British E. India Co. ~ Grunge Flag (1801 - 1874)

The Honourable East India Company, originally known as the Governor and Company of Merchants of London trading into the East Indies, was an English (and British from 1707) joint-stock company formed by a royal charter of queen Elizabeth I in 1600. The Company came to rule vast swathes of India starting in 1757, with its own private armies and administrative powers over which the British government had only indirect control. A century later, the British Crown assumed direct control of India as a result of the Indian Rebellion (1857) and the subsequent Government of India Act (1858). The company was formally abolished in 1874, its administration and armies having been absorbed into the British Empire and the government of British India.

The Company’s flag originally consisted of a varying number (usually thirteen) of alternating red and white stripes with the red cross of Saint George featured in the canton, representing England. The creation of Great Britain in 1707 saw the original Union Flag appearing in the canton, which was in turn replaced by the modern design following the Acts of Union in 1801.

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