is +4º, +5º) and cool rainy summer (mean temperature in July is
+14º, +15º). The average amount of rainfall is 1100 mm. The main rivers, Erne, Logan
and Bann are deep and are connected by navigable canals.
Forests are rather scarce, moors and meadows prevail.
 Northern Ireland is an agrarian-industrial district with small farming units. Most of
the arable land is used for crops especially oats and potatoes, large areas are given over to
cattle rearing, pastures and hay.
In the lower reaches of the rivers and on the coast the population is occupied with
fishing.
Light industry is developed in Northern Ireland; shipbuilding, machine-building and
food industry prevail. The main cities and ports are Belfast and Londonderry.