The national flag of Ireland (), frequently referred to in Ireland as "the tricolour" () and elsewhere as the Irish tricolour, is a vertical tricolour of green (at the hoist), white and orange. The proportions of the flag are 1:2 (that is to say, flown horizontally, the flag is half as high as it is wide).
It was intended to symbolise the inclusion and hoped-for union between Roman Catholics (symbolised by the green colour) and Protestants (symbolised by the orange colour). The symbol first appeared in green-orange format when a green and orange cockade (rosette) was worn to symbolise a proposed Irish Catholic and Protestant unity at a political event in Cork City, March 1830. White was added to create the first Irish tricolour by Emelia Eleanor Hamilton of Annadale, Dublin in a tricolour cockade (rosette) of green, orange and white. She sent the symbol as a gift to be presented to a meeting taking place in September 1830 to send salutations to the French on the July Revolution. With the cockade she sent a letter with the words 'Let orange and green, no longer be seen, b'stained by the blood of our island', creating the message of peaceful union familiar in the Irish Tricolour today.
Within months the symbol was adopted by the Repeal Campaign of Daniel O'Connell in December 1830, seeing regular use in the early 1830's in flag, banner and other forms. The Irish Tricolour was later adopted by the Young Irelanders in 1848 who formalised the white to the centre which beforehand had been inconsistent, a speech by Thomas Francis Meagher stating, "The white in the centre signifies a lasting truce between Orange and Green and I trust that beneath its folds the hands of Irish Protestants and Irish Catholics may be clasped in generous and heroic brotherhood".
The flag saw ongoing if sporadic use in public and adoption by secret societies between 1850 and 1910, but It was not until the Easter Rising of 1916, when it was raised above Dublin's General Post Office by Gearóid O'Sullivan, that the tricolour came to be regarded as the national flag. The flag was adopted by the Irish Republic during the Irish War of Independence (1919–1921). The flag's use was continued by the Irish Free State (1922–1937) and it was later given constitutional status under the 1937 Constitution of Ireland. The tricolour has been used by nationalists on both sides of the border as the national flag of the whole island since 1916.Symbols in Northern Ireland – Flags Used in the Region CAIN Web Service. Retrieved 8 November 2011 It is thus flown by many nationalists in Northern Ireland as well as by the Gaelic Athletic Association.Sugden, John & Harvie, Scott (1995). Sport and Community Relations in Northern Ireland , Centre for the Study of Conflict, School of History, Philosophy and Politics, Faculty of Humanities, University of Ulster. Retrieved 14 June 2007.
Design and symbolism
Design Concerning the national flag of Ireland, the Constitution of Ireland simply states in Article 7:
The Department of the Taoiseach takes general responsibility for matters relating to the flag. In its advisory role, the department has issued guidelines to assist the use of the flag; these state that it should be rectangular in shape, its length should be double its width, and the three coloured pales – green, white and orange – should be of equal size and vertically disposed.
The precise colours of the flag as set by the Department of the Taoiseach since at least 2001 are: {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" |- ! Scheme !style="background:#169B62;color:white"| Green !style="background:#FFFFFF"| White !style="background:#FF883E;color:white"| Orange !Sources |- | style="background:#F2F2F2; text-align:right" |Pantone || 347 || Safe || 151
| style="background:#F2F2F2; text-align:right" |Hex triplet|| #169B62 || #FFFFFF || #FF883E
| style="background:#F2F2F2; text-align:right" | RGB | 22–155–98 || 255–255–255 || 255–136–62
| style="background:#F2F2F2; text-align:right" |CMYK | 71–0–72–0 || 0–0–0–0 || 0–43–91–0
According to the guidelines, the flag should normally be displayed on a flagstaff, with the green pale positioned next to the flagstaff, at the hoist. Provided that the correct proportions are observed, the flag may be made to any convenient size.
Symbolism The green pale of the flag symbolises Roman Catholics and the orange represents the minority Protestants who were supporters of William of Orange. His title came from the Principality of Orange, but his power came from his leadership as Stadtholder of the Netherlands, a Protestant bastion from the 16th century. The white in the centre signifies a lasting peace and hope for union between Protestants and Catholics in Ireland. The flag, as a whole, is intended to symbolise the inclusion and hoped-for union of the people of different traditions on the island of Ireland, which is expressed in the Constitution as the entitlement of every person born in Ireland to be part of the independent Irish nation, regardless of ethnic origin, religion or political conviction.Subject to the Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland, 2004. (Green was also used as the colour of such Irish bodies as the mainly-Protestant and non-sectarian Friendly Brothers of St. Patrick, established in 1751.)
Occasionally, differing shades of yellow or gold, instead of orange, are seen at civilian functions. However, the Department of the Taoiseach stated that this is a misrepresentation that "should be actively discouraged" and that worn-out flags should be replaced.The national Flag Department of the Taoiseach In songs and poems, the colours are sometimes enumerated as "green, white and gold" by using poetic licence.See, for example, Long Journey Home by Elvis Costello and Paddy Moloney.See, for example, the lyrics and commentary on the following Irish rebel songs: Green White and Gold ; The Dying Rebel . Variants of different guises are utilised to include, for example, various emblems of Ireland, such as the presidential harp, the four provinces or county arms.
