ST. GEORGE'S BANNER.
(
Patchwork Puzzles)
At a celebration of the national festival of St. George's Day I was
contemplating the familiar banner of the patron saint of our country. We
all know the red cross on a white ground, shown in our illustration.
This is the banner of St. George. The banner of St. Andrew (Scotland) is
a white "St. Andrew's Cross" on a blue ground. That of St. Patrick
(Ireland) is a similar cross in red on a white ground. These three are
united in one to form our Union Jack.
Now on looking at St. George's banner it occurred to me that the
following question would make a simple but pretty little puzzle.
Supposing the flag measures four feet by three feet, how wide must the
arm of the cross be if it is required that there shall be used just the
same quantity of red and of white bunting?
Answer:
As the flag measures 4 ft. by 3 ft., the length of the diagonal (from
corner to corner) is 5 ft. All you need do is to deduct half the
length of this diagonal (21/2 ft.) from a quarter of the distance all
round the edge of the flag (31/2 ft.)--a quarter of 14 ft. The
difference (1 ft.) is the required width of the arm of the red cross.
The area of the cross will then be the same as that of the white
ground.
Informational
