The national Flag of Ireland Irish  with its striking orange white green tricolour stripes has been recognised as the country’s national flag since 1916. Now you can see it flown all over the country, and stamped on merchandise around the world.But do you know anything about the history of Ireland’s Flag, how the design came to be chosen or what it represents? Read on to find out everything we found out.The name for the Irish flag in Irish is ‘Bratach na hÉireann’. It is also referred to as tricolour or Irish tricolour.The three colours are in equally sized stripes, with green at the hoist, white in the middle and orange on the end. The flag’s proportions are 1:2 which means that it is twice as wide as it is tall.

Next to the Stars and Stripes, Ireland’s national flag is one of the most widely recognized by Americans. It’s commonly seen in the United States hanging outside of  Ireland pubs and on bumper stickers and keychains. It’s an image that’s proudly displayed by  Ireland -Americans of all ages, but few people know much, if anything, about it’s origins.

Officially adopted by the  Ireland Republic during the War of Independence with England in 1919, the “Tricolour” was made the country’s official flag when Ireland became a free nation in 1921. Before this time the flag had served as the symbol of the  Ireland fight for independence. It was flown over the General Post Office in Dublin as a symbol of defiance and  Ireland unity during the Easter Rising in 1916.

The flag itself is thought to have been a gift to Ireland in 1848 from a group of women in France who were strong supporters of Ireland’s fight for freedom. Some say this is why the  Ireland flag’s tri-color design so closely resembles France’s national flag.

Why Orange?

The colour orange is associated with Northern  Ireland Protestants because in 1690, William of Orange (William III) defeated the deposed King James II, a Roman Catholic, in the fateful Battle of the Boyne near Dublin. King William was the leader of England, Scotland, and Ireland and his victory secured Protestant dominance over the island. The primary colonisers of northern Ireland were the English (who were Protestant Anglicans) and the Scots (who were Protestant Presbyterians). To this day, Protestants in Northern Ireland are sometimes called Orangemen and they celebrate the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne each July 12th.

Green as the Emerald Isle

It's widely agreed that the green in the  Ireland flag has something to do with shamrocks and verdant landscapes. However, it's more critical to the  Ireland Catholic nationalists represented by this flag colour that green symbolises revolution. An earlier, unofficial  Ireland

flag —the gold harp on a green background— served from 1798 until the early twentieth century as a symbol of nationalism. The harp is still Ireland’s national symbol today. As the revolutionary James Connolly wrote, just weeks before he participated in the Easter Rebellion (1916) that led to his execution by firing squad:

Meaning of the Flag

The national Ireland Flag is a tricolour flag with the colours green, white, and orange. The orange represents the Protestants that supported William of Orange. William of Orange defeated King James II and his army in the 17th century.

The colour white represents a hope for union between the Catholics and Protestants of the nation. It is also used to represent inclusion throughout the nations.The colour green represents the Roman Catholics of the nation.

Colours of the Flag

As previously mentioned, three colours are used in the  Ireland flag: green, white, and orange. Each vertical stripe is of equal size.Even though the colours are green, white, and orange, there are some songs and poems that use “green, white, and gold,” while some functions use flags that have various shades of yellow that replace the colour orange. However, use of these flags is heavily discouraged.

History of the Flag

• Many flags have been used throughout the history of Ireland. One of the first known flags was used in the 14th century through the 16th century. This flag featured a triple crown design that is associated with St. Edmund, one of England’s patron saints.
• In the 16th century, a harp on a blue field was used as the flag of the Kingdom of Ireland. This flag was in use until 1801 for the Island of Ireland. Today, the flag is still used in the Republic of Ireland but does not take precedence over the tricolour.
• The current  Ireland flag was first used by the Republic of Ireland in 1922. The tricolour flag is a representation of the peace between the Unionists and Nationalists.

Flag Facts

• Throughout Northern Ireland, there are different flags and symbols flown throughout communities to mark territories.
• The tricolour flag of today was banned in Northern Ireland under the Flags and Emblems Display Act of 1954. The tricolour was replaced ten years later in 1964 following the riots because of the removal of the flag in Belfast.

The Provincial Flags of Ireland

• The Flag of Munster, a dark blue flag with three antique  Ireland crowns.
• The Flag of Connacht, a vertical bicolour white and dark blue flag with and eagle and armed hand.
• The Flag of Ulster, a yellow flag with a heraldic red cross of de Burgo and the hand of O Neill which is the symbol of the Kings of Aileach and Tír Eoghan.
• The Flag of Leinster, a green flag with a golden harp with silver strings.
• The Flag of Mide, a blue flag with an image of a royal person sat of a green and gold throne.

