During a heated Commons debate in 1840, Secretary-at-War Thomas Macaulay sought to whip up support for war on China by recounting how Royal Navy sailors had been inspired by the Union Jack to defend national pride. William Gladstone, who was firmly against the war, responded that he knew of no conflict in history that deserved such loyalty less.

Gladstone recognised that the national flag had often inspired the British fighting man to heroism in a noble cause, but warned that if the Union Jack continued to symbolise bullying and injustice, as it had recently in China, it would quickly lose its power, and he urged the Commons not to let things come to this pass.

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