History of Ireland - Flags in Ireland

Flags in Ireland

The national flag of Ireland is a tricolour of green, white and orange. This flag, which bears the colours green for Roman Catholics, orange for Protestants, and white for the desired peace between them, dates to mid-19th century.

The tricolour was first unfurled in public by Young Irelander Thomas Francis Meagher who, using the symbolism of the flag, explained his vision as follows: "The white in the centre signifies a lasting truce between the "Orange" and the "Green," and I trust that beneath its folds the hands of the Irish Protestant and the Irish Catholic may be clasped in generous and heroic brotherhood". Fellow nationalist John Mitchel said of it: "I hope to see that flag one day waving as our national banner."

After its use in the 1916 Rising it became widely accepted by nationalists as the national flag, and was used officially by the Irish Republic (1919–21) and the Irish Free State (1922–37).

In 1937 when the Constitution of Ireland was introduced, the tricolour was formally confirmed as the national flag: "The national flag is the tricolour of green, white and orange." While the tricolour today is the official flag of Ireland, it is not an official flag in Northern Ireland although it is sometimes used unofficially.

The only official flag representing Northern Ireland is the Union Flag of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The Ulster Banner is sometimes used unofficially as a de facto regional flag for Northern Ireland.

Since Partition, there has been no universally-accepted flag to represent the entire island. As a provisional solution for certain sports fixtures, the Flag of the Four Provinces enjoys a certain amount of general acceptance and popularity.

Historically a number of flags have been used, including:

• Saint Patrick's Flag (St Patrick's Saltire, St Patric's Cross) which represented Ireland on the Union Flag after the Act of Union;
• a green flag with a harp (used by most nationalists in the 19th century and which is also the flag of Leinster);
• a blue flag with a harp used from the 18th century onwards by many nationalists (now the standard of the President of Ireland);
• the Irish tricolour.

St Patrick's Saltire was formerly used to represent the island of Ireland by the all-island Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), before adoption of the four-provinces flag. The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) uses the tricolour to represent the whole island.