GREEN, WHITE AND ORANGE

• The green on Ireland’s flag is thought to represent the country’s Catholic population as well as to symbolise revolution. It’s thought to have been taken from an earlier version of the  Ireland flag that was solid green with a gold harp in its centre, this earlier flag having been used by revolutionaries to symbolise  Ireland nationalism.
• The white centre of Ireland’s flag is thought to represent peace and the everlasting hope that the country’s Protestant and Catholic populations can live together in harmony.
• Each of the colours on the  Ireland flag has a distinct meaning. Used for William of Orange, or King William III of England, Scotland and Ireland, the colour orange is thought to symbolise Ireland’s Protestant population. A Protestant King, William III is most well known for defeating the dethroned King James II, a Roman Catholic, at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, giving Protestants control over Ireland.
• The next time you see the flag of Ireland hanging outside a restaurant or on a t-shirt, remember where it came from. You may even impress your friends with your knowledge!

It is a symbol of peace

The  Ireland flag can be recognised by its three vertical stripes of green, white and orange, all equal measure. However, what does each colour mean? Well, in simplistic terms green (always at the hoist) represents  Ireland Nationalists/Catholics, orange represents people from a Protestant/Unionist background and white in the middle signifies peace between the two.

The green, a shade resembling Ireland’s landscape, symbolises the Republicans while the orange stands for the Protestant supporters of William of Orange.The two are held together in a lasting truce represented by the colour white. The flag is used by nationalists on both sides of the border.

No flag should fly higher than the  Ireland flag

There are strict guidelines to flying the tricolour, one being that no other flag should fly above it. If being carried with other flags, the  Ireland flag should be to the right, and if the European Union flag is present, it should be to the direct left side of the tricolour.

Other rules include not letting it touch the ground and avoiding getting it tangled up in any nearby trees. The rules are merely guidelines to maintain respect for our national flag at all times.

Origin of the  Ireland flag

The earliest record of the  Ireland flag was in 1848, when some French women who were sympathetic to the  Ireland cause presented it as a gift to Thomas Francis Meagher, the  Ireland nationalist leader of the Young Irelanders.

Ireland was at this time experiencing a deep divide between the Catholics and the Protestants, and suffering hugely from the effects of the “Great Famine”, which killed a million  Ireland people and caused another million to emigrate.

The colours on the flag were meant to symbolise the longed-for union between the Roman Catholics, represented by the green colour, and the Protestants, represented by orange. Meaghar said:

The Ireland flag did not become regarded as the national flag until 1916 during the Easter Rising, when teacher, army officer and politician Gearóid O’Sullivan raised it above Dublin’s General Post Office. Since then, it has been used as the national flag of Ireland by nationalists on both sides of the border, and it was later given constitutional status under the 1937 Constitution of Ireland.

History of the  Ireland Flag

When the  Ireland flag was first flown by  Thomas Francis Meagher on March 7, 1848, during that year’s Young Irelander Rebellion in Waterford City at the Wolfe Tone Confederate Club, it flew for eight days before it was taken down by the British.

In April of 1848, inspired by the revolutions across Europe, a contingent of Young Irelanders (including Meagher) travelled to France. Their aim was to congratulate the rebels in overthrowing King Louis Philippe I, and whilst there, Meagher was presented with an  Ireland flag which had been woven out of French silk.

When they returned back to Ireland, Maeghar presented the tricolour to the  Ireland people and explained the symbolism of the three colours on the flag.Whilst many embraced tricolour as a symbol for Ireland, it didn’t become the primary flag for the country until 1916. The previous one was green with a harp in the centre, the harp being Ireland’s national symbol, and was known to have been used as early as 1642.

During the Easter Rising of 1916, both of these  Ireland flags were flown above the GPO, the headquarters of the rebels, and this was when the tricolour became more widely accepted.

After the Rising, during the  Ireland War of Independence between 1919 and 1921, the new  Ireland flag was adopted by the IRA. It was also used as a symbol of the  Ireland Free State between 1922 and 1937.

When the  Ireland constitution came into law later in 1937, the tricolour was confirmed as the official flag of Ireland by Article 7, which states: “The national flag of Ireland is the tricolour of green, white and orange.”

From then until now, the  Ireland flag is seen as a symbol of  Ireland pride, and it remains to be an important reminder of the peace that has been achieved and the progress that is still to be made.

Flying the  Ireland Flag

In 2016, 100 years since the Easter rising, as a mark of remembrance, all schools in Ireland received an  Ireland flag. Members of Ireland’s defence forces travelled around primary schools to educate the students on the flag’s story, its meaning, and proper care.

• the flag must always be flown above any others displayed on the staff
• it must never be displayed in poor condition
• the flag must not be allowed to touch the ground or become entangled with trees.
• and it must always fly with the green segment closest to the flagstaff.