1. How the United Kingdom became
united and what countries make up
this British kingdom

2. The history of the formation of the United
Kingdom
• Britain has throughout history exercised
dominance and influence over their island
neighbors.
• The United Kingdom is the most recent of a
number of sovereign states that have been
established in Great Britain at different
periods in history, in different combinations
and under a variety of polities.
• There has been sixteen different states over
the past 2000 years.

3. Short History
• Britain conquered Wales in 1100 AD
• Conquered Scotland in 1600 AD
• Controlled the island Ireland until 1931 when
Ireland won independence from Britain after
centuries of fighting.
– Retained part of the island which is now Northern
Ireland.

4. Wales

6. Coat of Arms
 The Coat of Arms of the Principality of Wales
which are the historic arms of the Kingdom of
Gwynedd are used by Charles, Prince of Wales in
his personal standard. They are also the basis for
the Royal Badge of Wales issued in 2008 for the
use of the National Assembly for Wales.

7. The Flag
– The red dragon is often seen as a shorthand for all
things Welsh, being used by many indigenous
public and private institutions
– The oldest recorded use of the dragon to
symbolise Wales is from the Historia Brittonum,
written around 820, but it is popularly supposed
to have been the battle standard of King Arthur
and other ancient Celtic leaders.

8. National Flower
• The daffodil is the national flower of Wales.
– Is worn on St David's Day each 1 March.

9. National Anthem
• Written in January 1856 by Evan James.

10. Scotland

12. Flag
• Also known as Saint Andrew's Cross or the
Saltire.
• According to legend, the Christian apostle and
martyr Saint Andrew, the patron saint of
Scotland, was crucified on an X-shaped cross.
• First used in 1503

13. Coat of Arms
• Was the official coat of
arms of the monarchs of
Scotland, and was used as
the official coat of arms of
the Kingdom of Scotland
until the Acts of Union of
1707.

14. National Flower
• The thistle
• Well, so the story goes, a very long time ago when Scotland
was ravaged by Viking invaders, a group of Scottish fighting
men were resting overnight in a field. Unknown to them, a
raiding party was preparing to attack this group of Scots,
under cover of darkness.
As the attacking Vikings approached the encamped Scots,
they stood on a patch of Thistles with their barefeet and, of
course, let out cries of pain as the thorns dug deep into the
soles and toes.
The Scots, having been awakened by this rammy, were able
to fight off the attackers.
So, from that day , the Thistle has been adopted as
Scotland ' s National Emblem.

15. National Anthem
• Scotland has no official national anthem.
There are several candidates, however:
• Flower of Scotland is popularly held to be the
National Anthem, and is played at events such
as football and rugby matches involving the
Scotland national teams, and as of 2010 is
used for the Scottish team at the
Commonwealth Games.

16. Northern Ireland
• Doesn’t have anything interesting about it at
all.
• No National Anthem
• No National Flag
• No National Coat of Arms
• AND NO NATIONAL FLOWER?!

17. Review
• When did each part of the UK officially
become part of Great Britain?
• Describe each country discussing the four
things we covered for each country.