With the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1763, which ended the Seven Years War, the French colonies in North America passed to British control. The Union Flag of Great Britain replaced the white flag of France in the vast territories stretching in a great arc from the Gulf of St. Lawrence through the Great Lakes to the mouth of the Mississippi. It had been created in 1606 following the uniting of the Crowns of England and Scotland when King James VI of Scotland became King James I of Great Britain. It combined the English cross of St. George and the Scottish cross of St. Andrew.