History
Background symbolism
Green has been associated with the Irish for hundreds of years. An anecdote in the Lebor Gabála tells how Gaidel Glas, son of Nel (or Niul), father of the Irish people, was cured of a snakebite when Moses made fervent prayer and placed his staff on Gaidel's wound. An inserted verse in an earlier passage says of Gaidel: "green were his arms and his vesture"., p. 93, Poem No. XIII Michael O'Clery's redaction of the Lebor Gabála adds that the snakebite left a green ring on Gaidel from which he earned his nickname 'Glas' ("the green").
The colour green is frequently eulogised in Gaelic Irish Annals, with the emergence of green pastures or 'cloverly plains' deemed a desirable outcome. It is postulated this inspired a widespread adoption in Ireland that commenced from the late 16th century.
Use of the harp on green flag played a roll in this adoption, the instrument having appeared on Irish manuscripts and stone crosses since at least the 8th century making it a characteristic instrument of Ireland. The presidential flag of Ireland today includes a representation of the 14th century "Brian Boru Harp". Both the 13th century Wijnbergen Roll and the late 15th-century painting of arms, the Rous Roll, feature a harp as a representation of Ireland.
Green and Orange representation A green flag featuring a harp is described as being used by Eoghan Ruadh Ó Néill in 1642.
The colour green became further associated with Ireland from the 1640s, when the green harp flag was used by the Irish Catholic Confederation. Likewise Green ribbons have been worn on St Patrick's Day since at least the 1680s. Suggesting that green was already a national colour at this time, The Friendly Brothers of St Patrick, an Irish nationalistic fraternity founded in about 1750 adopted green as its colour. In the late 18th century, green was used by the United Irishmen, reinvigorating its nationalist links. The United Irishmen, founded in the 1790s, were inspired by the French revolution, and used a green flag, to which they had a harp emblazoned. A rival organisation, the Orange Order, whose main strength was in Ulster, and which was exclusively for Protestants, especially members of the established Church of Ireland, was founded in 1795 in memory of King William of Orange and the Glorious Revolution of 1688. Following the Irish Rebellion of 1798, which pitted the "green" tradition of the republican United Irishmen against the "orange" tradition of the Protestant Ascendancy loyal to the British Crown, the ideal of a later nationalist generation in the mid-19th century was to make peace between the two traditions and, if possible, to found a self-governing Ireland on such peace and union, as exemplified by the Young Ireland movement and its calls for a National Council of 300 while promoting Catholic-Protestant unity. The first green-orange devices and subsequent Irish Tricolours were a physical manifestation of this thinking.
The Tricolour emerges The colours were first fused in a green-orange device in March 1830, following the frequent calls of Daniel O'Connell for 'orange and green to unite'. It appeared at a political rally in Cork City and was complimented for its peaceful message of unity by a speaker. This occurred in the wake of Catholic Emancipation, Ireland lifted on a goodwill tide. A first tricolour of green, white and orange arrived in September 1830 when a tricolour cockade were presented at a meeting held to celebrate the French Revolution of that year – a revolution which restored the use of the French tricolour.
The three colours were first fused by Emelia Eleanor Hamilton of Annadale Cottage, Fairview, Dublin, daughter of prominent humanitarian, civil servant and author Joseph Hamilton. The presentation got notable press in British and Irish newspapers before the symbol was adopted by the Repeal campaign of Daniel O'Connell in December 1830. It saw frequent use in the early 1830's in flag, banner and ribbon form, also being adopted by the anti-tithe movement and seeing occasional use in Father Matthew's Temperance campaign.
The first recorded flight over a building took place at Dunsoghly Towerhouse, Dublin, July 1832. The Irish tricolour also crossed the Atlantic, being presented to the Chair of a meeting of the 'Friends of Ireland' in Charleston, South Carolina in 1831. The colours saw ongoing if declining use in tricolour and green-orange format, both espousing the same peaceful message, in flag, banner, rosettes and badge format from 1830 - 1847, by the Repeal and Temperance movements.
After the death of Daniel O'Connell, the Young Irelanders adopted the green-orange symbol connected with his Repeal movement for their group, the Irish Confederates. The occasion of the French Revolution in February 1848 incited much celebration, the French flag being flown at Confederate locations in Cork, Cappoquin and Waterford City. The March 7th, 1848 unfurling of a French flag in Waterford would later be mistaken for the first flight of an Irish Tricolour. An Irish Tricolour did fly at Enniscorthy, County Wexford on March 07th in a much publicised event, inspiring further uptake. Within weeks the Young Irelanders began adding white to their existing green-orange device, first seen at a Confederate location in Limerick City on Saint Patrick's Day 1848.