British India, 1820

The British East India Company, founded in 1600, had by 1765 established control over the Indian subcontinent and in 1818, the British had ended the independence of the Maratha Empire. By 1820 the entire Indian subcontinent was ruled by the East India Company. The flag of British India was the Union Jack, dating from the Union of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801, combining three national flags: the red cross of Saint George (England), the red saltire of Saint Patrick’s Flag (Ireland), both superimposed on Saint Andrew’s Cross, the Flag of Scotland.