The Flags of the United Kingdom and Ireland

What will children learn from this UK Flags PowerPoint?

This PowerPoint is made up of 12 colourful slides about the flags of the United Kingdom and Ireland. It teaches children about the history behind them, as well as what they look like and how they came to be.

At the end, your learners should be able to tell the story of the Union Jack. What flags contributed to the design? Which didn’t? When was it first used, and for what purpose? These questions will all be answered by the presentation, which means that afterwards, children will be well-prepared for quizzes or cut-out worksheets about UK flags.

Links to the curriculum learning intentions are included on the first slide. This is helpful in explaining to pupils how it’s relevant to their Social Studies education.

To save you valuable time in the classroom, you can easily take the aim included on the PowerPoint and build a whole lesson around it. One fun and engaging idea is to pair it with our Flags of the United Kingdom Page Border Pack to prompt thoughtful writing exercises! This will test children's listening and reading comprehension while expanding on what they've learned about the different countries of the United Kingdom.

Are there other resources to support learning about the UK Flags?

Of course, there are! Now that your children have learned what colours make up the UK flags from this wonderful PowerPoint, why not try some of our flag colouring exercises? These are a great way to consolidate children’s learning and help them remember what the flags look like while having a lot of fun. They might not even realise that they’re working as they practise their fine motor skills and colour matching abilities!

Not only do we have a wealth of resources available to teach your students about the flags of the UK and Ireland, but this PowerPoint can also be downloaded in a PDF format. This is fantastic if you want a handout in class or to use as homework, as it can be difficult to find other teaching materials which match.

How many flags does the UK have?

The UK has 4 different official flags representing the countries that are a part of the union. These UK flags include:

• Union Jack;
• St Andrew's Cross (the Saltire);
• St George’s Cross;
• Y Ddraig Goch (the Red Dragon).

Although Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom, it does not have an official flag, and the ones that exist to represent this country are not universally accepted.

There are other flags, such as those for the islands of Guernsey and Jersey. While they are not any less important or accurate, they are more regional so fewer people may recognise them out and about.