But I must proceed to speak of our national flags. For a long time the distinguishing flag of England has been a red cross on a white field. The flag of Scotland is a white saltire (or St. Andrew's cross) on a blue field, and what has come to be called the flag of Ireland is a red saltire on a white field. But Ireland, strictly speaking, never had till lately a national flag. The kings of Ireland previous to 1172 were not hereditary but elective. They were chosen from among the petty kings, and each king, when elected, brought with him and continued to use his own standard. After the invasion of 1172 the standard of Ireland bore three golden crowns on a blue field, and the three crowns appear on ancient Irish coins. Henry VIII. relinquished this device for the harp, from an apprehension, it is said, that the three crowns might be taken for the triple crown of the pope; but the harp did not appear in the royal standard till it was placed there by James I. Neither had St. Patrick a cross. The cross-saltire, so far as it belongs to any saint, is sacred to St. Andrew only. The origin of the Scottish saltire, however, may possibly be found in the sacred monogram—the Greek X (CH), the initial letter of our Lord's name as borne by the Emperor Constantine, to which I have already referred. I do not know when the Irish saltire was first introduced, as a national flag, but from the early conquest of Ireland the Fitzgeralds have borne as their arms a red saltire on a white field.[35]