The National Flag of Ireland (Irish: An Bhratach Náisiúnta), also known as the Irish tricolour, is the national flag of the Republic of Ireland. The flag was first adopted as the national flag of the Irish Free State in 1922. When the Free State was succeeded by the state now known as the Republic of Ireland, under the 1937 Constitution of Ireland, the tricolour was given constitutional status.

The tricolour is regarded by many nationalists as the national flag of the whole of Ireland. Thus it is flown (often controversially) by many nationalists in Northern Ireland as well as by the Gaelic Athletic Association. Historically Ireland has been represented by a number of other flags, including St. Patrick's cross, and the "four provinces" flag.

The flag's colors are turned the other way round in the shorter flag of Cote d'Ivoire.

The tricolour

The tricolour, with its three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), white and orange, was first flown from the Wolfe Tone Club, on The Mall in Waterford City, on the 7th of March, 1848 by Thomas Francis Meagher. It was first used by Irish nationalists in 1848 during the Young Irelanders' rebellion, though the colours on the original flag were in reverse order to the modern version. Inspired by the French tricolour and the Newfoundland tricolour, it was designed to represent the Nationalist ( mainly Catholic) majority (represented by green) and the Unionist (mainly Protestant) minority (represented by orange due to William of Orange) living together in peace (symbolised by the white band). Contrary to myth, the tricolour was not the actual flag of the Easter Rising, although it had been flown from the GPO; that flag was in fact a green flag with a harp and the words Irish Republic. However the tricolour became the de facto flag of the extra-legal Irish Republic declared in 1919 and was later adopted by the Irish Free State.

The 1922 Free State constitution did not provide for national symbols. The modern Constitution of Ireland provides in Article 7 that the "national flag is the tricolour of green, white and orange". Today the European flag is flown alongside the national flag on all official buildings, and in most places where the Irish flag is flown over buildings. The National Flag is flown over the following buildings:

Áras an Uachtaráin (the residence of the President of Ireland, see Presidential Standard)
Leinster House (the seat of the Irish parliament), when parliament is in session.
Irish courts and state buildings.
The tricolour is also draped across the coffins of:

Presidents and ex-presidents of Ireland.
Soldiers and Garda (police) personnel killed in the line of duty
Other notables accorded state funerals, such as Roger Casement in 1965, or Kevin Barry in 2000.
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Use in Northern Ireland
The purported symbolism of the flag (peace between Catholics and Protestants) has not become a universal reality. In 1920, Ireland was partitioned, with the unionist-dominated northeast becoming Northern Ireland, while later, in 1922, the remainder of Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland as the Irish Free State.

Northern Ireland continued to use the British Union Flag and created its own derivation of the flag of Ulster (with a crown on top of a six pointed star) to symbolise the state. Furthermore, for many years the tricolour was effectively banned in Northern Ireland under the Flags and Emblems Act of 1954 which empowered the police to remove any flag that could cause a breach of the peace but specified that a Union Jack could never have such an effect. In 1964, the enforcement of this law by the RUC at the behest of Ian Paisley, involving the removal of a single tricolour from the offices of Sinn Féin in Belfast, led to two days of rioting. The tricolour was immediately replaced, highlighting the difficulty of enforcing the law.

Despite its original symbolism, in Northern Ireland the tricolour, along with most other markers of either British or Irish identity, has come to be a symbol of division. The Ulster Unionist Party Government of Northern Ireland adopted the Flag of Northern Ireland (based on the flag of Ulster) in 1953. Thus it is this flag and the Union Jack that are flown by unionists, while the tricolour is often used to represent nationalist defiance.

In Northern Ireland, each community uses its own flags, murals and other symbols to declare its allegiance and mark its territory, often in a manner that is deliberately provocative. Kerb-stones in unionist and loyalist areas are often painted red, white and blue, while in nationalist and republican areas kerb-stones may be painted green, white and orange. Elements of both communities fly their flag from chimneys and tall buildings.

Many Irish people argue that the symbolism of the tricolour has been undermined by its use by radical republicans, such as members and supporters of Sinn Féin and the Provisional IRA. Most controversially, the IRA drape the flag over the coffins of dead members.

Nationalists from the Republic of Ireland have complained of the tricolour's use by Sinn Féin supporters at election counts in the 2002 general election to triumphantly celebrate its electoral victories. This caused considerable comment and criticism in the Irish print and broadcast media, the party and its members being accused of showing "gross disrespect" to the national flag.

Under the 1998 Belfast Agreement, flags continue to be a source of disagreement in Northern Ireland. The Agreement states that:

All participants acknowledge the sensitivity of the use of symbols and emblems for public purposes, and the need in particular in creating the new institutions to ensure that such symbols and emblems are used in a manner which promotes mutual respect rather than division.
Nationalists have pointed to this to argue that the use of the Union Jack for official purposes should be restricted, or that the tricolour should be flown alongside the British flag on government buildings. Unionists argue that the recognition of the "principle of consent" (i.e. that Northern Ireland's constitutional status cannot change without a majority favouring it) by the signatories amounts to recognising that the Union Jack is the only legitimate official flag in Northern Ireland.

Nonetheless some level of compromise has been achieved. The British flag is no longer flown over Parliament Buildings and state offices except on a limited number of 'named days' (honouring, for example Queen Elizabeth II's official birthday). Exception to this rule are the local district councils, for instance Lisburn council, which can choose to fly the Union Jack every day of the year or not at all (for instance Down District Council). A Sinn Féin Lord Mayor of Belfast displayed both flags in his own offices, and this caused much controversy.

Saint Patrick's cross

From 1783 to 1922, the usual flag used to symbolise Ireland officially was known as "Saint Patrick's cross". Strictly speaking, this is a misnomer, as Saint Patrick was not a martyr; instead, it may have been adopted from the arms of the Earl of Kildare (the FitzGerald family).

This consisted of a red saltire on a white field. It was the symbol of the Order of St Patrick, and was incorporated into the Union Jack following the 1801 union of Great Britain and Ireland. The flag however was never accepted or popular by a majority of the Irish people, who saw it as a British invention.

The pattern on St. Patrick's Flag clearly resembles Saint Andrew's cross in the Flag of Scotland. An Irish coin from the 1480s has two saltires on it. A map of the 1601 battle of Kinsale shows a combined Irish/Spanish force under a red saltire. The seal of Trinity College, Dublin, from the same period, shows the saltire under a harp, opposite Saint George's cross under a lion. Two Dutch seventeenth century guides also described it as the Irish flag.

Today the plain St. Patrick's cross is rarely seen, although of course it remains ubiquitous as one of the components of the Union Flag of the UK. It is occasionally used as a neutral flag, for the representation of Ireland, in Northern Ireland. It is also used to represent the island of Ireland by the all-island Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU). It is the basis of the police badge of the new Police Service of Northern Ireland and is also used by the Reform Movement in the Republic.

Two U.S. state flags are also modelled after St. Patrick's Flag: the flag of Alabama and the flag of Florida.

Other flags

The Four Provinces: The four provinces flag is divided into four parts, each of which is the flag of one of the four provinces of Ireland. The four quadrants represent the provinces of Ulster (top left), Munster (top right), Connacht (bottom left) and Leinster (bottom right). It is often flown in support of the Irish rugby team.

The Green Flag: The green flag was a common flag used to represent Ireland during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It consisted of a harp on a green background. It is identical to the flag of Leinster.